Alan Hevesi

Jerry Goldfeder, a prominent election lawyer in Manhattan who has been working for Andrew Cuomo will be joining the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, according to a source.

Among Stroock’s many clients is the former state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, who is being investigated because of an alleged pay-to-play scheme that allegedly may have included his political consultant Hank Morris, and millions of dollars from the state pension fund.

When asked about the move, Goldfeder e-mailed to say that a statement will be made later in the morning.  read more »

Goldfeder closed his private practice and joined Cuomo’s office in March of last year. By December, he had

Tonight, I'm going on New York 1 News' reporters roundtable for, among other things, a look back at the major news stories of 2007.

I discussed this with a few readers at a bar not long ago, and there was some debate as to which was a bigger story: the ongoing problem of Alan Hevesi's financial indiscretion or Eliot Spitzer's eventful first year in Albany.

But there are other possibilities: Michael Bloomberg leaving the Republican Party, inciting speculation about a presidential campaign; Tom Suozzi's affection; Spitzer's quest for humility; Andrew Cuomo's investigations; Al Sharpton's continued relevance; a New York Post reporter quitting her job to cover the war in Iraq.

Personally, I'm still awed by Mathieu Eugene winning three elections in a single year.

So, what were the biggest, most memorable, must-remember stories of 2007?

Your nominees?

Eliot Spitzer and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced a plan today for reforming the management of the $154 billion state pension fund.

But they did not recommend putting the fund under the control of a board of trustees. (Currently, the state comptroller’s office manages it alone). After DiNapoli's predecesssor, Alan Hevesi, resigned over alleged misuse, it reawakened a long-standing debate about the safety of the fund in the hands of one official.

Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating Hevesi, seems to be reserving judgment. From a statement:

"We agree that the Comptroller's Office needs significant reforms and will comment on them at the end of our ongoing investigation concerning that Office."

The city’s top fiscal manager, Bill Thompson, has a largely flattering profile in the latest issue of BuyOut Magazine, a financial trade publication.

At one point, Thompson explains why he diversified the city’s pension fund portfolio to a much greater extent than previous comptroller Alan Hevesi (who later made news as the state comptroller, and continues to now that he left office).

Thompson told the magazine the city now has invested its pension funds mostly in stocks (about 70 percent) and the rest in bonds (about 30 percent).

“I wasn’t trying to undercut the previous comptroller,” Thompson tells the magazine. “I just thought it made more sense…to have a more balanced portfolio perspective, and we tried to do that.”

For the first time in a while, amid continuing bad news, the Hevesi family has a reason to celebrate.

Tomorrow, former state comptroller Alan Hevesi's son Andrew is getting married.

An Assemblyman in Queens, Alan is marrying a woman named Rachel Ross in Massachusetts.

Alan Hevesi resigned after he admitted to having state employees chauffeur his ailing wife without reimbursing the state. Then, Alan was implicated in a state pension fund scandal. Today, Andrew’s older brother, former state Senator Dan, hired a lawyer to defend him against allegations that he got kickbacks from the arrangement.

Andrew hasn’t returned calls for two weeks about his or other stories I’ve called him about. Another person familiar with the event said of the Hevesis, “I’m sure they’ll all be there.”

So, here’s a little background on that much-loved investigatory tool, the Martin Act, which Eliot Spitzer used in his anti-fraud cases and Andrew Cuomo will use in his probe of Alan Hevesi’s alleged pension scam.

The person who blew the dust off the long-forgotten provision of state law is Eric Dinallo, who worked with Spitzer in the Manhattan DA’s office and is now the superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department. In 1926, a court ruled the Act had broad powers and didn't require prosecutors to prove "a willful decision to commit misconduct."

According to Brooke Master’s biography of Spitzer:

“Unlike other applicants, Dinallo had actually read the entire text of New York’s general business law, known as the Martin Act for its long-forgotten Republican sponsor, Louis M. Martin. Though that 1921 statute was considered weak when it was enacted, Dinallo focused on later amendments that had strengthened the act and given the state attorney general unusually broad power to investigate and crack down on those who commit financial fraud. While the Mahattan DA’s Office had been limited to using the Martin Act’s criminal side, the law gave the attorney general a whole range of civil powers: he could subpoena documents, haul brokers and investment bankers in for public questioning, and, unlike his federal counterparts t the SEC and the Justice Department, he didn’t have to specify up front whether he was going to seek criminal charges or file an easier-to-rove civil case. An equally obscure 1926 court case, People v. Federated Radio Corp., had further strengthened the attorney general’s hand by holding that the Martin Act did not require proof that securities sellers made a willful decision to commit misconduct.”

