Patrick J. Fitzgerald (born December 22, 1960, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American attorney and former federal prosecutor. Raised in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, he graduated from Amherst College in 1982 and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1985.

Fitzgerald began his career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted major terrorism cases, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial and the “Day of Terror” plot. He served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001 to 2009.

In December 2003, Deputy Attorney General James Comey appointed Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to investigate the unauthorized disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity (the Plame affair or CIA leak case). Leading that investigation from 2003 to 2007, he prosecuted and secured the conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements; Libby’s sentence was later commuted by President George W. Bush and he was fully pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2018. The investigation, which included the deposition of journalists such as Laura Rozen, drew both widespread acclaim for Fitzgerald’s integrity and criticism over its scope and outcomes.

After leaving government service, Fitzgerald joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as a partner in 2010, specializing in white-collar defense, regulatory compliance, and internal investigations, primarily based in New York. He is recognized for a meticulous and aggressive prosecution style and has had influence across public service and private legal practice, with connections in political, journalistic, and intelligence communities.