Great web site, Mary Beth!

Someone sent me a screen capture last night from Republican Mary Beth Buchanan's own campaign web site (You guys know just what to get me for my birthday!):


Yes, I know the poll is unscientific and I know that the numbers have changed today, but how funny is it that the web site for a Republican running for Congress showed at the time that 50% of the people wanted to have "socialized medicine"?

I hope you're listening, Jason Altmire!

And, by all means, 2pj readers should feel free to freep this poll (though be aware that the questions seem to rotate).

Mary Beth Buchanan Takes On Marty Griffin

And, uh, it doesn't go well.

Talkingpointsmemo has a rundown:

Mary Beth Buchanan, a former Bush-era U.S. Attorney who is now running for Congress in Pennsylvania against Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire, may need to work on how she handles criticism of her tenure in office. Buchanan called into the radio show of local talker Marty Griffin, and apparently threatened him with a defamation suit.

Uh-oh.

You can listen to the entire thing here.

MBB took issue with what she saw was some less than factual assertions by Griffin and his previous guest, Dr. Cyril Wecht:

During his interview, Wecht alleged that the case had cost $20 million to prosecute. Buchanan called in to take serious exception to this, saying that it could have only been $500,000 at most -- and told Griffin that he better get his facts right. "And you know, we still have defamation laws in this country. And to the extent that you keep repeating things are flat-out wrong, you're running afoul. That case could not have cost the government more than $500,000, and that's on the outside."

"So you're saying you're going to sue me?" Griffin replied. "Is that what you're saying, Mary Beth, because Dr. Wecht and others are suggesting? So you're gonna run for Congress, and you're threatening to sue me because we're suggesting that the case cost $20 million?"

"I'm saying that you have to know what you're talking about before you start repeating things," Buchanan replied.

I thought she knew what she was doing.

Uh-oh. Is she gonna sue me for that?

Anyway, if we want to talk facts and stuff like that, there's always what Potter wrote this morning:

Over at the P-G's Early Returns blog yesterday, our pal Tim McNulty has broken news of Mary Beth Buchanan's not-so-surprising entry into the 4th Congressional District race.

Also somewhat less than entirely surprising: The press release announcing her campaign is already getting sloppy with the facts.

Potter focuses on this paragraph from Buchanan's press release:

Just last month, he voted with fellow liberals to spend up to $50 million to buy beachfront property in the Caribbean Islands that most people in Western Pennsylvania will never be able to visit.

Turns out to be untrue:

Actually, Buchanan is referring to House Resolution 3726. That legislation, currently pending in the Senate, would establish the Castle Nugent National Historical Site -- a new national park on St. Croix. (St. Croix is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are U.S. territories.)

Altmire did indeed vote for the bill -- as did all but a handful of House Democrats. But he did not actually vote to spend $50 million, the estimated cost of purchasing all the land needed for the park. As one of his colleagues, West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahal, pointed out in a floor speech, "H.R. 3726 does not spend one dime, and every Member on this floor knows it. The legislation designates this area as a new [parks] unit, but the bill contains no direct spending."

Instead, the billl allows the National Park Service to accept donations of land -- park backers say some of it is likely to be offered for free -- or request for money to purchase property in the future. (Land acquisition could take a decade.) But those appropriations would be handled in later legislation. A summary by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirms this, noting that merely "[e]nacting H.R. 3726 would have no effect on direct spending or revenues."

Is Chris Potter gonna get sued too?

Mary Beth Buchanan Makes It Official

From the P-G:

The worst kept secret in local politics is out: Former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is officially running for Congress, and two-term U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, may face a tough re-election bid this year.

And of course the spinning is just beginning. Here's a statement from the NRCC:

Jason Altmire's record has drastically missed the mark on job creation. But his real trouble is his failure to do all that he can to stop President Obama's plans to host terror trials in the U.S. and possibly in Western Pennsylvania. His flip-flopping on the 9/11 trials has shown voters the real Jason Altmire - a politician who doesn't stand on principle but instead stands on whatever path he thinks can save his political career. It's too late. Pennsylvanians don't want to take chances when it comes to their safety and national security. - Tory Mazzola, NRCC Spokesman

No fan of Altmire, I. but this is a bit much, doncha think? Here's Altmire's statement on the possibility of having the trial in Pittsburgh:

This is exactly why I repeatedly voted against bringing these war criminals to the U.S. for trial in the first place. I will strongly and actively oppose any effort to move this trial to western Pennsylvania, which could result in an increased security risk for our region. I am working with our Senators and western Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to prevent these terrorists from being brought to our region.

Of course there's not a reason in the world to trust a politicians own word parsing, so here's KDKA instead:

Congressman Altmire says he voted several times to block detainees from being held in civilian trials anywhere in the United States as well as to place restrictions on detainee transfers or releases anywhere in the U.S.

He also co-sponsored a bill that states Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial should not be held in the United States nor should any of the terror trials.

Or Politico:

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure they don’t point at western Pennsylvania as a possible venue,” said Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.). “We are all united, going to voice our opinion, both at the state level and at the congressional level.”

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) is also opposed to having the trials in Pennsylvania and “has made that sentiment known to the Justice Department,” spokesman Larry Smar said. Pennsylvania has been among the regions floated for such trials because Flight 93 on 9/11 went down in the western part of the state.