So, if his current investigation turns out to be productive, Cuomo owes one to Dinallo.

A few minutes ago I ran into Eliot Spitzer's former gubernatorial challenger, John Faso.

Faso has had the unfortunate luck of running against two Democrats who became embroiled in ethical flaps after it would have been of any political use to him. First, he came within about 162,000 votes of of beating Alan Hevesi in 2002. By the 2006 re-election, Hevesi was engulfed in a scandal about using state employees to chauffeur his ailing wife. That year, Faso ran against Spitzer, who now has his own problems.

Faso, now a lobbyist with Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. was heading into City Hall but stopped here to chat with Mickey Carroll of Quinnipiac and City Hall gadfly Rafael Martinez Alequin.

Alequin, never one to miss an opportunity, asked Faso if he was going to run for office again, to which Faso jokingly replied, "I'm running for my life."

Now this is kind of fascinating.

Alan Hevesi's lawyer is seeking to explain those stories in the Post about millions of dollars Hevesi may have directed towards financial companies connected to his adviser, Hank Morris, with the following statement:

“Evasive responses from the Attorney General’s press spokesman with respect to these leaks will no longer suffice. Furthermore, the repeated leaking to the press of unproven allegations and details of the inquiry violates the New York State Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility.”

I've tried to get an answer out of said press spokesman in Andrew Cuomo's office about the leak allegations, so far, without any luck.

Interesting that out of the two figures seemingly afflicted by prosecutorial leaks in Albany, Eliot Spitzer and Hevesi, only Hevesi is making an issue of it. (Spitzer, the erstwhile investigator, has stopped answering questions about the investigation.)

UPDATE: Jeffrey Lerner, Cuomo's Director of Communications, said, "We have no comment on this ongoing investigation or an obvious defense lawyer ploy to portray his client as a victim."

Here’s a significant story I missed in my morning round-up.

A financial company with ties to former comptroller Alan Hevesi’s closest adviser quietly amended its federal filings to show they got paid about $6 million more in fees than they had originally stated.

Sources said investigators are seeking to determine whether companies receiving investments from the state pension fund - which Hevesi alone controlled from 2003 until the end of last year - were directed by him to pay the "placement fees" to Searle in exchange for receiving the fund's cash.

A man who answered the phone at the company, Greenwhich-CT based Searle & Co. said “I don't know anything about it,” before hanging up. I called back and was told by another person a spokesman would call me back.

I also left a message for Hevesi’s consultant, Hank Morris, and am waiting to hear back.

Melinda Katz is going full steam ahead with her bid to be the next city comptroller in a race that, technically, doesn't happen until 2009.

“I’ve been in it for two or three months,” Katz, a Councilwoman from Queens, told me.

She's already picked up a major endorsement from RWDSU, the union representing sales and retail workers, to be announced formally tomorrow.

And aside from process, Katz is casting herself as the most experienced candidate for the job, reminding me that she is the chair of the Council’s Land Use Committee, a former state Assembly member, and former associate at Weil, Gotshal and Manges.

“I’ve become the known entity in this race,” she said, on her way to City Hall. That's where two of her three likely opponents for the race currently work: fellow Queens-based Council member David Weprin and Councilman Simcha Felder of Brooklyn.
Also considering the race the race is Assembly member James Brennan of Brooklyn.

New York City is the tax capital of the world.

Conservatives don't like Eliot Spitzer's nominee for Environmental Conservation Commissioner.

Alan Hevesi wasn't the only state comptroller who had his wife chauffeured by a state employee.

Assembly members are playing basketball against the City Council this weekend.

Hillary Clinton's favorite game is blackjack.

Tom Daschle will endorse Barack Obama.

Jonathan Stein thinks "John McCain might as well be gay."

A GOP pollster tells Greg Sargent that that poll showing massive support for the war in Iraq is bogus.

A Republican presidential debate in Iowa will air on MSNBC on November 6. And pictured above is a photographic scrum in the Council's Red Room today.

-- Azi Paybarah

Just announced: health care workers union 1199 SEIU has endorsed Mathieu Eugene for the City Council in Brooklyn.

