(Mary Beth) Buchanan doesn't plan to step down as U.S. attorney

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Despite a new administration coming into power, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said she plans to stick around.

"It doesn't serve justice for all the U.S. attorneys to submit their resignations all at one time," she said yesterday.

U.S. attorneys serve at the discretion of the president and may be hired and fired at will, although their appointments must be confirmed by the Senate. When a new president is elected, U.S. attorneys of both parties generally tender their resignations.

Instead, the Republican said she plans to continue her work in the Western District of Pennsylvania. More than that, she said she would consider working in the Obama administration. She would not discuss what her future might hold beyond the U.S. attorney's office.



Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/08339/932615-181.stm

---

Pittsburgh local commentator/comedian John McIntyre says it best about the delusional Mary Beth. Obama administration better fire her ass!

She prosecuted Tommy Chong for selling bongs on the internet. She threatened to send his son to jail if he didn't take the rap. There's a Showtime documentary on it. It illustrates what an ass she is. An absolute ass. An absolute money wasting, moralistic, crusading douchebagette of the highest/lowest order. A disgrace to government. A disgrace to law enforcement. A disgrace to lawyers. A disgrace to Western PA.

Then she went on some unnecessary witchhunt against a California porn company. And Chong was in CA. What does this have to do with the price of bullshit in PA? Why is this woman going so far afield to produce results having to do with nothing particularly important?

Is she an old fashioned guardian of the public morality nutbag? An attention seeking diva? Both? Both and much worse?

She also helped conspire to fire US Attorneys deemed not Republican enough... not nutbag enough... though she was cleared by a bullshit inquiry. Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention knows this is the most politicized Justice Department in U.S. History and crazies like this, recruited by crazies like Aschroft and retained by crazies like Gonzo, are a huge part of the problem.

Plus she sucks at her job. And she's STILL persecuting Cyril Wecht.

http://www.macyapper.blogspot.com/

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Buchanan is going to get her ass fired...

and there ain't nothing she can do about it. She'll go back to being a two-bit shyster that has no business being in the law.

Hawkeye-X

[rpannier]

2. She has a future

Some place...Just not in the Justice Department

[w4rma]

15. She's starting her career in Republican politics, right now. (nt)

[SpiralHawk]

21. "She'd be great as my Homelander Attorney General in 2012. Smirk." - Sarah P.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. She should be first to go. Obama should put a letter in the mail to her on Jan 18th.

[onehandle]

4. Fire her ass. Fire every Bushie. From her down to the lowliest clerk. nt

[balantz]

6. Starting with Gates? n/t

[onehandle]

22. He is an exception.

I talked about this in this thread I started yesterday:


No Linda Tripps in the Obama White House
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[defendandprotect]

5. "And she's STILL persecuting Cyril Wecht...." What did he allegedly do--??

[RamboLiberal]

8. Oh really nasty stuff

Like sending the morgue's van to pick up hot dogs. Using the county copier and fax machine. Having county employees drive him to the airport. I kid you not.

WASHINGTON -- Public corruption charges against former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht are politically motivated, former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh told Congress on Tuesday.

Thornburgh accused U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, a fellow Republican, of abusing federal law to target his Democratic client. Wecht, 75, of Squirrel Hill is charged with 84 counts of theft and fraud, and he is accused of using his public office for private financial gain.

"It is not the type of case normally constituting a federal 'corruption' case brought against a local official," Thornburgh told members of the House Judiciary Committee, which Democrats control"There is no allegation that Dr. Wecht ever solicited or received a bribe or kickback."

Instead, Thornburgh said 24 charges against Wecht are for using a coroner's office fax machine for his private consulting business, while another 37 relate to about $1,700 in disputed mileage reimbursement charges from five years of invoices totaling more than $1 million.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_5...

[defendandprotect]

12. Well, guess we'll have to see what happens -- Thornburgh is Repug ---

[TreasonousBastard]

9. You must strengthen your Google-fu...

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/1/28/112616/454

Famed pathologist Cyril Wecht goes on trial today in federal court in Pittsburgh on charges he illegally profited from his tenure as coroner. The charges are mail and wire fraud and theft of honest services.

In a case Congressional Democrats say is a politically motivated prosecution by a Republican administration, Dr. Wecht, a Democrat, is in federal court here facing 41 criminal counts.

....The upshot of the government’s case is that Dr. Wecht, who was the Allegheny County medical examiner until he resigned after his indictment in January 2006, used his office to benefit himself. The accusations include using county equipment, vehicles and employees in his private forensic pathology business.

In the most notorious charge, Dr. Wecht is accused of trading unclaimed cadavers to Carlow College in Pittsburgh for use of space to conduct his private autopsies.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has complete details of the case.

[bluestateguy]

7. She's daring Obama to fire her

and I think he should accept the dare.

There is a new sheriff in town.

[ksimons]

10. Obama should put her in charge of the case against Bush Cheney

LMAO!!!

That'll give her something fun to work on.

[PufPuf23]

11. I saw the Tommy Chong cable documentary last week

very touching.

there are infinite reasons why Mary Beth should not be in any position of public trust.

[defendandprotect]

13. The incominf Pez fires them all --that's the way it's done, right-???

[redirish28]

14. have to wonder how many other Bushites will try this stunt.

[struggle4progress]

16. Replacing U.S. attorneys stretches back to Reagan (LAT 2007)

By David G. Savage
March 23, 2007 in print edition A-22

... Reagan replaced 89 of the 93 U.S. attorneys in his first two years in office. President Clinton had 89 new U.S. attorneys in his first two years, and President Bush had 88 new U.S. attorneys in his first two years.

In a similar vein, the Justice Department recently supplied Congress with a district-by-district listing of U.S. attorneys who served prior to the Bush administration.

The list shows that in 1981, Reagan’s first year in office, 71 of 93 districts had new U.S. attorneys. In 1993, Clinton’s first year, 80 of 93 districts had new U.S. attorneys ...

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/23/nation/na-talki...

buh-bye mary beth ...

[JDPriestly]

17. It is not up to the attorney.

She is a political appointee. When a new president comes in, attorneys appointed by the old president go out. At the beginning of a presidency, the new president gets to make his or her political appointments to the DOJ. Once the president has served a while, the president should nor replace attorneys he or she appointed in order to obtain a political advantage. The president cannot even replace the Attorney General to protect him- or herself from prosecution. Remember the Saturday Night Massacre? Nixon tried to fire the independent prosecutor who was handling the case against him. It did not work.

Of course, rather than allow Mary Beth Buchanan to make a huge fuss over refusing to resign, it might be best just to ease her into less sensitive assignments over time.

[santamargarita]

18. Bullshit, your fired!

It's not your call, Buchanan - get out!

[annabanana]

19. What is the tradition for this position? Don't they ALL tender

their resignations as a matter of course, leaving it to the new Administration whether or not to accept them?

[JerseygirlCT]

20. Yes

It seems she's decided that she's magnanimous enough to work with Obama, so no need to tender her resignation!

[yellowcanine]

23. Eh, every time there is a new President , some U.S. Attorney tries this.

They lose. Every time. It is a political appointment. It probably should not be but it is. Buh bye, Mary Beth.