Jeanine Pirro

Onetime Republican Attorney General candidate Jeanine Pirro may have withheld evidence in a murder trial while she was the Westchester District Attorney, according to a story just posted online by the New York Sun.

A federal grand jury now wants to hear recordings Pirro made of her telephone conversations while she was the D.A. in Westchester.

According to the story, “One of the reasons this is of interest is that that Ms. Pirro's successor now is in possession of a tape suggesting Ms. Pirro failed to disclose evidence that could have helped a man whom Ms. Pirro subsequently charged with murder. But the existence of any tapes immediately raises the question of whom Ms. Pirro was talking to over her years in office and what conversations, whether of a political or legal nature, might be recorded in the surviving tapes.”

UPDATE: The Journal News also has details on the story over here.   read more »

The peerless Liz Benjamin is coming to New York City to join the Daily News.

For those of you who don't know her -- but really, who doesn't? -- Liz is an authoritative and fantastically prolific blogger and reporter. She also has the distinction of having performed two of the toughest roles in the last year's LCA's annual roast of lawmakers, appearing as Jeanine Pirro and Ada Smith.

She has a long good-bye post on the Times Union blog here.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

-- Azi Paybarah

WNBC's Jonathan Diest reports on the Jeanine Pirro probe.

"Sources familiar with the investigation say federal and state prosecutors want to know if Pirro improperly put resources available to her as Westchester District Attorney toward campaign work. One key question: whether Pirro or her staffers conducted background checks on campaign donors using computers and databases inside the District Attorney's office."

Pirro's lawyer said the checks were done on campaign computers.

California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey might have earlier primaries than in past years.

Rudy Giuiliani, who had one of the first major fund-raisers in the 2008 race, doesn't have to disclose financial information because he's still not an official candidate. No explanation from his campaign.

Hillary Clinton will go to Iowa, where a poll shows her in fourth place.

Do blacks support Barack Obama?

Ceasar Borja, Jr. tells his own story.

High performing schools could get more money from the city if they accept kids who transfer there from failing schools. Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project are bringing out the race card and attacking the bank that won naming rights to the proposed stadium.

It's still unclear precisely how the legislature will vote for a new comptroller.

State workers may be cheated into paying higher insurance premiums.

And here is more on the passing of S.I. Assemblyman John Lavelle.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here are some more post-election numbers, courtesy of the state Board of Elections:

$776,103.41 - money Andrew Cuomo has left in his account $92,782.16 - money Charlie King still has left in his campaign account $40,300 - contributions made to Cuomo between December 8, and December 12, 2006 $1,674 - money Andrew Cuomo spent on photography $1,579.35 - money Jeanine Pirro has left in her campaign account $28,800 - a contribution refunded to Richard Mack by Charlie King last week

-- Azi Paybarah

Jeanine Pirro may be the subject of an FBI probe. Again.

Pat Healy reports on the effects of Barack Obama on Hillary Clinton's scheduling.

Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders announce budget reforms, but don't go as far as to create an Independent Budget Office or abolish the three-person Public Authorities Control Board.

Roberto Ramirez hired "one of the Legislature's most knowledgeable experts on thoroughbred horse racing."

Blair Horner discusses the race for comptroller.

The mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability has a bunch of public meetings coming up.

Metro-North is on time about 97 percent of the time.

While campaigning for Craig Johnson, a canvasser bumped into Johnson's opponent, who appeared to be calling it an early night.

Barack Obama may be in the exploratory stage of his presidential run, but he's already getting endorsed by one congressman.

Republicans say they'll retain the senate seat being vacated by Wayne Allard.

Mystery Pollster and Doug Shoen continue arguing about a poll that says Americans are skeptical about the federal government negotiating with drug companies for lower-cost prescription drugs.

The New York Sun appears to be test-driving 51st State.

Colorful City Hall reporter Rafael Martinez is online with his own blog.

And pictured above is Rafael conducting an exclusive interview with a City Hall insider.

-- Azi Paybarah

I was looking through Andrew Cuomo's final campaign finance statement from the attorney general race -- that's what politics nerds do in their spare time -- and one figure that jumped out at me was the $250,000 that Cuomo still owes for television ads.