Altmire, who occupies a swing district and has bucked his party on key votes like healthcare, is already facing Republican attacks on the issue. The National Republican Campaign Committee accused Altmire of backing the civilian trials, even though he voted for an amendment that would have stripped the Justice Department of the money it needs to hold the trials.

So you get the idea of where Buchanan and the RNCC are going with this.

BRESMA Orphanage Update (Updated 5x)

UPDATE 5: Most recent news here (1/18/10, 6:30 AM ET).

UPDATE 4: 10/17/10, 4:30 AM ET, from the sister-in-law of the McMutrie sisters:
UPDATE 3: 10/16/10, 10:27 PM ET:
UPDATE 2: They are now out of water. Contact anyone you can to help.

UPDATE: Very lastest update from the family via Facebook is here:

i'm sure you all know that the girls were on CNN (Anderson Cooper) last night. even though the show was on at night, they talked to the girls much much much earlier in the day. since then the babies have started to get very sick. the girls have started to get sick. the fact that CNN has found and interviewed them, unfortunately, doesn't mean much...call your senators. and donate. the senators and political higher ups are now involved. but, that doesn't mean that you should stop harassing them. we need them to stay involved. we need them to stay passionate about this cause. especially now that it's the weekend. so please just keep calling. call and call and call and call. email and email and email.

For how you can help, see here.For CNN video, see here.For WAPO article, see here.

Stories in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this morning agree that former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan claims that she has obtained "a humanitarian parole"/"one of two key permits" to allow the children of the BRESMA orphanage in Haiti to come to the US. Both articles also quote Rep. Jason Altmire on his efforts (along with Gov. Ed Rendell, Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Mike Doyle) to secure passage for the children.

However, the P-G positions Buchanan's efforts as "one part of a two-prong push to get permission for the children to enter the country early" (with Altmire & others as the other prong), while the Trib has a somewhat different slant:

...Rep. Jason Altmire said he and other government officials -- including those in the White House -- knew nothing of such plans [speaking of Buchanan's efforts] and still were trying to secure the permits.

Bram Reichbaum of The Pittsburgh Comet blog was assisting Mary Beth Buchanan last night. I asked him (via email) if the two factions were working at cross purposes or if it's just a matter of everyone attacking the problem from different angles with their own resources (which could maximize the chances of pulling off a rescue). Bram answered as follows:

It was DEFINITELY different channels and not cross-purposes. We definitely got the impression that some Dems weren't thrilled with our attempts, but I never once got the impression either effort was screwing up the other one. If anyone succeeds in getting some aid thru it'll all be worth it.

For the record though we didn't know about what Jason Altmire was doing any more than he knew about our effort. ;) Cong. Tim Murphy was our man on the inside, called us every hour or so.

For those who don't know it, Buchanan -- a Republican -- may be a challenger for Democrat Altmire's House seat.

I say: The more the merrier.

I'm trusting that everyone has the best intentions and KUDOS to all of them for trying to work a miracle. However, it's likely going to be easier -- and nothing is the least bit easy in any of this -- to get the 30 children who are already well into the adoption process with American sponsors into the country than the 120 who don't already have future US homes. Jamie and Ali McMutrie have expressed their intentions to get all 150 children out together as a group because any child left behind would face a high risk of death.

BRESMA is running out of water and food and the children and staff are not safe. Let's hope all the parties involved can work some magic and that all of you reading this who have called and emailed these public leaders keep up the pressure.

NOTE: Photo removed at the request of the tweeter/photographer.
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(Six Degrees of) Cyril Wecht for Governor

Jon Delano reports that Dr. Cyril H. Wecht is seriously considering a run for PA Governor. The already crowded Democratic primary field includes Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, state Auditor General Jack Wagner, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty and Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox.

Delano's story includes speculation by former Allegheny County Chief Executive and Republican Jim Roddey that Wecht is running as a spoiler to Dan Onorato due to Wecht's long running feud with Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr. (an ally of Onorato).

The Zappala connection brings in links to state Sen. Jane Orie and former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and I'm sure -- if I looked hard enough -- to my cat, Clio:


Because, when you play Six Degrees of Separation in Pittsburgh politics -- especially the Wecht version -- we're ALL involved.

UPDATE: Looks like someone is laying claim to the game.
.

Making Jason Altmire Look Good

Yes, I know it's a tall order but here it is via CQ Politics (by way of PA2010):

Former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is increasingly leaning towards running against Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), according to two Pennsylvania Republicans with first-hand knowledge of her budding campaign.

Buchanan is interviewing political consultants and will likely announce her campaign by the end of the month, the GOP sources said.

Who wouldn't want someone who saved us from the dreaded water pipe and who persecuted prosecuted Cyril Wecht (twice) from having a national stage to work her magic?

Of course Altmire -- who royally pissed off many with his vote against HCR -- may not be safe even in a primary vote. Rumors abound that he may face a challenge from Georgia Berner or Franco Dok Harris.
,

It's About Frickin Time!

From the P-G:

Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, announced today that she plans to step down, effective Nov. 16.

Ms. Buchanan has served in the post since September 2001, when she was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A news release from her office did not state whether she had made plans for the future.

