WASHINGTON
(AP) - Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday recused himself
from the politically sensitive investigation of who leaked the
name of a CIA operative. The Justice Department quickly named
a special prosecutor to take over the investigation.
The announcement
was made by James Comey, the department's new No. 2 official,
at the Justice Department. The U.S. attorney in Chicago, Patrick
J. Fitzgerald, will take over the investigation and report to
Comey.
"He has the
power and authority to make whatever prosecutorial judgment he
needs," Comey said.
This will
not be Fitzgerald's first high-profile investigation. He oversaw
the investigation of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican
who was indicted this month on 22 counts of corruption, including
taking free vacations, tax fraud, lying to federal agents and
skimming cash out of his own campaign fund. Ryan pleaded innocent
a week ago.
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Attorney General John Ashcroft, accompanied by United
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"The attorney
general in an abundance of caution believed that his recusal was
appropriate based on the totality of the circumstances and the facts
and evidence developed at this stage of the investigation," Comey
said. "I agree with that judgment."
Comey did
not say exactly what evidence necessitated the recusal.
He and Assistant
Attorney General Chris Wray will supervise the investigation.
"It is not in the public interest to move this matter entirely
from the Department of Justice," Comey said.
Comey said
he had a simple mandate for Fitzgerald: "Follow the facts wherever
they lead and do the right thing all of the time."
Investigators
want to know who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, an undercover
CIA officer, to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in July. Plame
is married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who has said
he believes his wife's identity was disclosed to discredit his
assertions that the Bush administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear
capabilities to build the case for war.
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Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern
District of Illinois, answers reporters'...
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The leaker could
be charged with a felony if identified.
The FBI has
interviewed more than three dozen Bush administration officials,
including political adviser Karl Rove and press secretary Scott
McClellan.
The interviews
have extended beyond the White House to other government agencies.
The Defense and State departments and the CIA itself also are
part of the probe.
The focus,
however, remains on the White House, two law enforcement officials
said on condition of anonymity. While the initial, informal interviews
have yielded no major breaks, the FBI is satisfied that the dozen
agents assigned to the probe are making progress and have not
encountered any stalling tactics, the officials said Thursday.
So far, no
grand jury subpoenas have been issued, they said.
Wilson said
he had no idea why Ashcroft chose to recuse himself now. He speculated
that Ashcroft, who has long ties to members of the president's
staff, simply wanted to make sure that any findings at the end
of the investigation are not tainted by even the suspicion of
conflict of interest.
"I would have
no idea whether a report has emerged that led him to recuse himself,"
Wilson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I have always said,
as some senators have argued, that the administration needed to
take a good hard look at this."
He declined
to express satisfaction over Ashcroft's recusal.
"It's not
a question of whether I'm happy about it," he said. "The crime
that was committed was not committed against me or my wife, but
against my country. It's the country that's the victim in this."
