As criticism continues for the three finalists to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, one of those critics is now facing sanctions, The Tampa Tribune reports.

The critic is former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Del Fuoco, who blames the loss of his job on Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill, who is one of the finalists for the U.S. Attorney job. O’Neill is now the head of the Middle District office’s criminal division and once served as interim U.S. Attorney in the district.

Del Fuoco says he’s a whistleblower intent on bringing to light rampant corruption by O’Neill, while O’Neill claims Del Fuoco is unhinged and bent on ruining O’Neill’s career, The Tampa Tribune reports. “It is apparent that Mr. Del Fuoco is fixated on me,” O’Neill said in documents.

As Del Fuoco continues his public attacks on O’Neill, U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore is considering sanctioning Del Fuoco.

The sanctions would be for misrepresenting the facts in court documents and for trying to “perpetuate the pattern of harassment” and “scandalous and impertinent accusations” in connection with Del Fuoco’s federal libel lawsuit against O’Neill, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Whittemore has ordered Del Fuoco to appear at a hearing this afternoon, which the former prosecutor intends to attend. Two judges already have determined that Del Fuoco has acted inappropriately.

Del Fuoco has sent letters and e-mails to both the White House and Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson’s office claiming that investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s office were compromised because of a extramarital relationship O’Neill had with an office employee. Some associates and friends say the affair was with an employee of a contractor who was neither hired nor directly supervised by O’Neill.

Del Fuoco has filed a lawsuit in which he claims O’Neill and other former superiors in the U.S. Attorney’s office of threatened beatings, lied under oath, used intimidation, protected their political friends and obstructed justice, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Del Fuoco has a history of run-ins with the law, including complaints and lawsuits against O’Neill and others, an outstanding arrest warrant for refusal to pay child support and accusations of attempted extortion.

In addition to O’Neill, the finalists for the job are Harry Shorstein, a partner at Jacksonville law firm Shorstein & Lasnetski who previously served as a Florida state attorney; and Roger Handberg, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Middle District’s Orlando office.

Shorstein has also come under personal attack, while the major criticism of Handberg is that he lacks experience and outside support, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Harry Shorstein (Shorstein & Lasnetski)

The three finalists to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida “are being attacked by old adversaries, an assault that has stymied selection efforts,” The St. Petersburg Times reports.

In July, a Florida screening committee submitted three finalists for Middle District U.S. Attorney to the state’s senators. Eight people were considered by the panel.

The three finalists are Harry Shorstein, a partner at Jacksonville law firm Shorstein & Lasnetski who previously served as a Florida state attorney; Robert O’Neill, head of the office’s criminal division who once served as interim U.S. Attorney in the district; and Roger Handberg, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Middle District’s Orlando office.

Sen. Bill Nelson (gov)

Although it has not been made public which of the finalists were recommended by Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and then-Sen. Mel Martinez (R), concerns about the finalists have already been aired. Martinez resigned Sept. 9 to join the private sector. He was replaced by Sen. George LeMieux (R). President Obama has yet to nominate anyone for the post, due in part to the public bickering, according to the St. Petersburg newspaper.

In September, current Florida State Attorney Angela Corey tried to derail the candidacy of her former boss, Shorstein.  Three years ago, Shorstein fired Corey and later publicly opposed her bid for election to the state prosecuting job before Corey trounced Shorstein’s former chief of staff in the bitterly contested election. As part of her anti-Shorstein effort, Corey wrote to Nelson and Martinez asking them not to recommend her former boss to Obama.

Sen. Mel Martinez (gov)

Last month, state Circuit Judge Kim Hammond unsealed a court order of his that is critical of Shorstein. Hammond denounced  Shorstein in the 2008 order regarding the ex-prosecutor’s management of a still-sealed grand jury examination into state attorney John Tanner’s probe of the Flagler County, Fla., prison.

Now, former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney, who is now president of the University of North Florida, is attacking Shorstein, who he says lacks the personality, temperament and management skills to be U.S. Attorney, the newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, O’Neill has come under criticism from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Del Fuoco, according to The St. Petersburg Times. Del Fuoco, who blames the loss of his job on O’Neill, has sent letters and e-mails to both the White House and Nelson’s office claiming that investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s office were compromised because of a extramarital relationship O’Neill had with an office employee, the newspaper reports. The newspaper reported that some associates and friends say the affair was with an employee of a contractor who was neither hired nor directly supervised by O’Neill.