There has been speculation that she could challenge Congressman Jason Altmire next year.

Oh I would LOVE for her to enter the race.

UPDATE: The P-G has more this morning.

Can Someone Say Karma?

From the AP (via Philly.com):

The Department of Justice has launched an inquiry into comments made by Pittsburgh's U.S. attorney when she announced she was dropping charges against a renowned pathologist, ending a contentious years-long legal battle.

Mary Beth Buchanan said at the time that she still believed pathologist Cyril Wecht had committed a crime. He had been accused of using his public office , Allegheny County medical examiner , to benefit his multimillion dollar private practice.

Dick Thornburgh , a former U.S. attorney general who was part of the pathologist's defense team , lodged a complaint with the department after the June 2 news conference, saying U.S. attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's comments were "completely improper, violate all notions of prosecutorial ethics and decency, and warrant remedial action by the Department of Justice."

But then we all knew that.

Just a thought

Just a thought...

...but, the Republicans have been pushing the idea that Democrats are weak on terror for some time now and the Ravenstahl Administration just handed them a big fat gift with Luke's "Tailgate."

...even if Mary Beth Buchanan ever makes a case against one or more folks in the Ravenstahl Administration over Tailgate, the DOJ's past selective prosecution of Dems may make the whole thing look "political."

...but, doesn't the DOJ have anything better to do than to troll local blogs for posts on Luke's tailgate?

VISITOR ANALYSIS
Referring Link No referring link
Host Name wdcsun24.usdoj.gov
IP Address 149.101.1.124 [Label IP Address]
Country United States
Region District Of Columbia
City Washington
ISP Us Dept Of Justice
Returning Visits 12
Visit Length 6 mins 42 secs
VISITOR SYSTEM SPECS
Browser MSIE 6.0
Operating System Windows XP
Resolution 1024x768
Javascript Enabled

Navigation Path

Date Time WebPage
3rd October 2007 12:44:50 No referring link
2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/
3rd October 2007 12:46:36 2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/
2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-does-luke-ravenstahl-hate-america.html#comments
3rd October 2007 12:51:32 No referring link
2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/

Of course, it could have just been a bored intern surfing the web or they may have a bot that searches for phrases like "Hate America" and "Love Al Qaeda." (Yikes!)

...local bloggers who think it's fine and dandy for a police officer to punch a handcuffed suspect might want to consider that this is the same kind of officer who might act like a dick to someone who jaywalked or had a moving violation or kicked a pigeon -- or if he just thought someone had jaywalked or had a moving violation or kicked a pigeon -- or he thought you had looked at him funny. (Man, I hope neither of you ever serve jury duty because what you've written would tend to make me think that you'd be all "If the cops arrested the defendant than the dude must be guilty" if you ever get on a jury.)

...but, please STFU you local newscasters and weather folk who keep saying we're having "beautiful" weather when it's 90 degrees in October. WTF is wrong with a nice cool, crisp, clear autumn day?

...if the Repugs want to torture folks, you'd think that they'd want to start with whoever designed and approved the following logo for them:
As the Great Orange Satan himself noted:

And yes, this is real, not an extremely clever photoshop job, and truly encapsulates what the Republican Party is all about.

Wide stance? Check.

In Minneapolis? Check.

Prison stripe-wearing? Check.

As for the elephant humping the "2008"...Are they going for a "Still screwing the country in 2008" theme, or is it a reference to hypocritical adulterers like David Vitter and just about the entire Republican presidential field?

All of the above? Check!

Apparently they ran out of space for a collapsing bridge.

Update: Can't you just picture the Daily Show and Colbert Report writers salivating at the possibilities?

.

Local Fallout From the US Attorney Firings

From Pamela Reed Ward in today's P-G.

You remember the US Attorney Firing scandal doncha? Ward writes:

The House and Senate judiciary committees are investigating the firings of nine federal prosecutors late last year. Some allege that the moves were politically motivated, and that prosecutors were forced out because of a reluctance to pursue Democratic officials or for moving forward in investigating Republicans.

And there's a Pittsburgh connection to all this: US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's prosecution of Dr. Cyril Wecht. In a letter to AG Gonzales, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers wrote:

The prosecution of Dr. Cyril Wecht in the Western District of Pennsylvania by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has also engendered controversy. It has been alleged that the case of Dr. Wecht, a prominent 75-year old Democrat who was the coroner in Allegheny County, is indicative of other prosecutions in the Western District - since 2001, the U.S. Attorney has never indicted a Republican official, and has only prosecuted officeholders who are democrat.21 Dr. Wecht, a world renowned forensic pathologist and television commentator, was charged with misusing his office and personally enriching himself by, among other thngs, striking a deal with a local university to trade unclaimed cadavers for university lab space.22 Claiming Dr. Wecht was a flight risk, Ms. Buchanan advised his defense lawyers, including former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, that her office intended to arrest Dr. Wecht and subject him to a "perp walk," even though Dr. Wecht and his lawyers repeatedly offered to self-surrender and voluntarily appear in court to be arraigned.23 Reportedly only after former Attorney General Thornburgh spoke with Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty did Ms. Buchanan agree not to arrest Dr. Wecht and subject him to a "perp walk." In court filings, Dr. Wecht alleges that Ms. Buchanan's office inflamed the press by making inappropriate statement.24 The U.S. Attorney's office urged the courts to set the trial in October, 2006, a month before the congressional elections; the case was postponed only after the federal appeals court agreed to hear motions by Dr. Wecht's attorneys. Yet U.S. Attorney Buchanan has not brought charges against at least two Republican officials who, like Dr. Wecht, are alleged to have misused their office staff.25

I included the footnote numbers (they're those teeny numbers after some of the sentences). You'll see why in about 10 seconds. Ward writes:

Though her testimony has not been made public, it is referred to in a footnote of the letter sent to Mr. Gonzales. In it, Ms. Buchanan told investigators that she has only prosecuted Democratic officeholders.

