Report: U.S. Attorney Buchanan to meet with House Judiciary investigators
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
06/06/2007 09:30:44 AM EDTU.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of Pittsburgh will meet privately Thursday with House Judiciary Committee investigators looking into the Justice Department’s firing of eight federal prosecutors last year, her attorney told a newspaper.
Buchanan’s attorney, Roscoe C. Howard J. — the former U.S. Attorney of Washington, D.C. — told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’s representing Buchanan at the meeting in Washington.
Howard said Buchanan is cooperating with the investigation, but said it was premature to speculate about what she might be asked.
"They might go into areas that surprise us," Howard told the newspaper.
Buchanan did not immediately return a call to her cell phone, and Howard did not immediately respond to voice mail messages left at his office Wednesday. Buchanan has previously said she will not comment on the matter at least until she is interviewed by the House committee.
In addition to her duties in Pittsburgh, Buchanan directed the Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States.…Former White House liaison Monica Goodling testified before the committee last month that D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, consulted with Buchanan about which federal prosecutors should be asked to resign. Sampson had told House Judiciary investigators the same thing in April.
A recently released Department of Justice email carried by Talking Points Memo Document Collection raises an interesting question. The message is dated”3/7/2005” from leoleonard to MaryBeth Buchanan:
Leo Leonard, the sender, is apparently this Republican activist. He’s listed by Media Transparency as the Director, Lawyers Division of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.
Mary Beth Buchanan, the presumed recipient of the memo, is the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She was a John Ashcroft protégé. Her role at Justice was central. Her bio states that, “At the request of the Attorney General, Ms. Buchanan also served from June 2004 until June 2005 as the Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.”
What is it going to take to rid us of this cesspool? Looking at the lineup of the people interviewed on the Sunday talk shows made me realize how little the media has learned in the last 6 years. And then we have Joe Lieberman telling us that we should consider war with Iran. I only hope that more true patriots come forward from the DOJ in numbers so huge that we finally get Gonzales and others out sooner rather than later. I’m really beginning to wonder if anything will come of the scandals in the Bush Administration. It really boggles my brain and my spirit.