Sen. George LeMieux (gov)

Del Fuoco also has raised questions about O’Neill’s ownership interest in Four Green Fields, a Tampa bar that once raised money for Irish Republican Army political leader Gerry Adams, according to the newspaper. O’Neill has publicly acknowledged his ownership of the bar, but told the Times he did not organize or attend the event.

Del Fuoco has filed a federal lawsuit in which he accuses O’Neill of defamation in comments that were included in his application for U.S. Attorney, the newspaper reports.

Handberg has come under less fire than Shorstein and O’Neill, with the major criticism being his lack of experience and outside support, according to the Times.

A Florida judge has unsealed his court order that is critical of a U.S. Attorney candidate for the Middle District of Florida, The Florida Times-Union reported yesterday.

Harry Shorstein (Shorstein & Lasnetski)

State Circuit Judge Kim Hammond denounced former Jacksonville, Fla., state attorney Harry Shorstein in the 2008 order regarding the ex-prosecutor’s management of a still-sealed grand jury examination into state attorney John Tanner’s probe of the Flagler County, Fla., prison, according to the newspaper. The 16-month-old court order was unsealed Dec. 4, according to the Times-Union.

Tanner, who “vehemently opposes” Shorstein’s U.S. Attorney candidacy, filed the motion to unseal the order, the Times-Union said. Shorstein, the former state attorney for Florida’s 4th Circuit in the northeast corner of the state, has a relationship with Hammond, according to the newspaper, but it is unclear how close the two are. Hammond recused himself from a case last month that involved Tanner’s daughter, the Times-Union said.

The newspaper did not report the details of the unsealed document.

Adding to the intrigue, Shorstein wasn’t aware of the Dec. 4 hearing, according to the newspaper. But prosecutors from the office of current Jacksonville-based state attorney Angela Corey, who is also a Shorstein critic, were present, even though the office’s special prosecutor appointment for the case expired in 2008, according to the newspaper.

Corey, a Republican, wrote to then-Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) earlier this year to ask them not to recommend Shorstein, who was her former supervisor at the office. Two years ago, Shorstein fired Corey, and later spoke out against her bid for election to the state prosecuting job. But last year, Corey easily beat Shorstein’s former chief of staff in the bitterly contested election.

Shorstein, now a partner at the Jacksonville law firm of  Shorstein & Lasnetski, told the newspaper that the unsealing of the order is a “slick” endeavor to spoil his bid for U.S. Attorney.

“It shows the process lacked credibility,” Shorstein told the Times-Union. “If it didn’t, it would have been done differently.”

Tanner told the newspaper that he asked for the order to be unsealed after a Florida screening committee named Shorstein, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg as candidates for the Tampa-based U.S. Attorney post in July. President Obama has not yet selected who he will nominate.

“This just made it a priority matter, and I thought it was a matter of public importance,” Tanner told the Times-Union. “When you apply for public office … your professional record … should be a matter of scrutiny.”

We previously reported that Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) met with a White House official in November to express concerns about Shorstein.

It is unclear what effect, if any, this unsealed order will have on Shorstein’s bid to succeed Bush-administration holdover U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton. But the White House has seemed to steer clear of candidates that have links to controversies.

Southern District Developments. In other news involving the filling of U.S. Attorney posts in Florida, we reported last week that the White House no longer appears to be considering two Southern District of Florida U.S. Attorney finalists, who received special scrutiny in the state. The White House is vetting a third finalist, assistant Dade County, Fla., attorney Wifredo “Willy” Ferrer, for the Miami-based U.S. Attorney post.

Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) met with a White House official earlier this month to discuss the U.S. Attorney recommendations for the Middle and Southern districts of Florida, the St. Petersburg Times’ Buzz blog reported yesterday.

George LeMieux (Gov)

LeMieux, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) after Sen. Mel Martinez (R) resigned in September, had a meeting with White House Counsel Greg Craig on Nov. 9, according to the blog. The senator’s office declined to comment to the Buzz about the meeting.