That's footnote 21:

Mary Beth Buchanan, Interview with House Committee on the Judiciary, at 145-6.

The footnote 25 in that section of Conyers' letter points to this Op-Ed in the P-G by Thomas J. Farrell. This is what Farrell wrote back in March:

Democrats do occupy most public offices in Allegheny County, but are the Republican officials in the 24 other counties of the Western Pennsylvania District all squeaky clean? Why apparently no investigation into Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's use of government office staff to support his campaign -- which is not unlike what happened in the Allegheny County sheriff's office? Ms. Buchanan also left to local authorities the prosecution of Republican state Rep. Jeff Habay after similar accusations arose.

Attorney Farrell also points out ex-Senator Santorum's by now famous residency problems. Apparently no investigation there, either.

I can understand her only prosecuting only Democratic officeholders in Pittsburgh (show me the Repulicans holding office in this city and I'll change my mind) but she's prosecuted no Republicans in Western PA at all since 2001?

Something very fishy there.

She's certainly a loyal Bushie, isn't she?

Mary Beth Buchanan in the news AGAIN

I noticed this from my friend Bram at the Pittsburgh Comet. His posting deals mostly with this article from the P-G.

But our very own Mary Beth has a few more irons in the fire these days.

As we've posted here before, she's set to talk to Congress about her role in the US Attorney firings. It's been postponed until June 15, 2007.

Did you know she lawyered up for her meeting with Congress? According to the P-G, Buchanan's attorney is Roscoe C. Howard, partner of the DC lawfirm of Troutman Sanders (what, no one from BUCHANAN Ingersoll was available??).

My guess is that it's NOT usual for a US Attorney to get counsel when testifying with Congress:

Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who has been following the U.S. attorney scandal, was surprised to learn Ms. Buchanan had hired an attorney.

"A number of the [Department of Justice] officials have [retained counsel], but my sense is that those were the people who are in trouble," Mr. Tobias said. "I wouldn't see any necessity or really much of a reason for her to have counsel, except out of an abundance of caution."

Out of fairness, we'll just assume it's an abundance of caution.

Did you know that her name popped up in an e-mail in yesterday's document dump from the DoJ? Yep, here it is. Here's how the McClatchy papers describe it:

A leader of an influential conservative legal group recommended a replacement candidate for the U.S. attorney in San Diego just days after the sitting prosecutor's name was secretly placed on a Justice Department firing list, according to a document released Wednesday.

The recommendation by the executive vice president of the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo, came before anyone outside of a tight group in the White House and Justice Department knew about a nascent strategy that ultimately led to the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

It could not be determined whether a short e-mail, sent on March 7, 2005, making the recommendation meant that Leo knew of the plan to fire Carol Lam or whether his message was unsolicited and coincidental.

Out of fairness, let's just assume it's unsolicitied and coincidental.

Let's assume the Federalist Society had no idea far-right political appointees were purging Republican US Attorneys from their positions because they weren't "loyal Bushies." Leo Leo just happened to appoint a far-right attorney for a position he had no idea was being opened for the appropriate far-right attorney.

And the attorney Leo Leo suggested? Air Force General Counsel, Mary Walker. She shows up in this article at Law.com.

Mary Walker has endured more controversy in a three-year tenure as general counsel of the U.S. Air Force than most government lawyers do in a career. Last year a blue-ribbon panel headed by former congresswoman Tillie Fowler practically accused Walker of a cover-up after the GC issued a report absolving Air Force brass of responsibility in sexual abuse scandals at the Air Force Academy.

Now Walker, a former Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison lawyer appointed by President George Bush, is back on the hot seat. At issue this time is her role heading a U.S. Department of Defense group that issued a controversial report in March 2003 giving the administration enormous latitude in interrogating alleged terrorists. Once again, Fowler -- a partner with Holland & Knight -- is on retainer to review Walker's handiwork: In May, Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld appointed Fowler to a panel to review detention operations. (Walker declined to comment for this story. Fowler spokesperson Thomas Alexander says she won't comment until the work is complete later this summer. For updates on the report, go to www.americanlawyer.com.)

Nice folks, these Bushies.

Mary Beth Buchanan - A Curious Plot Twist

Yesterday the Washington Post reported:

Unreleased government records obtained by the Washington Post show that the Justice Dept. listed 26 U.S. attorneys as candidates for firing, including nine who were fired in 2006. The roster of prosecutors is much longer than previously acknowledged.

Included on this list?

Our very own US Attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan.

