A Spork in the Drawer

Sleazy Mary Beth & The Feebs

Not the name of a new band (though it would be a good one) but fallout from last week's revelation the US Attorney and Loyal Bushie Mary Beth Buchanan sicced the FBI on jurors in the Cyril Wecht trial. Wecht's lawyers want to know just how they got the juror information:

In December, U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab ordered "that counsel and the parties shall neither record the juror names or addresses, nor transmit said names electronically or in any other way to any party or person, including the media."

Wecht's lawyers argue Schwab's order applied to the FBI agents who helped prosecutors.

"(T)his latest possible violation of the court's orders truly jeopardize (sic) any remaining fair trial rights of Dr. Wecht, as prospective jurors who have received jury summons are now learning that the FBI may call if the verdict is not to the government's liking," defense attorney Jerry McDevitt wrote Monday in court papers requesting Schwab get sworn affidavits from the FBI agents.

[...]

William Snyder, a Syracuse University law professor and former federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh, said the FBI might have violated Schwab's order.

"They are definitely part of the prosecution team," Snyder said. "If they weren't allowed to write the names down, it is an interesting question how they got them."

Given the proven conduct of the current administration it wouldn't surprise that the jurors names are now on some list of subversives.

Good luck flying anywhere, guys!

That said, and it pains me to say it, but the Daily Scaife is doing a fantastic job covering this story. Witness this editorial in today's edition:

Big Brother is making house calls to learn why jurors did not vote as the government had wanted in the federal public corruption trial of former Allegheny County coroner Cyril H. Wecht.

[...]

Government's high-priced prosecution of Dr. Wecht, up to and including the questioning of the jurors, is nothing less than outrageous. And that very well could have a chilling effect on prospective jurors fearing that a "not guilty" verdict -- in this or any other government case -- could lead to a visit by inquisitive G-men.

The U.S. attorney must accept the fact that, after wasting untold amounts of the public's money, her office could not get a single conviction -- even though the defense called no witnesses.

So, failing to make a case, the prosecution sent in government's bloodhounds. How pathetic.

"Pathetic" is one of the many terms associated with bushCo™. Another is "criminal".

.

The Continuing Persecution Of Dr. Cyril Wecht

Gets stranger and more frightening:

Two jurors said Thursday they were unnerved by FBI requests for home visits to explain why they deadlocked in the federal public corruption trial of former Allegheny County coroner Cyril H. Wecht.

Experts said the practice of using FBI agents to contact and interview jurors in their homes after mistrials was unusual, but the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh characterized it as "commonplace."

"I thought it was kind of intimidating," the jury foreman said about the FBI phone call.

Said another juror, "I found it kind of unusual."

But no worries:

The FBI agents simply set up appointments for federal prosecutors, said Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

I'm no expert but I've never heard of such a thing before and apparently those who are experts cll this "unusual".

But here is the likely point:

"If I'm a prospective juror in the second trial, and I'm hearing stories that if I don't agree with the government that I might get calls from the FBI, that could have a very, very deleterious impact," Ceraso said. "I would think that's very bothersome to have that happen."

Now, do you really think that the Bush justice department would engage in intimidation?

So do I.

And according to one person who was on the jury:

"That puzzled me," said the foreman, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of Schwab's request. "I was surprised at how quickly the government wanted to retry him, because they didn't seem to realize where we were as a jury when the case ended. I thought they would've at least polled us to see how close the counts were.

"I would hope that the government would have our best interests at heart, but I'm concerned about the costs of another trial. For us, it was a split jury and the majority found him 'not guilty.' "

The foreman also said that he came to believe that the prosecution was "political."

There is no doubt that there needs to be federal criminal trial - not for Wecht but for Mary Beth Buchanan and the other assorted Loyal Bushies.

ADDED: House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers states:

I am deeply troubled by reports of FBI agents contacting former jurors who failed to convict Dr. Wecht. Whether reckless or intended, it is simply common sense that such contacts can have a chilling effect on future juries in this and other cases. When added to the troubling conduct of this prosecution, there is the appearance of a win at all costs mentality. The committee continues to investigate this matter.

.

Stalinistic Show Trial Update

Scott Horton describes US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan thusly:

One of the more astonishing political prosecutions in the country was brought by Rick Santorum’s handpicked U.S. Attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan. Ms. Buchanan is best known for her adversity to mail order bong businesses and other matters carefully calculated to play to a right-wing political audience. She also played a handmaiden’s role in the recent U.S. Attorney’s scandal, sending one of her deputies to Alaska as an acting U.S. Attorney there. No doubt about it, Mary Beth Buchanan is Karl Rove’s very model of a modern U.S. Attorney. She breathes fire and when she utters the word “Democrat,” the adjective “corrupt” is sure to precede it.

A pretty accurate descriptin of George's own Andrei Vyshinsky. It should be noted that Buchanan single-handedly saved America from the the scourge known as Tommy Chong. Quite a feather in her cap.

So what did the jurors in the Wecht trial think?

"The majority of the jury thought he was innocent, that I can tell you," said a male juror.

The jurors took a straw poll and realized they were far apart on March 18, the first day of deliberations, said a female juror. Their opinions changed little over the ensuing 3 1/2 weeks.

"No one caved. Everybody had their belief, and they stuck to it," said the woman. She said the jurors were daunted by the more than 10,000 pages of documents contained in 17, three-inch binders.

The jurors are anonymous because the judge in the case, Arthur Schwab, whom the defense had repeatedly tried to have removed from the case, issued a nearly unprecedented gag order.

One of Wecht's legal advisors, former US Attorney, Pennsylvania Governor, and US Attorney General (under Bush I) Richard Thornburgh has personally appealed the AG Michael Mukasey to give up the persecution, er, prosecution. Good luck with that.

While Cyril Wecht's unfortunate position may not rise to the level of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman it does show that the Loyal Bushies are going to carry out their marching orders to the very last day.

---

ADDED: See also Brian O'Neill who points out:

Anyone can look up how many millions Kevin Costner cost his studio for "Waterworld'' or "The Postman,'' but no federal taxpayer will ever know the tab for the Cyril Wecht mistrial.

We can guess the cost is already millions of dollars, but all we know is that the price can only go up. Federal prosecutors will try the case again, and if they prove nothing else, they will at least prove that even flops can have sequels.

Your tax dollars at work.

.

Show Trial

One of the administration's political show trials ends with a hung jury. BushCo's™ own Andrei Vyshinsky Mary Beth Buchanan, however, has already announced a new trial set for 27 May.

This is a major embarrassment for Buchanan and her masters.

.

How Many More Shoes To Drop?

26:

The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others were suggested for removal.

[...]

One memo sent to Sampson last November from Michael J. Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, suggested firing Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, who supervised the nation's prosecutors for a year and now heads the Office on Violence Against Women, sources said.

[...]

Another prosecutor, Anna Mills Wagoner of Greensboro, N.C., is included on three lists. Documents show that Monica M. Goodling, a Gonzales aide set to testify next week in Congress, removed her from consideration because of her work prosecuting gun crimes.

So more evidence of perjury by Abu. And Monica, a dim twinkie from a fourth-rate law school, wanted to fire a USA for actually, y'know, prosecuting crimes.

I don't think we've yet seen the true dimensions of the crowd's corruption and moral depravity.

.

Needed: Clue Stick

Our Ms. Buchanan:

Two of the terminated prosecutors said they had received positive feedback from their superiors as well as from Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the former director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which helps put together teams that review U.S. attorneys.

[...]

When he asked if his job performance had anything to do with his termination, Mr. Bogden said he was told that it never even entered into the equation.

[...]

That's why, when Justice Department officials started releasing information to the media that the firings were performance related, Mr. Cummins and Mr. Bogden were shocked and disappointed.

[...]

Ms. Buchanan would not comment for this story.

All of which leads to:

"There's not much to argue here because my team keeps handing [Democrats] legitimate issues to beat the White House and Republicans over the head," Mr. Cummins continued. "It's just been surreal how many mistakes have been made in a row here."

Uh, Bud? There might be a clue there. Your "team" just isn't ethical or honest.

.

When Local Meets National

By now it's well known that eight US attorneys refused to do the White House's bidding by persecuting Democrats and protecting Republicans. One of the big questions left unanswered is just how many of the attorneys did carry out that bit of political corruption. House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers thinks Pittsburgh's US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan - who saved the nation from the horrible criminal Tommy Chong - might have some answers:

House Judiciary Committee members have asked to interview U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, believing that she may have been consulted about preparing the list of eight federal prosecutors who were fired late last year.

Her name is one of several listed in a letter requesting voluntary interviews with U.S. attorneys -- including two prosecutors who have recently come under fire -- and with officials in the Department of Justice and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.

[...]

Ms. Buchanan, a strong supporter of the Bush administration who has been appointed to several positions within the Department of Justice during her tenure, became the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in September 2001.

[...]

Mr. Sampson told the investigators that Ms. Buchanan was one of the senior Justice Department officials he consulted on which U.S. attorneys should be asked to resign, according to a senior Democratic aide who has seen a transcript of the interview.

[...]

Ms. Buchanan also has earned favor within the administration by following the path of many Bush insiders as a member of the Federalist Society.

That was among the criteria in a set of Justice Department documents, released last week to the Judiciary Committee, listing the qualifications of U.S. attorneys.

While it's worth pointing out that Pittsburgh is dominated by Democrats and Buchanan has prosecuted some there are more than a few Republicans with clouds over their heads - Republicans who seem to be blessed:

But allegations of wrongdoing have also come up against some Republicans here over the years. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum was heavily criticized for saying that his family lived in Penn Hills -- requiring the school district there to pay the cost for his children to attend a cyber school -- while they were really in Virginia.

An employee of U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, was fired after alleging that congressional staff and resources were being used for campaign work.

And local charges were filed against then-state Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Shaler, for ordering his staff to do campaign work on public time.

None of those cases resulted in criminal charges in federal court, and Ms. Buchanan would not comment on whether there were any investigations.

So there are plenty of questions for Ms. Buchanan. Now it's time for some answers.

The Conyers letter here (pdf).

dayvoe has more.

.

In A Perfect BushWorld...

...Mary Beth Buchanan is a star:

While the firing of eight U.S. attorneys across the country has focused attention on those who didn't get with the administration's program, Ms. Buchanan has proved herself to be a perfect fit.

She's loyal, hard-working and smart.

Emphasis on "loyal".

She earned national headlines for her prosecution of Tommy Chong, of Cheech and Chong fame, as part of Operation Pipe Dreams, in which federal prosecutors targeted head shops.

My guess is: Mary Beth Buchanan is a good candidate to replace Abu Graib Al.

.