It seemed, at least, to show that the Cuomo people were taking Jeanine Pirro more seriously than the media was during the late stages of the campaign. It also seemed to be a big number to have outstanding, given the FCC requirement that candidates pay for their ads as they go in order to prevent media outlets from essentially making in-kind loans to campaigns.

I asked media consultant Joe Mercurio about it and he said it was "a lot of money for media reconciliation."

Cuomo spokeswoman Wendy Katz emailed this explanation: "There is always a process of an accounting reconciliation for millions of dollars of media time purchased in the final stage of the campaign. Those adjustments await the final disposition."

Not incidentally, the campaign has $963,477.60 left on hand -- more than enough to pay off all their bills, which total $291,811.75.

-- Azi Paybarah

As if Chuck Schumer isn't already everywhere, he may take the lead on the effort to bring the Democratic National Convention to New York.

Roslynn Mauskopf got an unenthusiastic endorsement from the ABA for a federal judgeship.

George Pataki and Jeanine Pirro are not attending the state GOP meeting in Albany where Joe Mondello is expected to be named the party's new state chairman.

Eliot Spitzer said it's not hypocritical to raise campaign money under the old rules and then introduce a new set of rules after winning.

"I'm not looking back and saying that behavior that didn't live up to these standards was inappropriate, we're just saying, this is the standard we want to apply."

Rudy Blogger uses a familiar anti-Rudy argument and asks how conservatives will react when they learn that Mitt Romeny supported abortion and gay rights before 2002.

Mystery Pollster has more on the accuracy of the polls of this year's House races.

The head of the Municipal Arts Society sounds off on the Atlantic Yards project.

Daily Gotham says that poverty is back in New York.

And pictured above is Dirk McCall, the head of the Stonewall Democrats who organized the Jim McGreevey event last night and has a holiday party coming up next week.

-- Azi Paybarah

The man in blue pictured here standing next to Councilman James Sanders yesterday is new mayoral spokesman (and former Jeanine Pirro aide) John Gallagher.

What a day start a new job.

-- Azi Paybarah

Just after handing him a dramatic win, the state Court of Appeals has dealt a setback to George Pataki, dulling what could have been a key selling point for someone looking to position himself as a tough-on-crime conservative in 2008.

From the AP:

"New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that the state _ acting under an order from Gov. George Pataki _ wrongly confined convicted sex offenders in psychiatric facilities after their prison sentences ended."

Civil confinement was a signature (albeit late) issue for Pataki and a constant talking point for his preferred senate/attorney general candidate, Jeanine Pirro.

But the decision is not a total loss for Pataki:

"In conclusion, we understand how in an attempt to protect the community from violent sexual predators, the state proceed under the Mental Hygiene law. We do not propose that these petitioners be released, nor do we propose to trump the interest of public safety. Rather, we recognized that a need for continued hospitalization may well exist."

-- Azi Paybarah

The 2006 election was a tough one for the New York Republicans: John Faso, who never had much of a s  read more »

So here's a new wrinkle in the guessing game of who will replace Stephen Minarik as state Republican chair.

Along with the usually mentioned names - Nassau County Leader Joe Mondello, President Nixon's son-in-law Ed Cox, and Joe Bruno's aide Ed Lurie - comes another one from a Republican consultant who swears it's not a put-on:

Jeanine Pirro.

Me: Isn't she damaged goods?

Consultant: She did better than anybody else did on Tuesday.

This consultant said that if the FBI investigation into Pirro's alleged wiretapping of her husband goes nowhere, she would be able to play the victim more credibly than she was ever able to during the campaign. The consultant pointed out that she hasn't wasted a second getting her face on Fox News as a commentator. And after her crucible of an attorney general campaign, how hard can a party chairmanship be?

I suppose all this really shows is that there is no clear front-runner for the job of cleaning of the mess that is now the state Republican Party. Any additional nominations are welcome.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo just delivered his victory speech in front of the entire Cuomo clan, including his father, who was beaming at the wing.

He thanked Jeanine Pirro for her "commitment to public service" and promised that as New York's Attorney General he will be the "great equalizer."

