Patrick Fitzgerald, lead prosecutor in the CIA leak case, refused to address the topic on everyone’s mind during his presentation at the NIU College of Law Friday.

The day before the his lecture, Fitzgerald presented documents linking President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity.

The case has been at the forefront of media coverage and Americans’ concerns for months.

The issue has raised serious concerns over the credibility of the Bush administration and, with the recent breakthrough, most who attended the presentation were hoping he would mention the case.

At the very least, he could mention the most important current case in Illinois, linking former Gov. George Ryan’s administration to political bribery and gift-giving.

“I don’t want to talk about any current case,” he said when asked about the Ryan case, much to audience members’ disappointment.

Before the Q-and-A session, he also said he would not answer questions about the CIA leak case.

Instead, his main focus was offering advice to current law school students, urging them to consider working in the public sector.

It was appropriate, considering the lecture series focuses on issues facing the legal profession.

However, more information on current cases, even information that has already been released, could have added more insight to his advice.

It also would have given the lecture more widespread appeal.

Fitzgerald did comment on some past high-profile cases, though.

One case involved the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa that killed more than 200 people.

Although most of the people killed in the bombings were Kenyan or Tanzanian, prosecutors were able to get a murder count for each victim regardless of nationality.

The case offered a perfect example of how fulfilling working as a prosecutor can be.

Mentioning recent cases that audience members cared most about would only have added to the address.