Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald is the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated for the position on September 1, 2001. It was made official on October 24 of that same year.

In December 2008, Fitzgerald announced the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.ChicagoTribune.com: Illinois Gov. Blagojevich...arrested On December 31, 2008, Fitzgerald requested that the court grant prosecutors an additional 90 days to review the "thousands of intercepted phone calls" and "multiple witnesses" who have emerged since Blagojevich's arrest.FOXNews.com: U.S. Attorney Seeks Extension to Indict Blagojevich (December 31, 2008)

• 1985: Received Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School
• 1988: Served as Assistant United States Attorney in New York City
• 1993: Prosecutor in the John Gotti case
• 1994: Prosecutor on the Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman case
• 1996: Became the National Security Coordinator of Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• December 30, 2003: Appointed to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel

• Assistant United States Attorney
• National Security Coordinator, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on December 9, 2008. On December 31, 2008, Patrick Fitzgerald filed a motion seeking additional time for the return of the indictment against Governor Blagojevich. He requested an extra 90 days, which would allow prosecutors to return the indictment in by April 7, 2009, instead of January 7, 2009. The extra time is needed because more witnesses have come forward and "thousands of intercepted phone calls" need to be investigated.FOXNews.com: U.S. Attorney Seeks Extension to Indict Blagojevich (December 31, 2008)

Fitzgerald oversaw the investigation to uncover who disclosed CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Fitzgerald successfully prosecuted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's chief of staff, for perjury.

• Blog Parody: From the Desk of Patrick J. Fitzgerald