He said that he would work to protect New Yorkers civil rights and fight senseless gun violence.

"I will never back down, I will never give up," he said, vowing to answer the call of people who "want their state government cleaned up."

He then walked off the stage to the song "Don't stop believing."

This was all a marked difference from his acceptance speech in the primary. After delivering his rousing remarks, none other than Alan Hevesi was helped onto the stage by Mario Cuomo and asked to say a few words. Who would have thought then that Hevesi would be forced to celebrate across town tonight in a Madison Ave hotel?

--Jason Horowitz

Happy Election Day! This is all the event info we've received, so if something's missing, please email us or throw it in the comments section.

Eliot Spitzer votes at P.S. 6 in Manhattan.

David Paterson votes at P.S. 175 in Manhattan.

Andrew Cuomo votes at the High School for Leadership in Manhattan.

Alan Hevesi votes at P.S. 144 in Forest Hills.

Nick Spano votes at School 28 in Yonkers.

John Spencer votes at Saunders High School in Yonkers.

Jeanine Pirro votes at the Harrison Avenue School in Harrison.

The City Council holds a committee hearing on the proposed Beacon Schools concept paper and the Governmental Operations Committee considers a salary increase for the city's elected officials (on election day!).

Anthony Weiner campaigns with John Hall, Diane Farrell (opposing Chris Shays), and Steve Harrison and will appear on Fox News at 10 p.m. offering up his election analysis and commentary.

State Senator Ruben Diaz and the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization will campaign with Jeanine Pirro at the Parkchester Train Station.

Dave Mejias campaigns with Tom Suozzi in Glen Cove.

David Paterson campaigns with Andrea Stewart-Cousins in Yonkers.

Jeanine Pirro holds her Election Night event at the Women's National Republican Club.

Tim Bishop attends the Suffolk County Democratic Party Election Night celebration at the Islandia Marriott.

John Hall attends holds his election night celebration at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor.

Malachy McCourt and the Green Party hold their election night party at Rocky Sullivan's.

The Nassau County Democratic Party election night event will take place at Papa Razzi Restaurant in Westbury.

Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson, Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo attend the Democratic election night party at the Sheraton.

And Alan Hevesi parties at the Madison Towers Hotel, at 22 East 38th Street [added].

Happy Voting!

—Nicole Brydson

Bill Clinton is reincarnated.

The chairman of the Working Families Party wants to bet that his party will get more votes than the Conservative Party.

Ben notes that so far, no evidence has surfaced to prove that the Republican robo-calls made in a some close congressional races here are illegal.

Josh Marshall thinks otherwise.

Rick Santorum had a contentious interview with NPR.

John Sweeney isn't hiding. He's campaigning in Home Depot.

Early and Often explains why Jeanine Pirro is down in the polls and Alan Hevesi is up.

Maybe it worked. Perhaps all the sympathy people just couldn't work up for Jeanine Pirro goes to our besieged and embattled state numbers guy.

The Fix has a list of the top 10 campaign commercials.

ReformNY defends fusion voting.

On the eve of a landslide victory in New York and Washington, Daily Gotham posts a list of Democratic Ideals.  read more »

And above is Jeanine Pirro, once the GOP's brightest star, talking to a supporter while her mother, Esther Ferris, [in black] speaks with another. When I asked Ferris about her daughter's campaign, she said, "I'm very proud of her. She's my hero."

-- Azi Paybarah

The Times looks at who might join Eliot Spitzer's administration.

Spitzer said he would send more money to private schools.

Barack Obama has donated more money to Democrats nationwide than Hillary Clinton. [UPDATE: Newsday's Glenn Thrush clarifies this story here.]

Charles Krauthammer writes in the Wall Street Journal [subscription only] that Obama "should run in '08. He will lose in '08. And the loss will put him irrevocably on a path to the presidency."

The state's $1.1 billion surplus could put pressure on Spitzer to cut more taxes or increase spending, The Sun reports.

The Post endorses Spitzer for governor and Hillary for senate. Twice.

There's some confusion as to when exactly a noted pastor endorsed Jeanine Pirro.

Pirro's opponent, Andrew Cuomo, will get a fund-raiser hosted by Bill Clinton.

