Mary Beth in the Spotlight

Mary Beth Buchanan (R- here) will appear in Washington before a closed-door meeting of congressional investigators on Friday, June 15.

The interview will concern the political firings of several U.S. Attorneys (Ms. Buchanan not among them) within the Justice Department of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Some background:



(Note: We do not feel Ms. Buchanan would relish playing the role of a low-functioning pinhead.)

The meeting was to be held today, but it was recently pushed back. There are two theories as to how to read this postponement.

1. What is news that the Bush administration holds onto until Friday typically like?

2. Is Buchanan trying to find a face-saving way to wrap up her affairs with Dr. Cyril Wecht (D-here), whom she had gotten indicted for misuse public office for private gain, before heading off to Washington?

"None of this is coincidence," said defense attorney Jerry McDevitt, of the timing of the prosecution's request to meet. "She wants to make sure we keep our mouths shut while she's down there before Congress."

What could the Wecht camp talk about that would so trouble Buchanan in Washington?

The defense attorneys continue to assert that Dr. Wecht's is a political prosecution. They say that Ms. Buchanan wanted to take him into custody and walk him in front of media cameras -- what's called a "perp walk" -- rather than letting him turn himself in.

The facts as laid out in this P-G article by Paula Reed Ward do seem to suggest that Buchanan was doggedly insistent on the perp walk -- she maintains that Dr. Wecht was a flight-risk to Israel.

So, what? Is Dr. Wecht guilty of that which he is accused?

In addition, [defense attorneys] cite the fact that she obtained an indictment of Dr. Wecht before questioning Carlow University's president to corroborate a central claim in the charges against him.

In other words, who knows? It would have been nice to let the legal battle between these two titans Wecht and Buchanan play out on its own merits. So the Comet is left pondering:

1) If the case against Wecht was that strong, would she not want to prosecute the stuffing out of it, and simply leave him looking the fool for grandstanding?

2) The notion of Dr. Wecht's perp-walk as "the icing on Buchanan's cake" is exactly what makes the prospect of her eventual appearance before an open congressional investigation (and thence onto CNN and the Daily Show) so totally engrossing.