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 “vindictively” 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.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wants Attorney General Eric Holder to give him more information about the funding of the Pennsylvania-based National Drug Intelligence Center backed by Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), The Hill reported last night.

Congress tried to strip funding for the center two years ago, The Hill said. Coburn previously commissioned a report that found the NDIC did not have a consistent mission over its 15 year existence, and “its data was not very useful to the other drug control agencies,” according to The Hill.

But the money is still slated to flow into the NDIC with $44 million set aside for the center in the proposed fiscal 2010 DOJ budget. The NDIC, however, is now called the Center for Strategic Intelligence in the budget,  The Hill said.

“I am concerned about both the costs and the motivation of this proposed name change,” Coburn wrote in his letter, according to The Hill.

We previously reported that the Justice Department is already investigating Murtha for giving earmarks to defense contractor Mountaintop Technologies for them to issue grants and monitor small Pennsylvania police departments.

The investigation of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is now focusing on the defense contractor Mountaintop Technologies.  The company had been selected by Murtha in a series of earmarks to issue grants and monitor them.  Oftentimes, the company would give $10 million dollars in Justice Department grants to small police departments in southwestern Pennsylvania, just before fall elections.  The firm has received $36 million over the last eight years in military contracts and earmarks.  Mountaintop also hired a lobbying firm that, coincidentally, was the employer of Murtha’s brother.  You can read the detailed Washington Post story here.

Many Republicans and some Democrats aren’t happy with the idea that Guantanamo Bay detainees could end up in their districts when the military brig closes next year. The House Appropriations Committee solution: withhold the requested $50 million for the closure of the facility and the resettlement of its prisoners, The Washington Post reported today.

This doesn’t mean that the Democrats want to keep prisoners at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely. Most Democrats have stood behind President Obama’s plan to shutter the facility in a year, and Appropriation Committee Democrats rejected a Republican amendment that would prohibit any funding for the transfer of detainees to the United States, The Post reported.

The Democrats just want to know what the Justice Department will do with prisoners. They passed a resolution that asks the Justice Department to outline its plan for the detainees by October 1, The Post reported.

“You cannot close Guantanamo unless you have a plan,” Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) told The Post.

We previously reported the Attorney General Eric Holder is still trying to sort out how the Justice Department will handle each of the 241 Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

“We are reviewing each case individually and carefully,” Holder said at the American Jewish Committee gala last night.