"Did Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald Lie?" asks the headline in this pointed IBD op—ed.

"Patrick Fitzgerald's three—year manhunt to track down who blew Valerie Plame's CIA "cover" has been exposed as a costly sham. He apparently knew all along that his man was not Scooter Libby.

"When Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was assigned the Plame case, he was hailed as a paragon of integrity. [....]

"But it's hard to see anything but politics as the motivation for Fitzgerald's handling of the Plame affair. The facts indicate that Fitzgerald knew early on that the original leaker was State Department official Richard Armitage. So why did Fitzgerald let a cloud hang over White House adviser Karl Rove's head for so long? And why is Fitzgerald continuing to hound Libby, the former vice presidential chief of staff?"

All good questions which require answers. IBD lays out the evidence suggesting that the answer to the headline's question is yes, and sums up,

" From top to bottom, this has been one of the most disgraceful abuses of prosecutorial power in this country's history. That it's taking place at a time of war only magnifies its sordidness."

President Bush should demand answers, and instruct the Attorney General to get them. Mr. Fitzgerald, call your office.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

Thomas Lifson   8 30 06