Video of Alan Hevesi's plea is here.

Sheldon Silver gets a lot of pork, as do several other members of the Assembly, according to The Albany Project.

Silver went out of his way to avoid a fight with Eliot Spitzer.

There's been more chatter about a Senate Republican deflecting from his conference.

Anthony Weiner talked about the REPUBLIC Party in Congress today. The video is here. [added]

Gary Ackerman wondered if the US military is more scared of gay people than terrorists.

Ben looks a bit closer at Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq.

34 percent of voters in a nationwide poll say they never heard of George Pataki.

Not enough Anna Nicole Smith? 20/20 is doing an hour-long special.

And pictured above is a happy Sheldon Silver.

-- Azi Paybarah

Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi will be sentenced tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. for defrauding the government in connection with the chauffeur issue that forced him from office, according to a spokesman for the Albany County District Attorney's office.

Hevesi won't serve any jail time, which was a crucial part of the plea deal he made with the DA.

DA spokesman Richard Arthur said the sentencing tomorrow will deal with the length of Hevesi's probation and other aspects of the plea.

-- Azi Paybarah

Ben notes that for some reason, Sean Patrick Maloney erased Alan Hevesi from his last campaign web site.

"In the current version, history is more...up to date: No Hevesi," Ben writes.

Sort of Kerik-esque, no?

-- Azi Paybarah

More on what Eliot Spitzer should be looking for to in Alan Hevesi's replacement for comptroller...

One line of argument that helped Hevesi win his re-election was that his opponent simply couldn't manage the state's pension because it was so big (about $150 billion).

But not many people have that experience, especially among the possible replacements who have already been publicly mentioned. Even bigshot money managers in the private sector don't normally manage accounts of that size.

So, what constitutes enough experience? There's an argument in the financial world that its not really the size of the investment that is worth noting, but rather, the size of the risk -- and whether that risk pays off.

In other words, managing $150 billion of low-risk investments may not be as difficult as managing $100 million of high-risk investments. And if anyone were to emerge from the financial sector, they'd have to get used to managing other people's money at a more acceptable level of risk, which is not always how the big bucks are made on Wall Street.

-- Azi Paybarah

The tension has reportedly been growing between Sheldon Silver and Eliot Spitzer over where to find the replacement for Alan Hevesi.

Silver is reportedly in favor of having a new comptroller come from within his conference, while Spitzer -- he of the "everything changes" school of politics -- is leaning towards someone from the private sector.

One Assembly Democrat I talked to made the Silver argument by suggesting that it was simply a matter of finding someone who, by virtue of having run for public office, had been thoroughly checked out beforehand.

"By running for office, you get vetted. I don't know how vetted you get in the financial industry," this lawmaker said.

A candidate from the private sector might have a clean record, the lawmaker suggested, but could still run into problems as soon as he or she was required to disclose business dealings, financial holdings and clients, which may include "companies that are legitimate companies, but in our world, wouldn't fly."

Of course, that's sort of assuming that Spitzer might actually be too inept to conduct his own background check, or that he might somehow be inclined to select someone, after finally having gotten the Hevesi mess behind him, whose nomination will spark a whole new controversy. It also ignores the fact that state officials drawn from the private sector have done quite well elsewhere, even when they haven't gone through the searing experience of running for office.

Am I missing something?

-- Azi Paybarah

So, I'm just thinking out loud, but I wonder how Alan Hevesi must be feeling nowadays with news that former governor George Pataki is granted 24-hour security by Eliot Spitzer.

Hevesi, who was the city comptroller when Rudy Giuliani and Mark Green was tackling mob-ruled businesses in New York City. Hevesi, not very effectively, claimed that necessitated security for not just him, but his wife.

Pataki was governor during the September 11th attacks, and its reasonable to assume whatever threat there was to New York that day extended to New York's leaders. But as Andrew Cuomo famously asserted once, um, Pataki didn't take a lead role that day.

So, in short: Hevesi gets no security and Pataki gets it round the clock.

What do you guys think?

-- Azi Paybarah

Rudy Giuliani's spokeswoman said the leaked papers were removed from a staffer's piece of luggage and photocopied.

Which, according to some experts, makes the whole thing worse for Giuliani.

Eliot Spitzer will focus on fiscal issues in his state of the state address today. In one excerpt released already, Spitzer will say, "Property tax cuts and increased support for education must be considered in tandem."

