Mary Beth Buchanan (Steve Pope)

Two weeks into her official congressional campaign, former Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is on the offensive, defending her actions as a federal prosecutor and threatening a lawsuit against a radio talk show host for repeating “flat-out wrong” information about a case she prosecuted.

Buchanan, who served as the Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney from 2001 until November 2009, filed papers on Feb. 4 to seek the GOP nomination for the 4th District seat just north of Pittsburgh that is held by Democrat Jason Altmire. Buchanan and Keith Rothfus are seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Altimire. Rothfus is an attorney and former Department of Homeland Security official.

Cyril Wecht (CyrilWecht.com)

During “The Real Deal with Marty Griffin” on a Pittsburgh radio station on Thursday, host Griffin interviewed Cyril Wecht, Talking Points Memo reports. Wecht, who is a former Allegheny County medical examiner, was prosecuted by Buchanan for alleged corruption. Buchanan’s U.S. Attorney’s office dismissed all charges against the prominent Democratic defendant after a federal judge threw out evidence that he ruled was improperly obtained. Buchanan has received harsh criticism for her unsuccessful prosecution of Wecht, while Wecht’s supporters accused Buchanan of targeting him because of his politics.

Wecht during the radio interview said the case cost $20 million to prosecute. That figure did not sit well with Buchanan, who called into the radio show. After a polite introduction, the conversation very quickly turned curt.

Griffin: Just talked to Cyril Wecht live. On the phone now Mary Beth Buchanan. Good morning Mary Beth.

Buchanan: Good morning Marty.

Griffin: You heard Dr. Wecht. You heard his comments. Uh — (interrupted)

Buchanan: Yeah, you know what, listen Marty. Normally I don’t have the opportunity to listen to your show but this morning I happened to catch it and I’m calling in because you and Cyril were batting around what my qualifications are so I’m here to tell you what they are.

After talking about other issues for a while, the conversation turned confrontational.

Marty Griffin (KDKA Radio)

Buchanan: Let’s also talk about another issue. Let’s talk about that issue. You keep rolling around numbers wildly exaggerated that this case cost $10 million — (interrupted)

Griffin: No, Dr. Wecht said 20 (million) actually.

Buchanan: But you repeat it and that’s just flat-out wrong. 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.”

Griffin: So you’re saying you’re going to sue me? “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?

Buchanan: I’m saying you have to know what you’re talking about before you start repeating things.

Griffin: So his lawyers are wrong and you’re right? Is that what you’re saying?

Buchanan: That’s right. And I was the U.S. Attorney and I know what it cost. And to the extent that you were misinformed and you’re misinforming your viewers I’m here to correct you.

Griffin then asks Buchanan if she’s willing to provide documents indicating exactly how much the case cost.

Griffin: Are you gonna answer my question?

Buchanan: I am answering your question, if you would shut up and let me talk.

Griffin: Oh, so this is how you’re gonna run? Telling people to shut up and threatening them with lawsuits?

Buchanan: Listen, if you want the facts, I’m here to give them to you. If you hear want to hear yourself talk, then why do you even invite people to come on and be guests?

Griffin: Go ahead, Mary Beth.

Buchanan: Okay, thank you.

Griffin: You sound very defensive to me. It’s a long road, Mary Beth, to run for office. This is just the beginning. This is just your toe in the water. But go ahead.

Click here for the audio of the conversation between Griffin and Buchanan.

Former Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan will decide within the next couple weeks whether she will seek the Republican nomination for a House seat in Western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported today.

Mary Beth Buchanan (Steve Pope)

Buchanan, who served as the Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney from 2001 until November 2009, told the newspaper that she was “very encouraged” by meetings she had with local Republicans about seeking the 4th District seat just north of Pittsburgh that is held by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who is running for a third term.

“The common message I’ve been hearing, consistently, is that most voters feel the current administration is forcing its agenda and programs on people who don’t want them, who don’t feel like paying for them and who are not willing to leave this tax bill for future generations,” Buchanan told the Tribune-Review.

The ex-U.S. Attorney would likely challenge lawyer Keith Rothfus in the Republican primary, according to the newspaper. Congressional Quarterly rates the district as “likely Democratic” for the 2010 election.

Beaver County GOP Chairman Marty Matthews told the Tribune-Review that Buchanan would face an “uphill battle” if she runs. The former U.S. Attorney has received harsh criticism for her unsuccessful prosecution of former Allegheny County medical examiner Cyril Wecht.

Her office dismissed all charges against the prominent Democratic defendant after a federal judge threw out evidence that he ruled was improperly obtained. Wecht’s supporters accused Buchanan of targeting him because of his politics. And former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh asked Attorney General Eric Holder to discipline Buchanan for “vindictively� suggesting at a news conference that Wecht was guilty, but nothing ever came of the request -– at least publicly.

“Personal opinion, I think if there were another candidate who had the recognition that Mary Beth Buchanan has, it would be the better choice,” Matthews told the newspaper. “It’s the Wecht thing, primarily.”

We reported last week that Buchanan also came out on the losing end of an apparent political skirmish over a rescue mission for 53 Haitian orphans. She was trying to organize efforts to help Haitian children stranded in an orphanage destroyed by this month’s earthquake. But Altmire and Gov. Ed Rendell (D) planned their own rescue mission and kept the Bush U.S. Attorney mostly out of the loop.