People close to Crist, who will run for Senate next year, are expressing concerns about Jacksonville, Fla., lawyer Harry Shorstein, who, according to the blog, is a finalist for the Middle District of Florida job.

We reported in September that the State Attorney for the state’s 4th Judicial Circuit, Republican Angela Corey, wrote to Martinez and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to ask them not to recommend Shorstein, who was her former boss at the office. Two years ago, Shorstein fired Corey and later spoke out against her bid for election to the state prosecuting job. But last year, Corey easily beat Shorstein’s former chief of staff in the bitterly contested election.

The current U.S. Attorney in the Middle District is Bush-administration holdover A. Brian Albritton.

Some of the finalists for the Southern District of Florida are also receiving additional scrutiny in Florida. We reported this week that Daryl E. Trawick, a judge in Dade County, once helped put phony court documents in the public docket at the request of state prosecutors, which could be a violation of state law. In addition, former Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Buckner, another finalist for the U.S. Attorney post, played a role in a controversial terrorism case.

Jeffrey H. Sloman is the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District.

Here are the finalists for the Middle and Southern district U.S. Attorney posts:

Middle District:

– Harry Shorstein, who is a partner at the Jacksonville law firm of Shorstein & Lasnetski where he works on white-collar crimes cases. He previously served as a Florida state attorney. He has also worked as a general counsel for Jacksonville and as a Naval judge advocate. Read his full bio here.

– Robert O’Neill, who was interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District in 2008 and currently leads the office’s criminal division.

– Roger Handberg, who is an Assistant U.S. Attorney, in charge of the Middle District’s Orlando office.

Southern District:

– Wifredo Ferrer, who is an assistant Dade County, Fla., attorney.

– David M. Buckner, who is a partner at Miami’s Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney.

— Daryl E. Trawick, who is a Dade County Circuit Court judge.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Friday appointed former Deputy Attorney General George LeMieux to the Senate to replace Sen. Mel Martinez (R), who is resigning mid-term. Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Roberto Martinez had been on Crist’s short list to replace the Martinez, who had already announced he wouldn’t run for re-election in 2010.

LeMieux is the chairman of the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart. He previously served as Cristi’s chief of staff.

Crist in May announced that he will run for the seat himself next year. So he needed a trusted place-holder who wouldn’t pose a threat to his 2010 run. CQ Politics reported that LeMieux will not run for a full term next year, leaving the seat open for his old boss.

The situation somewhat mirrors one in Delaware. Sen. Ted Kaufman (D), a longtime adviser to Joe Biden, was named to finish out Biden’s Senate term after the Delaware Democrat resigned to be vice president. Kaufman does not plan to run for a full term in 2010, leaving the seat open for Biden’s son, Beau, to run. Beau Biden, who is Delaware’s Attorney General, could have been appointed to succeed his father in the seat. But he was deployed to Iraq at the time as part of the Delaware National Guard.

Roberto Martinez (Colson Hicks Eidson)

Florida. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has asked former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Roberto Martinez to submit a questionnaire for consideration to fill the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Sen. Mel Martinez, The Miami Herald reported today.

Roberto Martinez was the Miami-based U.S. Attorney in the early 1990s. He currently serves on the Florida Board of Education and is a partner at the law firm of Colson, Hicks, Eidson in Coral Gables, Fla.

Crist announced in May that he will run for the seat himself next year, putting him in an awkward position. He needs to select a replacement who is both competent but not a threat to his own ambitions. Crist is scheduled to interview Roberto Martinez at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Miami International Airport. The Herald reports that while Roberto Martinez is a Republican, he is “far less partisan (than Mel Martinez), having never run for public office or immersed himself in GOP politics.”

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is urging Crist to select a Hispanic to replace Mel Martinez, the first Cuban American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Roberto Martinez was born in Cuba.

Other individuals under consideration by Crist to replace Mel Martinez include former Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who on Monday in a statement said he would not seek the seat, The Hill reported.

UPDATE: TampaBay.com reported that Crist offered the job to Roberto Martinez in their afternoon conversation. When asked whether he officially made the offer to Roberto Martinez, Crist said, “We had a lovely conversation. The process will continue.” Crist called Roberto Martinez a “brilliant man” and “a dear friend and a loyal ally,” The Palm Beach Post reported.