The Post showed the evolving list of US Attorneys to be fired. On September 13, 2006 Kyle Sampson, AG Gonzales' Chief of Staff (and, ashamed as I am to note it, possible dayvoe-lookalike) Kyle D. Sampson sent a memo to the White House including nine US Attorneys recommended for firing. Incidentally, five of the nine would be dismissed. Buchanan shows up on a list compiled a couple weeks later by Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General "suggesting five other candidates."

The Washington Post points out elsewhere that:

The documents do not specify why removals were contemplated or why some prosecutors kept their jobs, the sources said.

And no one really knows anything about anything. From Pamela Reed Ward in today's P-G:

But Michael Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, said yesterday through his attorney that his e-mail was taken out of context.

Ok this is where it gets confusing.

The names that were included had been suggested to him by others, and Mr. Elston never thought anyone on that list should be fired.

"To the contrary, Mike's view is that the five U.S. Attorneys mentioned in the e-mail are among the Department's best," the statement said.

But a few paragraphs down:

According to attorney Robert Driscoll, Mr. Elston was asked in October 2006 by others in the Justice Department "if there were any concerns about U.S. Attorneys that senior department leadership was not aware of."

When Mr. Elston asked around, his attorney said, he was not specifically asking for names of people to be terminated, only for those who others might have a problem with.

So - these are the "Department's best" but Elston's looking for "any concerns" about them? How does that make sense? However that's a separate issue. The big problem is how (and why) these names made it, however temporarily, onto a "fire" list. From the Post:

The number of names on the lists demonstrates the breadth of the search for prosecutors to dismiss. The names also hint at a casual process in which the people who were most consistently considered for replacement were not always those ultimately told to leave.

When shown the lists of firing candidates late yesterday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), perhaps the most outspoken critic of the way Gonzales handled the prosecutor dismissals, said they "show how amok this process was."

The whole thing was a mess. A complete mess. When it wasn't politicizing the DoJ, the administration was just simply screwing it all up anyway.

Buchanan was asked for a comment:

"Simply put, there is no logical reason that my name would appear as part of an e-mail suggesting prosecutors to be considered for replacement," she said, noting that she's had "unprecedented success" during her tenure.

And the White House as well:

Yesterday, Justice Department officials issued a brief statement on the matter, saying the department would not publicly confirm whether any U.S. attorney was on one of Mr. Sampson's lists, which were used by him in the discussion process.

"Many names on these lists which have been shared with Congress, clearly did not represent the final actions or views of the Department's leadership or the Attorney General," the statement said.

"Whether they are on any list or not, U.S. Attorneys currently serving enjoy the full confidence and support of the Attorney General and Department of Justice."

Later in the day, Mr. Gonzales sent another statement, specifically about Ms. Buchanan, saying that she has his full confidence and support.

Considering, though, the drubbing Gonzales has been taking in the Congress recently, I'm not sure that's a recommendation one would want to keep in handy.

The AP on Mary Beth Buchanan

Read it here.

With U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales under attack in Congress for firing eight U.S. attorneys, Buchanan has also come under scrutiny because of a Justice Department administrative post she held in 2005. A former top aide to Gonzales has said Buchanan was consulted in the firings, and now a House committee is seeking to interview her.

The controversy has exposed a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Buchanan in the legal community in Western Pennsylvania, where critics say she has devoted too much time pursuing headline-grabbing cases of sometimes minor importance and trying to please Washington

The AP adds some interesting, though more or less irrelevant, details of her past to the story:

Buchanan, 43, married her childhood sweetheart, became a mother at 17 and then divorced - not the typical launching pad for a legal career, especially for the daughter of a steelworker from Roscoe, population 848.

This is confusing to me. This darling of the Bush White House was married and pregnant by the time she was 17? How long did her first marriage last?

Now onto the local critics:

But [former U.S. Attorney Fred] Thieman and [former assistant U.S. attorney Thomas] Farrell say Buchanan's Washington posts have distracted from her job in Pittsburgh. That includes a stint as head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys -- during which she was said to have been consulted on a list of fired prosecutors.

"Since 9/11 it appears that both the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and the Attorney General's Advisory Committee have been used more to oversee U.S. attorneys than to assist them," Thieman said. "I think the current controversy speaks for itself."

And here's Buchanan's non-defense defense:

If defense attorneys aren't being critical, Buchanan responded, "then the U.S. attorney probably isn't doing their job."

Nothing about whether the charges are right or wrong - or why they'd be wrong if they were wrong.

But the most damning stuff is the non-supportive support she's getting from fellow Republicans:

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, a former U.S. attorney under President Bush's father, would only say for the record: "I've known Mary Beth since before she became a lawyer. She certainly has worked hard to get where she is."

Yer doin' a hekuva job, Mary.

Mary Beth Buchanan Turns up AGAIN

Pamela Reed Ward reports today that:

The relationship between at least some of the eight fired U.S. attorneys and officials at the Department of Justice continued to be cordial almost to the day those attorneys received a phone call dismissing them.

Two of the terminated prosecutors said they had received positive feedback from their superiors as well as from Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the former director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which helps put together teams that review U.S. attorneys.

We know already that she was consulted about which US Attorneys were to be fired. Now we know she gave positive feedback to at least two of the fired attorneys.