Two other former U.S. Attorneys from Pennsylvania who served during the administration of George W. Bush have already declared their candidacies for House seats.

Tom Marino, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 2002 to October 2007, is running for the seat held by Rep. Chris Carney (D). Patrick Meehan, who led the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2001 to 2008, is seeking the seat that is being vacated by Rep. Joe Sestak (D), who is running against Sen. Arlen Specter in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.

Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan will step down tomorrow, leaving office with one regret, the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA reported.

Mary Beth Buchanan (DOJ)

The controversial Bush holdover, who has served as U.S. Attorney since 2001 and also held a Justice Department position in Washington during the Bush years, told the television station that she wishes she never approved a plea deal with comedian Tommy Chong in a drug paraphernalia case called Operation Pipe Dream.

Chong, who starred in the “Cheech & Chong” movies, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia through a family business to save his wife and son from prosecution. He was sentenced in 2003 to nine months in prison and was ordered to pay a fine. It isn’t clear from the KDKA article why Buchanan regretted the plea deal, but Chong’s prosecution had sparked protests by civil libertarians and ridicule for Buchanan’s office.

Buchanan told KDKA she had no regrets about another case that her critics questioned, the unsuccessful prosecution of former Allegheny County medical examiner Cyril Wecht.

Her office dismissed all charges against the Democratic defendant after a federal judge threw out evidence that he ruled was improperly obtained. Wecht’s supporters accused Buchanan of targeting him because of his politics. Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh asked Attorney General Eric Holder to discipline Buchanan for “vindictivelyâ€� suggesting at a news conference that Wecht was guilty, but nothing ever came of the request – at least publicly.

Buchanan didn’t tell KDKA about her future plans, but said she is considering another public office. We reported that she might run for the Republican nomination to challenge  Rep. Jason Altmire (D), who represents Pennsylvania’s 4th congressional district.

Western District First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar is slated to serve as acting U.S. Attorney until a successor to Buchanan is confirmed by the Senate, according to the television station. Pennsylvania Democratic Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey have yet to announce their recommendation for the post.

Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to discipline Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan for “vindictively” suggesting a high-profile defendant was guilty. Read the AP story here.

Mary Beth Buchanan (usdoj)

Thornburgh is a lawyer for former Allegheny County medical examiner Cyril Wecht, who was indicted on fraud and theft charges in January 2006 in what critics have called a politically motivated prosecution. A trial ended in a hung jury, and the case ended last month after a federal judge in Erie threw out evidence he said was gathered unconstitutionally through improper search warrants. Read our previous report here.

Buchanan has been in office since 2001 and is among the most controversial of the holdover Bush-appointed U.S. Attorneys.

“We trust you will agree such statements by a United States prosecutor are completely improper, violate all notions of prosecutorial ethics and decency, and warrant remedial action by the Department of Justice,”  Thornburgh wrote in a June 16 letter to Holder, the AP reported.

Despite the controversies around Buchanan, the state’s two Democratic senators haven’t exactly jumped to replace her. Well, in fairness, Sen. Arlen Specter only recently became a Democrat and has a few problems of his own to deal with — like winning re-election. But Sen. Bob Casey could have been working on it. Instead,  the senators are only just now getting around to taking applications for U.S. Attorneys in Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported:

Applications also are being sought for the position held by Michael R. Stiles, interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Martin C. Carlson, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Specter told the AP that a search panel will interview candidates July 17, and recommendations should be announced “in a few weeks.”

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Mary Beth Buchanan filed a motion to dismiss charges against the famous forensic pathologist and prominent Democrat Dr. Cyril Wecht, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A former Allegheny County coroner, Wecht was tried in 2006 for misusing his office for private gain, but the trial ended in a hung jury last year.

The reasoning Buchanan offered in a news conference for her decision to drop the charges was exactly what you would expect from the infamous Bush holdover.  She couldn’t proceed with the case due to a court order suppressing evidence crucial to the case because the prosecutors’ search warrants were too general.

Wecht called Buchanan a “sore loser” and said that “Her record, her actions speak for themselves.  She has no shame at all. Absolutely none. Evidently, whether it’s biological, or genetic or an environmental, infectious contaminant of some kind, she is incapable of simply telling the truth, not to mention being a gracious loser.”

Buchanan initially filed an 84-count indictment, which was worked down to 14 counts, and then ultimately dismissed, leading Wecht to ask “What does that say about professional decency and ethical responsibility?”

Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Ron Weich wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) on May 4 about the status of the long-delayed Office of Professional Responsibility report on Bush DOJ lawyers John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Steven Bradbury, authors of the controversial legal opinions authorizing brutal interrogation tactics. Read the letter here.

Weich also the Justice Deparment historically has released only summaries — if that — of OPR reports, but given the intent public interest  the department is “reviewing some of these procedures” for the report on the memo authors.

Weich also said the department was unable “at this time” to answer congressional questions about an OPR investigation of allegations of selective prosecution against Alabama Governor Donald Siegelman, Georgia Thompson, Dr. Cyril Wecht, Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz and Mississippi attorney Paul Minor.