Who is the Deputy AG overseeing the Plame leak case?

It used to be Comey, but who is it now? I can't find it.

Comey's replacement is a Bush crony, and would have to recuse himself.

It could go all the way down to the janitor or the cleaning lady!

I have not seen an announcement yet. I imagine Fitz knows, though.

So his new boss is not in place and I'm not even sure if someone else has even been nominated for the job yet.

He has total control in this case and answers to no one!

...It's close enough, though. Basically he has to report on what's going on (which is why people found it abhorrent Ashcroft was getting reports on the case for 3 months before the reports stopped at Comey as Ashcroft recused himself) and the President can fire Fitz, at great political cost.

Short of that he's got pretty much total control, though.

him total control. He reports to no one, and can't be removed. Comey saw to that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4298833

Saturday Night Massacre? BRING IT ON! Why Fitzgerald is UNTOUCHABLE.


For those of you still worried that Gonzales, Congress, the Chimp, or that new guy from Skull and Bones replacing Comey can stop Fitzgerald's Special Counsel investigation, please read this. It's a long entry, but well worth understanding the legal precedent for why Fitzgerald CANNOT be removed from the Plame investigation.


TREASONGATE: The US Attorney General's Office AND President Bush Have NO LEGAL AUTHORITY To Remove Patrick Fitzgerald As Special Counsel

The Attorney General, Acting Attorney General or any other officer of the Department of Justice has NO LEGAL AUTHORITY to remove Special Counsel Fitzgerald from the Treasongate investigation or prosecution-- AND -- President Bush does NOT have the legal authority to fire Patrick Fitzgerald in his capacity as "Special Counsel".

Analysis of federal law (involved with both the appointment of -- and authority granted to -- Special Counsel Fitzgerald), Comey's press conference of December 30th, 2003, and Decision B-302582 (September 30, 2004) issued by the Government Accountability Office, leads to the following legal conclusions:

1. James Comey, in his capacity as Acting Attorney General, with respect to the Justice Department's investigation into "the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA employee's identity" (hereinafter "Treasongate"), delegated his plenary authority to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 508, 509, 510, and 515, conferring upon him "all of the authority of the Attorney General" thereby transferring his status as Acting Attorney General, in this matter, to Fitzgerald.

2. Special Counsel Fitzgerald is not serving as an "outside Special Counsel" pursuant to 28 USA § 600, so the provisions of that code are not applicable in this matter nor do they have any legal effect over Fitzgerald's investigation and/or prosecution.

3. While President Bush may fire or replace Fitzgerald as the "US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois", the President has NO AUTHORITY to fire him as the "Special Counsel" in the Treasongate investigation.

much more good stuff...

Sensennbrenner and Conyers, Judiciary Committee.

Then I think Comey left his job and it was handed to someone else. Who?

I need the info for another thread also.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4332457

Career Lawyer Gets Oversight of CIA Probe


David Margolis, a lawyer at the Justice Department for 40 years, was named Friday to oversee a special prosecutor's investigation of who in the Bush administration disclosed the name of an undercover CIAofficer.

Margolis, whose title is associate deputy attorney general, is taking the place of Deputy Attorney General James Comey, whose last day of work was Friday. Comey will be Lockheed Martin's new general counsel. Comey made the designation of Margolis. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has stepped aside from the probe because he was White House counsel when Valerie Plame's name was leaked in 2003 and he has testified to the grand jury investigating the unauthorized disclosure.

Comey gave broad discretion to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago when he was appointed to investigate the leak in December 2003. Margolis is not expected to alter Fitzgerald's mandate in what are likely to be the final months of his investigation. The grand jury ends its term in October. No one has been charged in the Plame case. However, it's known that Karl Rove, a top aide to
President Bush, and Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, discussed Plame with reporters before her name was first published by columnist Robert Novak in July 2003.

...that's the job of the three judges hearing the Grand Jury evidence.