Conrad Black Roughs Up Fitzgerald

From CP. Disgraced media baron Conrad Black lashed out at Patrick Fitzgerald at a conservative book launch in Canada today. $Q: I accept that he's a competent prosecutor, but he doesn't know anything about this case. He just swoops in for the press conference and fluffs his lines. Black, as previously noted, is facing forty years on an eight count indictment—his arraignment has been rescheduled for Nov. 30 (his associate David Radler has already agreed to a 29 month jail sentence under terms that have him testifying against Black). Black also said the investigation has been "one massive smear job from A to Z, and it will have a surprise ending." The battle that's shaping up should give the public a tantalizing preview of how the Special Prosecutor closes on a high-profile target. If Patrick Fitzgerald falters it will give welcome ammunition to defenders of the administration who paint him as a stickler who loses his sense of perspective in the obsessive pursuit of detail. If he hangs tough it will bolster his growing reputation as a latter-day Eliot Ness. I. Lewis Libby and the rest of the administration should and likely will be paying close attention.