Ward has some details on how one attorney was canned:

"I was told the administration only had a short, two-year window of opportunity to put someone [new] in there. They wanted to take advantage of it," he said. The message, delivered by Michael Battle, who replaced Ms. Buchanan as director of the Executive Office, was: " 'You serve at the pleasure of the president. Your time is up, and you need to resign.' "

When he asked if his job performance had anything to do with his termination, Mr. Bogden said he was told that it never even entered into the equation.

When Mr. Cummins got the phone call from Mr. Battle notifying him of his termination, "I asked him if I did something wrong, and he said I hadn't."

That's why, when Justice Department officials started releasing information to the media that the firings were performance related, Mr. Cummins and Mr. Bogden were shocked and disappointed.

Lies. It all began with lies. You'd think these Republicans would at least be honest with their own appointees.

Over at the Trib, Jason Cato describes the rise of Buchanan's career. He points to her prosecutions of Tommy Chong (for selling bongs) and Extreme Associates (on obscenity charges). Both times, he adds, critics complained about wasted government resources and "government fiddling with constitutinal freedoms." At that point, Cato writes:

The Justice Department and Ashcroft praised both cases. Buchanan was rewarded with a string of lofty posts, one of which -- director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys -- has landed her at the forefront of a congressional investigation into a group firing of fellow Republican prosecutors.

Interesting how prosecuting bongs and porn curried favor with the Bush Administration. This dovetails nicely with something Ward's got. H. E. Cummings was one of the fired US Attorneys.

During her tenure as a U.S. attorney, she has been appointed to national positions three times and is currently serving as the acting director of the Office on Violence Against Women.

To get into those administrative roles, Mr. Cummins said, a person either had to be from a prominent district or put a lot of effort into being asked.

"There was definitely an inner circle of U.S. attorneys," Mr. Cummins said. "I don't think I ever was in it. Some people are more active in seeking out those opportunities."

So after snagging the EOUSA, the ever-loyal, "inner circle" Mary Beth Buchanan gives positive feedback to at least two US Attorneys while being consulted on their politically motivated dismissals. Nice.

But she's also pissed of a couple of "blindsided" Alaskan Senators. This from the Anchorage Daily News:

The state’s chief federal prosecutor, Pittsburgh native Nelson Cohen, owes his job to the U.S. attorney in his hometown, who succeeded in getting him the Anchorage post over Alaskans nominated by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens.

The way things normally go, when a US Attorney position opens up in a given state, the Senators from that state submit names to the Justice Department for consideration. This time? Uh-uh, nope. Wasn't handled that way. Cohen's one of the people whose "interim" job as a US Attorney was extended by that provision of the USPatriot Act. And while he says he wasn't aware of all the political forces that got him the gig,

...knew his boss, Buchanan, was well-connected, and it was she who told him about the opening in Alaska.

And it looks like her pulling some strings annoyed some people up there:

Stevens, himself a former federal prosecutor in Alaska, was enraged. “I am just
furious at the way the attorney general handled this,” he said at the time.

However the Anchorage Daily News is careful to add:

There are no claims that Cohen got his job here to help or hinder political prosecutions in Alaska, as is alleged in New Mexico, San Diego and other areas where U.S. attorneys were replaced. Pittsburgh Democrats who worked with him and defended clients against him described Cohen, a registered Republican, as a skilled career prosecutor who distanced himself from the Bush administration’s agenda.

Looks like it's the same MO for those loyal bushies. Little respect for honesty, Little respect for decency, and little respect even for Senators from their own party.

UPDATE: An astute reader puts things this way:

[Mary Beth Buchanan] is trapped in this situation: either she defends the competence of the fired USAttys, thereby undermining the Attorney General’s position, or she contradicts what she wrote as EOUSA director, or she concedes they were competent but politically incorrect.

Wise words.

More on Mary Beth Buchanan

Again from Pamela Reed Ward at the P-G.

On top of all the good stuff from yesterday, Ward's added this:

According to the Justice Department Web site, the major functions of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys include "evaluating the performance of the Offices of U.S. Attorneys, making appropriate reports and taking corrective action where necessary" and "providing support to Deputy Attorney Generals regarding U.S. attorney appointments."

But former federal prosecutors said that is rarely the role of the executive office.

"EOUSA is an administrative office that is designed to serve as a conduit between main Justice and the field," said former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman. "It doesn't supervise U.S. attorneys, and it would never be their call to remove a U.S. attorney."

I'd wondered about that. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if this administration decided to shift the job description. According to the Boston Globe, they were putting inexperienced Regent Law School grads in very important positions, why not turn the EOUSA into another political tool?

But here's the bigger question. Did any of the other US Attorneys know that the EOUSA was being used to supervise them? Were any of the other US Attorneys under the impression that the EOUSA was just an "administrative office" while Mary Beth Buchanan was being consulted by the administration about removing some of them?

Ward has more:

Ms. Buchanan also has earned favor within the administration by following the path of many Bush insiders as a member of the Federalist Society.

That was among the criteria in a set of Justice Department documents, released last week to the Judiciary Committee, listing the qualifications of U.S. attorneys.

The categories include political experience, either local, state or federal; prosecution experience, both state and federal; and membership in the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a group of 35,000, founded by conservative law students.

