Patrick Fitzgerald Seeks More Time to Return Blagojevich Indictment

In a potentially worrisome development for the incoming Obama administration, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked a federal judge for an extension of the deadline to return an indictment against disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on charges of official corruption. Fitzgerald filed a motion in federal court today seeking an additional 90 days during which he will continue to investigate the governor. If the motion is granted, which seems likely, Fitzgerald will have until early April before he has to bring charges against Blagojevich.

In the court filing, Fitzgerald said that sheer volume of evidence he has amassed against Blagojevich makes it impossible for the investigation to be completed by next Wednesday.

"The government cannot complete its investigation and appropriately conclude the investigation in the time frame allowed under the Speedy Trial Act.

The investigation includes multiple defendants and potential defendants as well as thousands of intercepted phone calls, and additional factors warranting an extension of time."

Translation: Fitzgerald doesn't even know what he has yet.

During the CIA leak case investgation, Fitzgerald showed himself to be nothing if not meticulous. He will spend the next 90 days pouring over the tapes of Blagojevich's and perhaps others' phone calls for evidence of wrongdoing on the governor's part. But Fitzgerald will not limit himself to Blagojevich. He will follow the evidence wherever it leads, possibly even into the White House itself.

Whatever he eventually finds, the extension virtually guarantees that the scandal will drag on for at least the first three months of President-elect Obama's term, a critical period during which new administrations typically try to get off to a fast start in implementing a new national agenda. It remains to be seen whether the cloud that will hang over the Obama admnistration due to the periodic revelations and rumors concerning Fitzgerald's investigation will have an impact on Obama's ability to pass legislation. Worse, if Fitzgerald turns up evidence of wrongdoig or unethical behavior on the part of the president-elect or any member of his staff, the scandal will become a full blown media feeding frenzy that will certainly hamper Obama and Democrats politically. The best case scenario for Obama was that the investigation would center on Blagojevich alone and would conclude relatively quickly. Today's filing by Fitzgerald seems to foreclose on that possibility.