Josh Marshall on Fitzgerald and McNulty - something odd

[ramblin_dave]

Josh Marshall at TPM:

Here's a nut to crack, a small part of the ever-widening and occasionally enlightening Fitzgerald investigation guessing game.

if McNulty had been cooperating with or become a participant or enabler of some sort of Fitzgerald's investigation, he's not the first person you'd figure ... Bush would be appointing to the number two spot at DOJ -- especially when you consider that Al Gonzales will almost certainly have to recuse himself from any consideration of the entire Plame case.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006815.php

[WarNoMore]

1. I haven't followed Mcnulty too much,

but it's interesting that he was the spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee during the Clinton impeachment. I knew I remembered his face.

[Mnemosyne]

2. Do you really think Gonzales

will recuse himself? Seems I read somewhere about one of the Supremes not removing himself recently. Can't remember when, in the last year I think. I'll see if I can find a link.

Look what Gonzales did with the Geneva convention. He doesn't care about right or wrong obviously. He'll make some lame excuse for not needing to recuse himself and kiss ass, imo.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Hard to know what's going down or even speculate on it. This is a...

...wait and see item. But far be it from me not to speculate. Here goes:

Hopeful scenario. They have the goods on Bush Jr., and a deal has been made to let him limp out the rest of his term, if Cheney (who will be named as an unindicted co-conspirator) resigns. Cheney will go to Halliburton Heaven, and not do time. For agreeing to this, McNulty was rewarded with the No. 2 spot in the DOJ, where he will protect Fitzgerald from interference as Fitz proceeds with other prosecutions (lower down the line) (--but I do keep thinking about Rumsfeld, lurking in the background of all this).

Downer scenario: A "Saturday Night Massacre" (a la Nixon) in reverse. Instead of firing the prosecutor, they've given him a bigger title and salary, in exchange for limitations on the most dangerous investigation, the AIPAC/Franklin investigation (and maybe McNulty thinks it's just too much for the public and the world--a total disgrace of the regime). Treasongate got limited because Libby's taking the fall for Cheney. And the two prosecutors are thinking, "What the hell? They cleaned out some of the bad guys. Maybe this will curtail some of the vast criminality of this regime, as it becomes a lame duck." (This scenario might also be combined with a Cheney resignation, so the Repubs can appoint a fresh face as VP to be Diebolded into office in '08, on a...dare I say it?...ahem...a law and order platform.)

Of these, I tend to think the first is more likely (and the VP scenario likely in either case). But you see what I mean. We really can't know yet.