Six U.S. Attorney’s are reported to be moonlighting in Washington, “performing tasks that take them away from regular duties in their districts for months or even years at a time, according to officials and department records.” Hmmm… Nice work if you can get it… Moonlighting for Alberto Gonzales…

The number of U.S. attorneys pulling double duty in Washington is the focus of growing concern from other prosecutors and from members of the federal bench, according to legal experts and government officials.

The growing reliance on federal prosecutors to fill Washington-based jobs also comes amid controversy over the firings of eight other U.S. attorneys last year. One of them, David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, was publicly accused by the Justice Department of being an “absentee landlord” who was away from his job too much.

“I can’t think of a time when there’s been this many U.S. attorneys doing double duty at one time,” said Dennis Boyd, executive director of the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, which represents current federal prosecutors.

Here’s a run down on the moonlighters:

Six sitting U.S. attorneys currently pull double duty by serving in Washington-based jobs for the Justice Department:

• William W. Mercer
U.S. attorney: Montana.
Washington jobs: Acting associate attorney general (since September 2006); principal associate deputy attorney general (June 2005-July 2006).

• Michael J. Sullivan
U.S. attorney: Massachusetts.
Washington job: Acting director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (since September 2006).

• Patrick J. Fitzgerald
U.S. attorney: Northern District of Illinois.
Washington job: Special prosecutor, CIA leak investigation (since December 2003).

• Mary Beth Buchanan
U.S. attorney: Western District of Pennsylvania.
Washington jobs: Acting director, Office of Violence Against Women (since November 2006); acting director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (June 2004-June 2005).

• Kevin J. O’Connor
U.S. attorney: Connecticut.
Washington job: Associate deputy attorney general (since December 2006).

• Chuck Rosenberg
U.S. attorney: Eastern District of Virginia.
Washington job: Chief of staff to the attorney general (since March 2007).

The mess for Gonzales appears to be getting deeper by the moment… the “House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today seeking hundreds of pages of new or uncensored records related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year, officials said.”

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