Hevesi has told friends he'd quit rather than be removed by the Senate so Democrats could pick his successor.

The only time a statewide elected official was removed from office in New York, it was a "coup" for Tammany Hall and they got help from Alfred E. Smith and Robert Wagner.

Page Six speculates about the relationship between Hevesi and Council member Melinda Katz.

Hevesi's top adviser went from preeminent to invisible, but now he's trying to save the Hevesi campaign.

Speaking of invisible, Hevesi won't be partying with other Democrats on Election Night.

And a lot of money pours into upstate congressional races.

-- Azi Paybarah

When Jeanine Pirro's marriage exploded into the papers amid news of a federal probe into her alleged effort to get wiretap her husband, David Paterson reacted by striking a sympathetic note for her as a fellow public servant.

The other day, I asked him if he didn't have similarly empathetic feelings about Alan Hevesi's chauffer indiscretion, given Hevesi's wife's genuinely serious health problems that may have played into the situation.

Paterson, whose running mate just divorced himself publicly from the Hevesi re-election campaign, made it clear that his sympathy this time has its limits:

"Do you factor it in in a sense of leniency? Yes. But do you hold public officials accountable? That's what we signed up for."

You can hear more of Paterson over here.

-- Azi Paybarah

That's Jeanine Pirro at the Andrew Cuomo trail, which her campaign said proves Cuomo misused funds while he was the federal housing secretary.

From Team Pirro:

"In August 2000, Holley, New York, opened the Andrew Cuomo Canalway Trail, built from a $1 million HUD grant under the Canal Corridor Initiative. The trail is only 100 yards long. Two 5-foot-tall Medina sandstone monuments inscribed with his name mark the entrance; the monuments alone costs federal taxpayers $4200 each."

It's not exactly a novel line of attack, but maybe the Pirro people figure that if you say things often enough, people will start to listen.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Not willing to let a bad story die quietly, John Spencer took a swipe at Ben today for quoting him suggesting that Hillary Clinton had plastic surgery.

Referring back to the denial strategy I thought he abandoned, Spencer told The Resident that Ben's article "was a total fabrication and a bold-faced lie."

The best part though, is the name-calling:

Spencer said Smith had previously portrayed him unfairly when he was writing for the New York Observer. "But I didn't say anything about it," he said. "I just read it and said, 'This guy must be a loose cannon or something, I don't know.'"

Yeah. Ben's a loose cannon. -- Azi Paybarah

NOTE: This post, which is about an argument over accuracy in reporting, has been corrected. It originally said that Spencer was quoted saying that Hillary Clinton "needs plastic surgery." It has now been changed to reflect more accurately what Ben reported, which is that Spencer suggested that both Hillary Clinton and Jeanine Pirro had had "work" done to improve their looks. Spencer was not quoted using the words "plastic surgery" or suggesting that Hillary still needs it.  read more »

John Spencer responded this morning to the front-page story in the News, in which he is quoted at length talking about Hillary's physical appearance, ("You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew,") and predicting defeat for fellow Republican Jeanine Pirro. Less than a day after practically introducing himself to New Yorkers on television, this is surely not the best way for Spencer to ingratiate himself to the state's voters or G.O.P.

And so Spencer, who complimented Hillary during the debate as a potentially "tremendous" presidential candidate, kicked into damage control mode this morning. He said on the WABC radio program Curtis and Kuby (audio on its way) that Ben, who reported the story, didn't hear him correctly. (Ben was sitting right next to one seat away from him, and said he typed Spencer's words directly into his omnipresent Blackberry.)

"It's so ridiculous that Ben Smith the blogger sitting next to me on an airplane, who quite frankly, made statements that I surely wouldn't repeat about other candidates in the race. He was in a giddy mood making statements, so I think in his conversational mind with a jet engine blowing in his right ear, uh, we had a rambling conversation about the sixties. That's what our conversation was about and how he came out with those ridiculous fabrications is beyond me."

Ben said he stands by his story. UPDATE: Here's that clip of Spencer. The denial seems to fit into Spencer's pattern of denying his own quotes.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo pushes the envelope how many times he can mention Eliot Spitzer's name in this new ad. With a double-digit lead over Jeanine Pirro, Cuomo is -- quite logically, if you ask me -- happy to stay in Spitzer's shadow, while his opponent twistsin the wind.

