Originally written on January 4th

With news of Patrick Fitzgerald releasing names of confidential sources to the media in his fraud case, one would think that the top federal prosecutor in Chicago may have jumped the starting gate again. After a long and methodical prosecution in the Valerie Plame case, Pat Fitzgerald prematurely held a press conference on the Blagojevich investigation, causing political chaos and jeopardizing the case against the embattled governor. UPDATE: Blago lawyer Edward Genson said in a motion Thursday that the news conference Patrick Fitzgerald held announcing the charges was so filled with prejudicial publicity that the prosecutor should bow out. It is incredible that any party, most especially the prosecution, would make comments during the pretrial period which would impinge on the presumption of innocence.  After a review of the tapes, it appears the talk of selling the senate seat by Gov. Blagojevich may have been just that, talk.  Patrick Fitzgerald should have stated what he expected the evidence gathered in the investigation to show, but his added commentary and insinuations were out of line and carry dire consequences for the residents of Illinois, the nation, and the judicial system. The question for debate is: Did Fitzgerald speak too soon or simply say too much?