For Ms. Buchanan, it lists her federal prosecutorial career from 1988 to 2001, and that she is a member of the Federalist Society.

This was a minor news story of the past few days - how the administration was tracking the political activities of the US Attorneys.

Jason Corto Cato at the Trib has this:

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan might have played a role in determining which of her colleagues got the ax, and the House Judiciary Committee wants her to provide details of what she knew and when she knew it.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, told Senate investigators that he consulted with Buchanan about which U.S. attorneys should be asked to step down, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee aide who read a transcript of Sunday's interview to The Associated Press.

The good stuff comes a few paragraphs later.

A Justice Department official said Sampson consulted Buchanan while she was director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, which provides administrative support for U.S. attorneys offices across the country. Buchanan held that job from June 2004 to June 2005. During that time, a Justice Department chart rating U.S. attorneys was sent to the White House.

Working for Buchanan at that time was Monica Goodling. The former counsel to Gonzales and liaison to the White House has refused to cooperate with congressional investigators about her role in orchestrating the firings.[emphasis added]

Just to tie everything in a nice bow, Monica Goodling was one of those inexperienced Regent Law graduates installed in important positions in the Department of Justice.

It's so nice when everything comes full circle, doesn't it?

Mary Beth Buchanan in the News!

An astute reader sent me the link to this Post-Gazette article by Pamela Ward earlier today.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee has requested an interview with U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan in relation to the ongoing investigation into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys late last year.

Ms. Buchanan is one of eight people identified in the letter sent to Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling yesterday by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan.

According to a judiciary staffer, the committee has received information that causes concern about both the process of the firings and politically motivated prosecutions across the country.

Here's the letter Congressman Conyers sent.

Included on that list is Steven Biskupic, US Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. He's the guy described in this blog posting. Biskupic was reportedly on the purge list, but came off it at about the same time he prosecuted a staffer in the office of the Wisconsin's Governor just before the 2006 election. The Republicans in that race used the prosecution to "prove" corruption in the Democratic Governor's administration, by the way.

Geez, will wonders never cease.

WTAE has some more information.

The Justice Department consulted with U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan in Pittsburgh when it was drawing up a list of prosecutors to be fired, a former top aide to the attorney general told investigators, and now a House committee wants to interview her.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, told Senate investigators Sunday that Buchanan was one of the senior officials he consulted about which U.S. attorneys should be asked to resign, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee aide who read a transcript of the interview. The aide requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Turns out that Ms Buchanan was, from mid-2004 to mid-2005, the director of Executive Office of US Attorneys. The EOUSA's missions and functions (according to it's website) include:

• Evaluate the performance of the Offices of the United States Attorneys, making appropriate reports and taking corrective action where necessary.

Seems a natural that they'd want to talk to her. I just wonder what they're gonna ask.

Can't say it enough. Congressional oversight is a bee-you-tiful thing!

Another USAttorney Wrinkle (with a local connection)

Here's an interesting wrinkle to the USAttorney story. It's in the Washington Post.

You remember the story, right? There was a buncha USAttorneys who were effectively fired for not being loyal enough to the Bush Administration's political policies. They were replaced by less qualified, more loyal Bushies and because of a little known prevision quietly slipped into the USAPatriot Act, the replacements did not need to be OKed by the Senate.

Well one of those replaced, David C. Iglesias USAttorney of New Mexico, was reportedly replaced for not being at his office enough. From the Post:

One of them, David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, was publicly accused by the Justice Department of being an "absentee landlord" who was away from his job too much.

Iglesias himself has protested this. You know why

Iglesias filed a complaint with federal investigators last week, alleging that his dismissal amounted to discrimination based on his status as an officer in the Navy Reserve, which took him away from the job for 40 to 45 days a year. Alleged absenteeism has been the Justice Department's main public criticism of Iglesias, although officials have more recently added concerns about his handling of voter fraud and immigration cases to their arguments about him.

Ok, so that's the set-up. The point of the Post article is that there've been a number of USAttorneys (including our own Mary Beth Buchanan) who have been given double appointments:

A half-dozen sitting U.S. attorneys also serve as aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales or are assigned other Washington postings, performing tasks that take them away from regular duties in their districts for months or even years at a time, according to officials and department records.

And a few paragraphs down:

The number of U.S. attorneys pulling double duty in Washington is the focus of growing concern from other prosecutors and from members of the federal bench, according to legal experts and government officials.

Our own Mary Beth Buchanan is pulling double duty as well, serving as the acting director of the Office of Violence Against Women.

So they toss the merely loyal USAttorney for spending too much time in the Naval Reserve, while keeping other more "loyal Bushies" in their positions.

Can they get any more disgusting?

More on Mary Beth Buchanan

On Saturday, I blogged on Andy Sheehan's story on KDKA about Mary Beth Buchanan. Sunday, the P-G had it's own story on her - written by Paula Reed Ward.

While the KDKA piece had a far more accusatory tone, the P-G's at least tried to offer some balance. I'm just not sure it did much to help Buchanan's reputation. The piece paints her as extremely ambitious while being a true Bush team player:

While the firing of eight U.S. attorneys across the country has focused attention on those who didn't get with the administration's program, Ms. Buchanan has proved herself to be a perfect fit.

