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The US Attorney in Chicago filed a motion Friday defending his decision to hold a press conference accusing Rod Blagojevich of being on a ”political crime spree” after his arrest on corruption charges in December. The Illinois governor’s attorneys have asked a judge to remove Fitzgerald from the case for generating prejudicial pre-trial publicity.  You can read Fitzgerald’s motion here on Tickle the Wire.

In it, Fitzgerald says he was merely “energizing and mobilizing the community to take action to thwart and deter public corruption” and that his strong words “served to inform the public and to achieve other legitimate law enforcement goals.’ The motion added: “Taken as a whole, the US Attorney’s comments communicated a warning to others engaged in, or considering becoming engaged in, similar or related conduct.”