As the saga of Philadelphia Newspapers and its future ownership continues, some past political contributions to one of the federal judges overseeing the latest activities offers an interesting potential conflict.

Judge Michael Fisher is one of three justices on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been ruling on whether an auction of the Philadelphia Newspapers debt can be delayed. Philadelphia Newspapers owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily New.

The appeals court ruled Wednesday against a request from the company's senior lenders to delay the auction until the full Third Circuit Court decides if it will hear an appeal of a key issue in the newspapers' bankruptcy case.

Fisher appears to have had past connections to both Philadelphia Newspapers CEO Brian Tierney and the law firm of Drinker, Biddle, which represents Citizens Bank, one of the creditors seeking to move up the auction.

State records show Tierney donated at least $20,000 to Fisher's unsuccessful campaign for Pennsylvania governor in 2002. At that time, Fisher was not on the Court of Appeals and Tierney had no ownership of the newspapers.

Similar state records indicate Drinker, Biddle donated at least $5,000 to Fisher's campaign.

Tierney said Friday that any effort to tie him to past contributions for Fisher has no bearing on the current court actions. He blamed the opposing creditors for raising the issue.

“Sadly, it appears those who would trade in our debt are now trying to impugn the integrity of the federal court,” Tierney said. “As I've said, they will stop at nothing. Can you imagine people like this owning the Inquirer?”

Asked about the future of his newspapers as the bankruptcy actions move forward, Tierney said, “It is not an easy battle but I feel really good about it. People realize if we are not successful, it will be really bad for the Inquirer and Daily News.”

He said he hopes to remain part of the two newspapers, but admitted the future is uncertain: “I don't know, we have done incredibly well in our peer group. Everyone has expressed an interest in me staying.”