--Azi Paybarah

The Times looks at John Spencer, who is debating Hillary Clinton tonight. The Vietnam veteran told the paper, "She had flowers in her hair, and I had a rifle in my hand."

Eliot Spitzer's office said they are not investigating Jeanine Pirro, who still trails Andrew Cuomo in the polls.

John Faso accused Spitzer of being "complicit" in the effort to delay construction of the Moynihan Station.

The Post endorses Joe Lieberman for the Senate.

Alan Hevesi told the Journal News editorial board the chauffeur scandal hurt his credibility with the public.

Retiring state Senator John Marchi of Staten Island collapsed and was hospitalized after the Al Smith Dinner last night.

Mike Bloomberg may earn as much as $7 billion in a business deal involving his company.

John McCain canceled his scheduled appearance today with Tom Reynolds, citing his the poor health of his mother in Arizona.

Spitzer indicated he may push legislators to reveal their outside income, including the speaker of the Assembly.

And the Mets' season came down to a hanging 83 mile-an-hour meatball. Crap.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo leads Jeanine Pirro by 21 points according to the new Q poll.

From the poll: Ten percent of voters remain undecided and 21 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind.

Interestingly, Cuomo also leads 57 to 31 among women.

-- Azi Paybarah

Today's Quinnipiac poll shows Alan Hevesi's lead over Chris Callaghan is down 6 percentage points from the poll taken two weeks ago.

Hillary Clinton said the public is growing concerned about websites like MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who hosted a fund-raiser for her earlier this year.

The New York Sun publishes John Spencer's 15-page letter to Eliot Spitzer in which Spencer said as Westchester DA, Jeanine Pirro's "tactics were outrageous and the real criminals were being protected by her."

During the debate, Cuomo demanded Pirro respond to the letter and said she was currently under investigation by the state attorney general.

The Truth Squad says Cuomo "was painting the situation with too broad a brush."

In his own debate tomorrow, John Spencer has "little to lose" by aggressively going after Hillary Clinton, The New York Sun reports.

The charges against Brian McLaughlin range from "Dickensian (stealing $95,000 from Little League baseball teams to pay his rent) to the brazen (creating two no-show jobs on his legislative payroll and keeping part of one salary)," according to the Times. Some Democrats defended McLaughlin as a stand-up guy.

George Pataki has donated $130,000 to candidates outside New York, according to a recent financial filing.

John Sweeney took a trip overseas with a lobbyist hired by Jack Abramoff and may not have reported it to Congress as required. [added]

John Faso has finally become the Republican Party standard-bearer, but at an unfortunate time.

Rudy Giuliani said Democrats were soft on national security issues.

And two more people connected to Giuliani's former NYPD Commissioner, Bernie Kerik, were busted.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here are some email headlines from State Democratic Party spokesman Blake Zeff, who seems to be enjoying the attorney general debate between Andrew Cuomo and Jeanine Pirro.

"10:11: MS. PIRRO TOUTS UPSTATE KNOWLEDGE -- BUT THOUGHT OHIO BORDERED UPSTATE NY"

"10:18: PIRRO’S OWN PARTY’S SENATE NOMINEE SAID SHE PROTECTS THE CORRUPT"

It's going to be a long hour.

-- Azi Paybarah

UPDATE: After two more emails from the state Democrats, Team Pirro sent out a post-debate email hitting Cuomo for taking a job with a company that did business with HUD while he was in charge -- an act that could arguably run afoul of the reforms that Cuomo is now proposing.

"Pirro to Cuomo: If It Should be Illegal Now, What Made You Think It Was Ethical Then?"

Andrew Cuomo picked up the endorsement today of Hillary Clinton and a bunch of women's organizations.

Clinton said, "I am proud to endorse Andrew Cuomo as our next Attorney General... Andrew is far and away the best qualified candidate to succeed Eliot Spitzer." (Note how un-nuanced Hillary's endorsement is, compared to Chuck Schumer's.)

Also endorsed today was Jeanine Pirro, who got the backing of a labor union DC9.