The Post writes a harsh editorial about Andrew Cuomo for not deputizing an assistant for Medicaid fraud yet.

The Albany County District Attorney who successfully prosecuted Alan Hevesi said he is investigating the state's education, motor vehicle, health and insurance departments.

A Spitzer campaign worker can immediately start lobbying the new administration since he was never technically on the state payroll.

New Jersey reconsiders the death penalty.

Thanks to his biographies, Barack Obama is the first (potential) presidential candidate to admit to cocaine use.

And President Bush has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal [subscription] about the budget he'll propose for the new congress.

-- Azi Paybarah

Now that Eliot Spitzer won't have Alan Hevesi in Albany anymore, it's interesting to see that he's hired Carl Andrews as a community liaison.

Spitzer delivered an early and well-documented repudiation of Hevesi earlier this year to signal clearly his intolerance for the way public officials have conducted themselves in the past.

With Andrews, Spitzer is embracing someone who hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing himself, but who is certainly the product of a party machine that was hardly a model of post-Day 1 propriety.

Spitzer's association with Andrews goes back to the days when Andrews worked closely with Brooklyn Democratic County leader Clarence Norman, who was later convicted on corruption charges. After the Brooklyn organization endorsed Spitzer during the four-way Democratic attorney general primary in 1998, Andrews went to work on Spitzer's campaign as a statewide field coordinator. Spitzer won the primary, defeating incumbent Republican Dennis Vacco, and Andrews went to work in the AG's office.

This year, Spitzer made a rare primary endorsement when Andrews ran for a seat in the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn.

"It's Mr. Spitzer's prerogative to make personnel announcements," said Darren Dopp, Spitzer's spokesman in the AG's office. Andrews "is expected to fill a role with the administration."

"All members of this administration go through a comprehensive background check," he said, adding, "It's unfair to be damned by association."

-- Azi Paybarah

One week after the day Everything Changes in Albany, the Albany County District Attorney will seek one more change: the reinstatement of his lead investigator, a position cut from his budget by the Albany County legislature while his office was investigating Alan Hevesi.

The county legislature is expected to convene next on January 8th. An aide to Soares said the DA will speak to the legislature at that time about reinstating the lead investigative position, citing the influx of public integrity tips and cases the office is now handling.

It should be interesting to see whether the appetite for investigating public integrity will remain as strong then as it did before Day 1 of the new administration.

-- Azi Paybarah

My recent attempt at live coverage of Alan Hevesi's court appearance seems to have struck a nerve with a couple of our readers.

Here's a sample of the feedback:

The coverage is a bit much. This liveblogging thing seems more like a vanity project for the blogger than anything else. Blogging is important and Azi does a great job. We don't need a minute-by-minute play-by-play, though. What's the next entry? "Alan Hevesi just coughed and scratched his butt. One reporter next to me took notice and snorted while chuckling. I kind of have to pee, but there's a line for the bathroom. Oh, well, I can't wait to watch The Sopranos when I get home. Hevesi just leaned over to tie his shoelace."

Posted by: Anonymous | December 26, 2006 2:21 PM

One reader wondered what's next.

Now that Al the Felon has finally resigned, its time to get rid of Chief of Staff Chartier (who has his driving Ms. Peggy problem) as well as Tom Sanzillo, Adam Freed, Victor Mallison, Thad McTigue, Dara Cohen, and the rest of Hevesi's upper staff. I would not imagine a new Comptroller wanting these Hevesi hacks around.

Posted by: John Romano | December 25, 2006 3:48 PM

And another seems to think we're picking on a small fish here.

OK 1:56, then how come all our very brave reporters - Azi included - are afraid to FOIL city records for how many Police officers were used to guard/drive/be on lookout for Rudy Giuiliani's mistress while his mother, wife and children were all under Police protection too.

The answer is they're afraid of Rudy. They all want an exclusive interview with the "man." And will only "pile on" when someone finally does the story. Bunch of wusses.

Posted by: Fed Up | December 22, 2006 2:00 PM

Noted.

-- Azi Paybarah

I wrote a fair amount last week about the overhaul of the city program that offers tax abatements for new residential construction. The details are here, and here, but to recap: A bill passed by the City Council last week will expand a so-called "exclusionary zone" within which developers, if they want the tax break, will have to also build some affordable housing. I know this is a little wonky, but one could argue that this law will have a lot more effect on the way New Yorkers live for the next few generations than, say, Joe Bruno's horseback buddies or Alan Hevesi's chauffeur service.

