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 “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.

Michael Mukasey, the nation’s 81st attorney general, was typically self-effacing as he described the portrait of him that will hang in the Justice Department hence.

The newly unveiled Mukasey portrait. (DOJ)

“Thank goodness for artistic license,” he said, drawing laughs from a crowd gathered in the Great Hall Thursday for the portrait’s unveiling, a time-honored tradition.

Eight months after leaving the department, the mild-mannered New Yorker was visibly energized. Mukasey, 68, spoke often and affectionately of the people who served under him during his 15-month tenure. And without hesitation, Mukasey said he would not have traded places with any of the attorneys general who preceded him — even those who served at less tumultuous periods in the department’s history — for anything.

“My fondest wish for the portrait that you are about to see is that it will look out on people who will continue to do what the people I worked with did in the way that they did it,” Mukasey said.

He received several standing ovations from a group that included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House Counsel Fred Fielding, former attorneys general Edwin Meese III, Richard Thornburgh, and William Barr, former Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip and heaps of other Justice Department lawyers, current and former. Attorney General Eric Holder and much of the department’s leadership were also on hand.

Mukasey, surveying the room, dryly acknowledged what we, lacking his deft touch, might simply call the suck-up culture of Washington and the judiciary.

“It’s been said that the only actual expression in nature of the concept of infinity is the capacity of a federal judge to consume praise,” Mukasey said. “As you may be aware I was a federal judge for 18-plus years. An afternoon like this strains even the capacity I developed over that time to absorb flattery without exploding.”

Mukasey, a former federal judge in the Southern District of New York, took the helm of the Justice Department after Alberto Gonzales resigned. The proud institution had been rocked by allegations it had become less fair and more political, and it was struggling to prove its independence. Confirmed in November of 2007, Mukasey put up barriers between the White House and his department, instituted new hiring policies and appointed prosecutors to investigate the U.S. attorney firings and the destruction of the CIA tapes depicting harsh detainee interrogations.

Filip, who introduced Mukasey, praised his former boss for his independence, rigorous legal mind and quality of work he demanded of others. Facing the fallout of the U.S. attorney firings and devastating internal reports about politically tinged personnel decisions, Mukasey was “the perfect person under the circumstances to lead this department,” Filip said.

“No one accused Michael Mukasey of acting in a partisan or political manner,” Filip said.

Filip described Mukasey as a man devoted to his family and to his home, New York City. He recalled trying to get Mukasey to take a vacation a few days after he left office. Filip, who was still at the department, rattled off destinations — south of France, Hawaii, an African safari — but Mukasey wouldn’t budge.

“Susan and I are in New York finally,” Mukasey told him. “Where in the world would we rather be.” (Mukasey is now a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton’s New York office.)

Thursday’s ceremony, one day before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, recalled Mukasey’s push to increase the department’s national security capabilities. Under his leadership, the Justice Department succeeded in amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to give the government more leeway in acquiring wiretaps, and Mukasey issued guidelines expanding the FBI’s powers in criminal, national security and foreign intelligence surveillance.

At his confirmation hearings, Holder appeared supportive of these reforms, though he said they deserved review. But the department is a markedly different place since the change in administrations. For one, the Justice Department has rescinded Bush-era opinions sanctioning harsh interrogations, including waterboarding. Mukasey’s refusal to equate the tactic with torture — unlike Holder, who has stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture — nearly derailed his nomination.

Holder’s has expanded the purview of the CIA tapes investigation to include alleged detainee abuse, and the department’s ethics watchdog is nearly finished with a report critical of the lawyers who blessed the harsh interrogations. While in office, Mukasey bristled at second-guessing the work of lawyers who were working under pressure in aftermath of 9/11.

Despite their differences, Holder said Thursday that Mukasey executed his duties with skill, integrity and “great honor.”

“You sacrificed for the cause of country.  And the qualities you showed in your decision to take the job foreshadowed the kind of Attorney General you would become — a soft-spoken but fierce defender of justice who wears his patriotism not on his sleeve but in his heart,” Holder said.

The portrait, a work by Joyce Zeller, will hang on the fifth floor of the Justice Department until spoken for. The books over Mukasey’s right shoulder are the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Over his left shoulder hang the American and Justice Department flags.

Thursday’s affair stood in contrast with the private ceremony for former Attorney General Gonzales’ portrait unveiling. Gonzales’ was held in the attorney general’s conference room and attended by about 75 of his closest friends and former staff.

Former Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Janet Reno, like Mukasey, unveiled their likenesses before large crowds in ceremonies that included the presentation of the colors, the National Anthem, and lots of standing and sitting.

Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh urged members of the House Judiciary crime, terrorism and homeland security subcommittee this afternoon to revamp federal laws that over-criminalize conduct.

Richard Thornburgh (K&L Gates)

The ex-federal prosecutor said at a hearing today that many statutes in the Federal Criminal Code unfairly punish individuals who do not have a “evil-meaning mind [and] evil-doing hand.” The panel hearing included testimony from Kathy Norris, whose husband was imprisoned for importing orchid bulbs without the proper paperwork.

“True crimes should be met with true punishment. While we must be ‘tough on crime,’ we must also be intellectually honest,” said Thornburgh, who served as Attorney General under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and is of counsel at K&L Gates LLP. “Those acts that are not criminal should be countered with civil or administrative penalties to ensure that true criminality retain its importance and value in the legal system.”

Thornburgh said problems with over-criminalization could be fixed by streamlining the federal criminal code, establishing standards that protect companies from “rogue” employees and curbing the increase in criminal offenses that are imposed by regulatory agencies and not enacted by Congress.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the Federal Criminal Code hasn’t been updated for 50 years and includes a number of overlapping statutes. Panel Chair Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Gohmert agreed that the patchwork of federal criminal laws must be revised. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) introduced legislation this year to “modernize, shorten and simplify” the code.

“Such a rewrite would be a tremendous undertaking, but would be valuable to both practitioners and members of Congress,” Gohmert said.

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.”