Not really a winning trade for Pirro in terms of news value. But better, you've got to think, than a federal investigation.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

The Times likes Hillary Clinton where she is, saying in an endorsement that "It seems as if in the Senate, Mrs. Clinton has found her true calling."

Iowa is less enthusiastic about her.

At a recent fund-raiser in Manhattan, Hillary Clinton named several Democrats nationwide she's trying to help. Ned Lamont was not on the list.

Jeanine and Al Pirro talk about their marriage to New York Magazine, with Al Pirro saying at one point, "It was extraterrestrial."

Andrew Cuomo and Jeanine Pirro debated and Pirro went sharply negative. The Times notes that Pirro waved her finger while Cuomo smiled and looked at camera.

The Truth Squad points out that Cuomo exaggerated Pirro's legal woes, while Pirro overstated Cuomo's blemishes at HUD.

Al Pirro's lobbying firm got money from a company owned by another company working with the outspoken, Bush-hating President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. (Now that's research!)

Fred Dicker says that Alan Hevesi's political consultant, Hank Morris, is running the comptroller's office and there's talk a grand jury might get seated in connected to Hevesi's chauffeur scandal.

Al D'Amato and Ed Koch agree on the dismal prospects of New York Republicans.

John Faso is one of the poorest gubernatorial candidates in recent New York history.

You have to go back to 1990 and Republican Pierre Rinfret, who netted a paltry 22 percent of the vote after spending less than $1 million, to find a lower total than Faso's."

Eliot Spitzer's closest adviser, Rich Baum, gets profiled. The Middletown Record says that Baum "has no official title and doesn't need one."

Rep. Vito Fossella is handing out literature basically saying that a vote for his opponent is a vote for Osama Bin Laden.

Rep. John Sweeney won't debate Kirsten Gillibrand until she releases her tax information, creating the inevitable debate about debates.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mark Warner's departure is good news for Hillary Clinton.

The Albany District Attorney is investigating Alan Hevesi's use of a state employee as a personal chauffeur.

While in New Hampshire, Rudy Giuliani hedges on when he'll decide to run for president.

Daily News looks at the upcoming debates between Andrew Cuomo and Jeanine Pirro. On its editorial page, the paper writes:

Were chutzpah the primary ingredient for political success, Jeanine Pirro would levitate to the office of New York State attorney general, for she has shown the audacity to air a campaign ad that's more mind-boggling than any stunt on "Fear Factor."

The Times looks at Pirro's record as the Westchester District Attorney.

The Times Real Estate section looks at George Pataki's 300-acre farm in Essex, and says it "is particularly gorgeous."

At yesterday's debate in Buffalo, John Faso said Eliot Spitzer was "asleep at the switch," and "has no business talking about campaign-finance reform." Spitzer said Faso "loves to defend corporate corruption." More on the debate here, here, here and here.

Albany is the lobbying capital of the world.

The City's only Republican congressman gets a failing grade from the League of Conservation Voters.

-- Azi Paybarah

One day after Jeanine Pirro told Andrew Cuomo to come out of hiding, there he was on the City Hall steps, unveiling a project to make state government more transparent.

Specifically, he wants to coordinate five databases and make them more assessable. The databases would focus on legislation, lobbying, campaign finance, state contracts, and state corporations.

The project can start on Day One but will take a few months to fully roll out, Cuomo said.

Supporting the proposal was the co-author of the NYU Brennan Center's devastating critique of the state legislature, Jeremy Creelan, who is now a lawyer in private practice. Cuomo said the Brennan Center's report on the dysfunction in Albany was true when it came out in 2004 and probably even "more true" today.

When I asked him if there was any contradiction in wanting to make more information available to the public, while limiting the number of debates he'll attend (two so far), he said no.

"Well Azi, you know, there's a lot of ways to get information across to people. I like, and what I've been doing for two years is, I like to listen to them and listen to their issues. Whenever I get a chance, I find a forum where I get to hear from voters 'What are your problems?'"

Right after the press conference, he got an earful from two people who happened to be passing by: consultants/lobbyists George Artz and Bob Liff.

In the spirit of openness, Cuomo had the conversations right in front of us.

