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Mar 16, 2007 7:15 pm US/Eastern
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Some Question Tactics Of U.S. Attorney Buchanan
by Andy Sheehan
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is under fire.
Congress wants to know if seven U.S. Attorneys were fired because they were not aggressive enough in prosecuting Democrats.
Now, local leaders are raising questions about our own U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and whether her prosecutions of Democrats were politically motivated.
KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan reports that in the past few years, Democrats have accused Buchanan of investigating and prosecuting local Democrats to the exclusion of Republicans.
And recent revelations in Washington have re-ignited questions about whether she has run her office in a politically-partisan manner.
In the past three years, there have been a parade of witnesses appearing before grand juries probing high ranking public officials for alleged corruption: former Sheriff Pete DeFazio, former Mayor Tom Murphy and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner Cyril Wecht.
They are all Democrats…. all investigated by Buchanan, who is a Republican.
County Democratic Chairman Jim Burn says he's suspected partisanship all along.
"Her record speaks for itself," said Burn. "I've seen a long line of Democrats and mistakes aren't made based on party affiliation but I haven't seen anybody from the other side going though that system."
But Burn says his concerns have been heightened by recent revelations in Washington over the firing of seven U.S. Attorneys.
According to e-mails from the Attorney General's Chief of Staff to White House Counsel Harriett Myers, all the U.S. Attorneys were rated on matters including "loyalty" and fulfilling "administration initiatives".
While the Senate Judiciary Committee investigates whether those federal prosecutors were fired for not aggressively prosecuting Democrats, Burn questions why Buchanan pursued Democrats and not some Republicans.
For example -- specifically why Buchanan did not probe former Republican Senator Rick Santorum who got a tuition reimbursement for his kids by claiming a Penn Hills residency when his family spends most of its time in Virginia.
"You have to ask yourself the misrepresentations of a Republican such as Rick Santorum made about his alleged residency in Penn Hills were significant," said Burn.
Buchanan was unavailable for a camera interview but in response to questions she issued the following statement: "It has been and remains the practice of the United States Attorney's Office to investigate and prosecute individuals who violate federal law without regard to their political affiliation. Every investigation and prosecution is overseen by career prosecutors and experienced agents who analyze evidence from a law enforcement, not a partisan, perspective."
But former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Farrell says the D.C. revelations have now tainted the Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney's Office and says Buchanan must take a drastic step to restore public confidence
"Because I want to see public trust in that office restored," said Farrell. "I think she would serve the people of this district well if she resigned."
Buchanan is still overseeing the case against Wecht, and we've now reported a probe of at least one Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge.
"There are pending in this district a number of important public corruption investigations and they ought to be conducted fairly and without any question as to whether or not they were partisan prosecutions," said Farrell. "She could achieve that by stepping down and leaving that to the excellent people in her office."
Currently, Buchanan is investigating at least one republican lawmaker -- Congressman Tim Murphy.
Murphy is being investigated to see whether he used his congressional office staff to perform campaign work.
Buchanan will not comment on the Murphy case or any other on-going investigations.
At this time, there is no indication that Congress is looking at Buchanan in connection with their probe in Washington D.C.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)