Attorneys for former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht have asked a federal judge for a hearing to determine whether their client's prosecution is politically motivated.

The motion was filed late Friday and is accompanied by 71 exhibits. It is based on the ongoing congressional investigation of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys across the country last year.

On Oct. 23, former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, a Republican, testified before House and Senate judiciary subcommittees regarding the case against Dr. Wecht, a Democrat who was indicted on 84 counts in January 2006. His trial is scheduled to begin early next year on charges of mail and wire fraud and theft from an organization that receives federal funds.

Mr. Thornburgh, who now is a member of Dr. Wecht's defense team, testified that he believed the prosecution against his client was improper and politically driven.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, also a Republican, has denied those claims and said in a written statement that those allegations should have been raised in U.S. District Court, where her office could have the chance to answer them.

"For whatever reason, they have refrained ... choosing instead to air it in a forum where they know the government lawyers cannot respond, and where there is no member of the judiciary to consider and decide the matter," she said.

Dr. Wecht's attorneys have remedied that by submitting their request for an evidentiary hearing to U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab.

The 22-page motion details the lengthy background of the congressional investigations.

"[Never] before now has the independence of the Justice Department been so severely questioned and called into doubt," wrote Wecht attorney Jerry McDevitt.

"Never before has the entire hierarchy of the Justice Department resigned in the face of evidence of improper politically oriented directives."

The court filing lists everyone within the Justice Department who has resigned since news of the firings broke, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, and his chief of staff, Michael Elston.

Ms. Buchanan, who served as the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys from June 2004 to June 2005, testified about Mr. Elston when she appeared before House and Senate judiciary investigators earlier this year.

Although Ms. Buchanan has not publicly answered questions about her testimony, a few tidbits were contained in a memorandum written by House Judiciary Chair Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., in late July.

That document, one of the exhibits in Dr. Wecht's most-recent filing, reveals that Ms. Buchanan accused Mr. Elston of lying to her about how she ended up on a Nov. 1, 2006, list of prosecutors for possible removal.

According to Mr. Conyers' memo, she told investigators that she believes her name was included simply because Mr. Elston had a colleague interested in becoming the lead federal prosecutor in Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Elston's attorney said in May, however, that names on the list had been suggested to him and that he never believed anyone on it should be fired. None of them ever was.

"Because Mr. Elston had made similar statements to the committee in his formal interview, Ms. Buchanan's charge that the statements were false raises serious issues regarding the possible culpability of Mr. Elston," Mr. Conyers wrote. "The extent to which the investigation has included direct accusations by senior department personnel that other department officials have made untrue statements is highly disturbing and requires further investigation."

Mr. Conyers' memo also refers to Ms. Buchanan's testimony regarding the attorneys who were fired.

"Certainly, based upon the information I had, I wouldn't have suggested -- I wouldn't have fired any of these people,'" she is quoted as saying.

But Mr. Sampson, who compiled the list of those who would be asked to resign, told judiciary investigators that Ms. Buchanan was one of the senior Justice Department officials with whom he consulted.

In their request to Judge Schwab, Dr. Wecht's lawyers noted that they were unable to find any examples in which an evidentiary hearing on selective prosecution of an elected public official had been held.

They point out that Ms. Buchanan -- "arguably the foremost adherent of using prosecutorial powers in ways that were consistent with administrative goals" -- has investigated a number of Democrats, including former Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio and former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy.

"[It] is evident that the congressional focus is now on the logical corollary of the initial investigation -- were specific United States Attorneys retained because they were willing to bring prosecutions for political purposes. And, just as she was a subject of the initial focus of the congressional investigation, so too is Ms. Buchanan directly involved in the current phase of the congressional investigations," Mr. McDevitt wrote.