UPDATE: In the spirit of Project Sunlight, a reader notes that the man who endorsed Cuomo's plan today worked on Cuomo's gubernatorial campaign in 2002. -- Azi Paybarah

Jeanine Pirro's campaign received an in-kind contribution from Bernie Kerik's lawyer days before their scandal broke.

Senate Republicans sent more money to defend John Flanagan's seat on Long Island than to defend the Westchester seat Nick Spano won by 18 votes two years ago.

John Faso misspelled the name of some guy headlining his fundraiser tomorrow.

Dick Cheney hung up on Bob Woodward, who thinks the White House doesn't like people disagreeing with them.

More good poll numbers for Democrats. President Bush's approval rating is down 5 points in a month.

Get ready for the second coming of John Kerry.

Mark Foley's pension is untouched and could be as high as $32,000 a year.

A Congressman on the House Ways and Means Committee, which Rep. Charlie Rangel may control soon, questions the tax exempt status of intercollegiate athletics.

And pictured above are Reps. Joe Crowley and Charlie Rangel talking about what they'll do when Democrats take over the House. I think.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Marching parallel to Hillary Clinton behind the barriers on Fifth Avenue were supporters like these, who made sure to keep their Hillary signs within camera-shot of the Senator at all times.

Jeanine Pirro, who always talks about protecting children, got her campaign literature into the hands of this future voter.

The one-man parade that is Senator Chuck Schumer marched several hundred feet behind Clinton's juggernaut, and seemed to enjoy having this stretch of the route to himself.

Italian Flavor Flav. No explanation available.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

The only issue Rudy Giuliani and his supporters talk about at length is 9/11.

The City defends how it searched through 9/11 debris at Fresh Kills.

Jeanine Pirro will run a television ad, maybe as early as tomorrow, saying she didn't break any laws.

Hillary Clinton donated more than $2 million to Democratic campaigns recently.

Bill Thompson is taking Spanish lessons, and I'm presuming it's with thoughts of 2009.

The 87-year-old Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, will have a fundraiser for his re-election next Monday.

Embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert is skipping a fundraiser at Mike Bloomberg's townhouse for upstate congressman John Sweeney.

State Republicans start to form a circular firing squad.

Richard Clarke lays out 7 steps need to get US troops out of Iraq.

Ben says Russ Feingold is the candidate of "liberal ideological purity."

The Dolan family offers $19.2 billion to take the Cablevision empire private.

When New Jersey state Democrats said a Republican plan for ethics reform was partisan, the Times editorial board responded: "Of course they were. But in a state rocked by one scandal after another, who cares?"

-- Azi Paybarah

The press has to love the sway of a prosecutor.  read more »

The press has to love the sway of a prosecutor.  read more »

Here are the latest fundraising numbers from the invincible Spitzer-Paterson campaign from September 19 through October 2:

$693,000 raised $700,000 spent $8.6 million on hand

Andrew Cuomo, who hasn't had much to do lately but sit back and watch Jeanine Pirro, raised even more, according to numbers released by his campaign:

$1.1 million raised $2.4 million on hand

Pirro raised about $1.6 million since mid-July, and has $1.26 million on hand, according to Liz Benjamin, who has more figures here. [This post has been corrected to reflect Pirro's real numbers. The ones I represented the amount of money the campaign raised just since the wire-tap scandal broke. Apologies.]

UPDATE: John Faso's spokeswoman just called with their latest finance numbers:

$952,519.14 raised $1,405,010 spent $972,256.66 on hand

-- Azi Paybarah

A potentially important detail in the Jeanine Pirro scandal:

If the boat was technically not her property, investigators theorized that it could bolster their case that onboard intercepted conversations would be illegal

The Post asked Rudy Giuliani about the Pirro-Bernie Kerik-Giuliani Partners connection, and ducked.

Meanwhile, the Times fronts a story about Pirro's opponent, Andrew Cuomo, who invested more than half of his campaign money in a hedge fund and got a 19 percent return on it when the Dow Jones average went up about only 1 percent. Said Democracy 21 watchdog Fred Wertheimer: "There's no way to know what's going on with a hedge fund."