Sonia Sotomayor won Senate confirmation this afternoon to the Supreme Court by a vote of 68 to 31.

Only nine Republicans voted in favor of her confirmation. They were:

-Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.)

-Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.)

-Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine)

-Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)

-Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.)

-Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.)

-Sen. Christopher Bond (Mo.)

-Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.)

-Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio)

Here’s the Senate roll call vote:

A Florida screening committee submitted three finalists for Northern District U.S. Attorney to Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), the News Service of Florida reported today.

The finalists are:

Thomas M. Findley (Messer Caparello & Self)

-Thomas M. Findley: He is a lawyer at Tallahassee law firm Messer, Caparello & Self, where he specializes on white-collar criminal defense, antitrust litigation and the False Claims Act. Findley previously served as a Middle District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney and as a clerk to U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Hatchett.

-Thomas F. Kirwin: He is the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District.

-Pamela C. Marsh: She is a lawyer at the Tallahassee office of the Akerman

Pamela C. Marsh (Akerman Senterfitt)

Senterfitt law firm, where she focuses on white-collar criminal defense and government investigations. Marsh previously served as a Middle District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney and as a clerk to U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals Jane R. Roth.

The senators will likely recommend that President Obama nominate one of the finalists. The Senate must approve Obama’s appointee before the nominee can become a U.S. Attorney.

The screening panel has also named finalists for the Florida Southern District and Middle District. Read our posts here and here.

A Florida screening committee submitted three finalists for Middle District U.S. Attorney to the state’s senators, The Florida Times-Union reported last night.

The finalists are:

Harry Shorstein (Shorstein & Lasnetski)

-Harry Shorstein: He is a partner at Jacksonville law firm Shorstein & Lasnetski where he works on white-collar crimes cases. He previously served as a Florida state attorney. He has also worked as a general counsel for Jacksonville and as a Naval judge advocate. Read his full bio here.

-Robert O’Neill: He was interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District in 2008 and currently leads the office’s criminal division.

-Roger Handberg: He is an Assistant U.S. Attorney who in charge of the Middle District Orlando office.

Eight candidates were eliminated during the screening process, The Tampa Tribune reported. They are:

-Michael Scionti

-Herbert M. Berkowitz

-Marcus A. Christian

-Thomas K. Equels

-John Z. Pare

-Michael Peacock

-Michael L. Seigel

-Sandra J. Wiseman

Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R) will likely recommend one or more of the U.S. Attorney finalists to President Obama. The president will then pick a nominee, who would replace Bush-holdover A. Brian Albritton. The Senate must approve Obama’s appointee before the nominee can become a U.S. Attorney.

The screening panel has also named finalists for the Florida Southern District. Read our post here.

11 applicants have been announced for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, pdf here.  Currently holding the position is Bush holdover A. Brian Albritton.

The applicants (in no particular order) are:

• Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill, who served as the interim U.S. attorney until Albritton took over on Oct. 15
  

  U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill takes questions after the arrest of alleged Gambino mob boss John A. "Junior" Gotti

• State Rep. Michael Scionti (D-Tampa)
• Lawyer Herbert Berkowitz
• Roger B. Handberg, chief assistant to the U.S. attorney in Orlando
• Harry Shorstein, retired state attorney from Jacksonville
• Marcus A. Christian
• Thomas K. Equels, President and Managing Director of the Equels Law Firm
• Lawyer Sandra Wiseman
• John Z. Pare, Central Florida Regional Deputy Attorney General under Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum
• Lawyer Mike Peacock
• Michael Seigel, Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.  More on Seigel from the University’s website:

First Assistant United States Attorney, Middle District of Florida (Tampa, 1995-99); Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Organized Crime Strike Force (Philadelphia, PA., 1990); Special Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, Philadelphia Strike Force (1985-89); Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2000-01.

The Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission is set to meet on June 30 to decide on whom to interview, before sending recommendations to Sens. Mel Martinez(R) and Bill Nelson(D).  The commission has until Aug. 5 to submit three names for the position.

In related news, Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Gold is among the applicants vying to become a federal judge in the Middle District of Florida.