Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man behind the toppling of ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was named the second most powerful person in the city for 2012 by Chicago Magazine.
Patrick Fitzgerald (DOJ)
Fitzgerald, who has been the city’s U.S. Attorney since 2001, ranked just behind Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff.
Fitzgerald is also in the company of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (No. 28), Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez (No. 36) and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner (No. 67). In addition to the legal folks, Fitzgerald also came out on top of film critic Roger Ebert (No. 23), the co-founders of Groupon (Nos. 10 and 11) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (No. 33.)
Fitzgerald was brought to Chicago as an outsider from New York City — many hoped he could help root out the corruption that had plagued the city at some of the highest levels of government.
As U.S. Attorney, Fitzgerald’s office has litigated several high-profile cases, including securing a conviction of Blagojevich and prosecuting Scooter Libby for revealing the name of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Fitzgerald, one of the most recognizable U.S. Attorneys in the nation, was appointed to Attorney General Eric Holder’s Advisory Committee in 2011.
He did face some scrutiny in 2010 when the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board called for Fitzgerald’s resignation over his handling of the Blagojevich case.
A shake up is building in Illinois which may affect both Fitzgerald’s and Madigan’s positions on the list. There’s been a long running cover up of violent crimes involving forced ATM withdrawals, including murder, for the benefit of the bankers. The data is finally coming out in dribs and drabs and as it becomes widespread public knowledge, people will start wondering how it could have been covered up for so long. That’s where things turn interesting, not just in Illinois, but in the US Senate as well. http://www.opednews.com/articles/I-bet-you-thought-that-ATM-by-Joe-Zingher-10218-147.html#comment367310