She's loyal, hard-working and smart.

"She is very focused to the department first of all," said one current assistant U.S. attorney, who asked not to be named. "She's not independent, and I don't think she wants to be."

Considering that the fired US Attorneys were let go (or asked to leave or whatever) for not being loyal enough, non-independence might not be the best course for Buchanan. But, as they say, the die is cast. The deal is set. You gotta dance with the one that brought ya.

At the beginning of this month, I linked to a dailykos post that quoted something New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman wrote:

The Gonzales Eight were fired because they wouldn’t go along with the Bush administration’s politicization of justice. But statistical evidence suggests that many other prosecutors decided to protect their jobs or further their careers by doing what the administration wanted them to do: harass Democrats while turning a blind eye to Republican malfeasance.

The P-G piece notes that "statistical evidence" as well:

A recently released study by two retired communication professors found that under the Bush administration, the Department of Justice has investigated elected Democratic officeholders and office seekers locally seven times more than their Republican counterparts.

The authors looked at 375 federal criminal cases across the country that targeted public officials from 2001 to 2006.

They found that of those, 298 defendants were Democrats; 67 were Republicans and 10 were independents.

That number comes despite a statistic that shows that Democratic officeholders outnumber Republicans nationally by only 50 percent to 41 percent, said one of the authors, Donald C. Shields, a professor emeritus of communication at the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

And while it's true that there are far more Democrats in power in Allegheny County, Allegheny County is not the only county in Western PA - Mary Beth Buchanan's geographic area of responsibility.

At the end of the KDKA piece Former Assistant US Attorney Tom Farrell calls for Buchanan's resignation. In today's P-G, he expands on that call:

The Bush administration's efforts to use an obscure provision of the Patriot Act to replace U.S. attorneys it deemed too vigorous in investigating Republican officials, too slow in indicting Democratic public officials or too reluctant to investigate "voter fraud" -- a euphemism for attempting to suppress the minority vote -- caused me to re-think my opinion of the fairness of Western Pennsylvania's U.S. attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan. I began to wonder why all of the recent public-corruption investigations in our region have been of Democrats.

She's "inflated law enforcement successes" by misclassifying routine immigration cases as "anti-terrorism" cases. She's repeated administration falsehoods in her defense of the USAPatriot Act, for instance falsely claiming (according to Farrell) that:

...until enactment of the Patriot Act, federal prosecutors could not obtain emergency wiretaps to prevent imminent terrorist attacks; to the contrary, a 1995 Justice Department bulletin instructed prosecutors like me and Ms. Buchanan how the pre-Patriot law could be used to do just that.

But all this regards what Buchanan has done - what has she left undone?

Why apparently no investigation into Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's use of government office staff to support his campaign -- which is not unlike what happened in the Allegheny County sheriff's office? Ms. Buchanan also left to local authorities the prosecution of Republican state Rep. Jeff Habay after similar accusations arose.

And what of ex-U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, Ms. Buchanan's political sponsor? He misrepresented his family's residency in order to obtain state-funded cyber schooling for his children. Yet there appears to have been no investigation. I fear the worst.

Lil Ricky was her sponsor? I fear the worst, too.

Farrell has great faith in the staff over there, just not in the US Attorney herself. The US Attorney's office must be beyond reproach, he said. If it isn't, the trust among the faithful must be restored.

Mary Beth Buchanan must resign.

US Attorney Scandal - A Western PA Echo

Last week, I blogged on something I'd found in Philly. At its heart was a question Paul Krugman had asked: If those US Attorneys were fired for not playing ball with the Bush Administration, what about the 85 or so who weren't fired? They were the acceptable US Attorneys - the ones identified as "loyal" to the Attorney General and the Administration.

Seems that Andy Sheehan over at KDKA has been looking into our own US Attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan:

Congress wants to know if seven U.S. Attorneys were fired because they were not aggressive enough in prosecuting Democrats.

Now, local leaders are raising questions about our own U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and whether her prosecutions of Democrats were politically motivated.

And the charge:

In the past three years, there have been a parade of witnesses appearing before grand juries probing high ranking public officials for alleged corruption: former Sheriff Pete DeFazio, former Mayor Tom Murphy and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner Cyril Wecht.

They are all Democrats…. all investigated by Buchanan, who is a Republican.

Sheehan also wonders if Buchanan's non-investigation of then-Senator Rick Santorum's non-residency in Penn Hills was politically motivated.

There's a surpise of sorts at the end of the piece:

But former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Farrell says the D.C. revelations have now tainted the Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney's Office and says Buchanan must take a drastic step to restore public confidence.

"Because I want to see public trust in that office restored," said Farrell. "I think she would serve the people of this district well if she resigned."[Emphasis added]

There is good news, I guess. Sheehan reports that Buchanan is, in fact, investigating a local Republican Congressman - Tim Murphy.

You remember Tim Murphy, right? He's the local Congressman accused of mixing his Congressional staff with his campaign staff (a serious ethics violation - just ask Jeff Habay).

I wonder if with all this negative publicity, we'll learn that Mary Beth Buchanan's investigation of Congressman Murphy is "coincidentally" nearing completion.

UPDATE: Andy Sheehan's piece has made it onto Talkingpointsmemo.