Malcolm Smith flunked his first big press conference as senate minority leader because he couldn't say whether he supported same-sex marriage.

John Spencer says that Hillary Clinton is giving comfort to the terrorists. And the News has a bonus fact: Spencer's campaign account is 1/28 the size of his opponent's.

State Democrats and Republicans argue about who's worse at handling sex scandals.

The Times speculates about the real agenda behind Bill Clinton's high-profile advocacy of good works.

And in another story that the Clinton people are going to love: Mark Foley's sex scandal, George Allen's "macaca" comment and Bill Clinton's fit on FoxNews are signs of a new era in politics, according to the Washington Post.

Cumulatively, the stories highlight a new brand of politics in which nearly any revelation in the news becomes a weapon or shield in the daily partisan wars, and the aim of candidates and their operatives is not so much to win an argument as to brand opponents as fundamentally unfit.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mayor Bloomberg proves New York is .9% bigger, and secures $23 million from the federal government.

Ben disagrees with Pat Healy's take on whether Jeanine Pirro can effectively play the victim in her scandal.

Urban Elephants and Chris Callaghan are hosting a limerick contest.

Queens Senator Malcolm Smith will make his soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader position official at a press conference in Harlem on Thursday.

Mark Foley once interrupted a vote on the House floor to have internet sex with a high school student.

The Washington Times, home of all things conservative, wants House Speaker Hastert gone.

The anti-Vito Fossella blog goes nuts over a contribution from Mark Foley.

And above is the newest ad from Jim Webb, who Hillary Clinton campaigned with today.

-- Azi Paybarah

Well-funded Republican attacks on Hillary Clinton haven't materialized yet, even though lots of out-of-state money are affecting New York elections.

Governor Pataki has "previous commitments upstate" and won't be attending the fundraiser he's hosting for Jeanine Pirro tonight.

Alan Hevesi and Christopher Callaghan will debate when?

Jeanine Pirro and her husband's lawyer deny they were in cahoots to offer favorable plea bargains to the lawyer's criminal clients.

Pirro is playing the victim while keeping a busy campaign schedule. And, as the Times writes, "Her appearances are largely geared toward television, where her advisers believe she has the greatest ability to connect with voters."

The woman allegedly sleeping with Jeanine Pirro's husband once gave her own husband a courtroom sketch of Albert Pirro as a gift.

Rep. Anthony Weiner says Democrats may be "kicking ourselves" for not helping the guy challenging Republican Rep. Vito Fossella.

The most harmful thing about Cocaine -- the drink -- is its name.

"Cocaine contains 280 milligrams of caffeine in its slim 8.2-ounce can. Health experts say consuming 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day isn't harmful."

The state will get $1.5 billion from the federal government to help with struggling hospitals and will proceed with hospital closings at the end of the year.

Times reporter Joe Sharkey tells how his 13-passenger jet survived a mid-air collision with a 737 jumbo jet that killed 155 people.

And although U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's name will still appear on the ballot in Florida, Republicans have named a replacement candidate.

-- Azi Paybarah

Jeanine Pirro's friend says the Post story about her sticking with Al Pirro because he pays for her $15,000-a-month lifestyle is crap.

"If she divorced Al, she'd get 50 percent of his net worth, which is about $12 million."

The Alan Hevesi chauffeur scandal gets some traction...with two upstate Republican candidates for the Assembly.

The Drum Major Institute thinks the City's Department of Education isn't following their own guidelines on interpretation and translation services.

The Brennan Center thinks Pataki's last 100 days should be spent standing up to the legislature, which he's done before when he, um, never mind.

Ben translates Senator Ruben Diaz's rage against everyone, who he thinks should shed "to shed the Republican or Democratic seal and take up the Christian one."

A Tampa Bay Times editor explains why they didn't write about Rep. Foley's emails last year.

The Caucus says Rep. Mark Foley should have known his Instant Message chats were being saved on his computer.

A Florida Democrat wants the whole congressional leadership, and the page program in the capitol, investigated.

John Koblin doubts Google's new Eighth Avenue office will mean more free WiFi for NYC.

And for everyone about to break fast soon, feast your eyes on the glorious Google cookies.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah