CMU Parade

Andy Sheehan has more about that Anti-Gravity parade at CMU.

His TV coverage included some photos I hadn't seen at that CMU flickr account (by the way, that acount's now gone) - so if anyone knows where he got them, please email me.

US Attorney Scandal - A Western PA Echo

Last week, I blogged on something I'd found in Philly. At its heart was a question Paul Krugman had asked: If those US Attorneys were fired for not playing ball with the Bush Administration, what about the 85 or so who weren't fired? They were the acceptable US Attorneys - the ones identified as "loyal" to the Attorney General and the Administration.

Seems that Andy Sheehan over at KDKA has been looking into our own US Attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan:

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.

And the charge:

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.

Sheehan also wonders if Buchanan's non-investigation of then-Senator Rick Santorum's non-residency in Penn Hills was politically motivated.

There's a surpise of sorts at the end of the piece:

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."[Emphasis added]

There is good news, I guess. Sheehan reports that Buchanan is, in fact, investigating a local Republican Congressman - Tim Murphy.

You remember Tim Murphy, right? He's the local Congressman accused of mixing his Congressional staff with his campaign staff (a serious ethics violation - just ask Jeff Habay).

I wonder if with all this negative publicity, we'll learn that Mary Beth Buchanan's investigation of Congressman Murphy is "coincidentally" nearing completion.

UPDATE: Andy Sheehan's piece has made it onto Talkingpointsmemo.