There's an interesting wrinkle to this story that hasn't been widely discussed, so far as I know, which is: What happened to Long Island City? The bill was supposed to expand the exclusionary zone to cover neighborhoods that are probable sites of future luxury housing development, such as Fort Green and Lower Manhattan. The best predictor of future luxury development, of course, is present luxury development. And by that measure, Long Island City is one of the fastest-growing areas of the city. In a recent report, the Pratt Center for Community Development profiled numerous luxury buildings outside the old exclusionary zone that were benefiting from the tax break; 12 of the buildings, a healthy percentage of the case studies, were located in Long Island City. All told, these buildings were receiving more than $75 million in subsidies.

Except for a sliver of undeveloped land along the East River waterfront, however, most of Long Island City was left untouched by the council's expansion of the exclusionary zone. And Silvercup West, a $1.2 billion development sponsored by the movie studio of the same name, was specifically exempted. Why? I contacted the office of City Councilman Eric Gioia, who represents the area, but I haven't heard back. Silvercup apparently had some complicated regulatory issues that led to its exemption. It seems possible that the city, which is building an affordable housing complex along the waterfront, on the site where NYC 2012 planned to build its Olympic Village, feels that 5,000 such units are enough for one neighborhood. And someone (ok, it's Azi again) points out that Gioia raises a lot of money and has ambitions to run for citywide office. Keeping a swath of prime land open for unfettered development is the sort of thing real estate folks tend to remember when it's check-writing time. Still, $75 million is a lot of money to leave on the table.

I'm stumped. Is there an explanation that I'm missing? Please fill me in.

UPDATE: Eric Gioia's very friendly chief of staff, Jerel Klue, took time out of his holiday to call me back. He says that, although most of the buildings cited in the Pratt report would not fall under the new exclusionary zone, all of the Queens waterfront would. He took issue with my characterization of that area as a "sliver." Though it may not be wide, Klue said, the area is zoned for high-density development--high-rise buildings and the like. "That is the area that's really booming," he added. "And that is the area where there is a real opportunity to create affordable housing."

-- Andrew Rice

Azi called in this morning from San Francisco, where he is visiting his brother. That kind of surprised me: I'd kind of been going on the assumption that Azi sprang fully formed, Athena-style, from the head of Ben Smith, and the existence of a brother would seem to suggest otherwise. But anyway, Azi is still collecting news. The kid is incorrigible--ed.

I've been hearing chatter that Bill Mulrow has fallen out of contention for the appointment as state comptroller, an office that opened up, of course, when Alan Hevesi resigned last week. No definitive word on what's diminished Mulrow's chances, although some gremlins have been trying to mount a whispering campaign about his connection to Excelsior Racing Associates, the group that is bidding to operate the state horse racing franchise. No one's accused Mulrow of anything untoward, but he is essentially acting as a lobbyist for Excelsior, and wearing the scarlet "L" has suddenly become something of a political problem in Albany. (Though it didn't hurt Eliot Spitzer's secretary of state designee.)

Meanwhile, the candidacy of Great Neck Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli received a boost over the weekend from the hometown newspaper, Newsday, which gave him a strong editorial page endorsement. "Although Spitzer is said to prefer someone with minimal ties to Albany," the paper noted:

DiNapoli's record of transcending the corrupt and partisan culture of dysfunction makes him an especially good choice to be the fiscal watchdog. For his unassuming style and superb accomplishments, for his integrity, intelligence and bipartisanship, DiNapoli is respected inside and outside Albany. That he is not from New York City, where Hevesi and the new statewide officials reside, is another plus.

Really, we only mention that in order to justify republishing the above Newsday editorial cartoon, which portrayed DiNapoli as a buffed-up Mr. Clean.

UPDATE: Howard Wolfson, who is working as a spokesman for Mulrow, writes to say: "Mulrow is not 'essentially a lobbyist' as you wrote. He is part of the group bidding for NYRA." In writing the item, the Politicker referred to recent Daily News story that said "Mulrow has worked ... as a lobbyist for Excelsior Racing Associates." Any inaccuracy was unintended, and the Observer would of course welcome any additional clarifying information about Mulrow's role within Excelsior.

-- Azi Paybarah

... from the Albany DA's office, are after the jump.

UPDATE: Above, Hevesi's mugshot, which Liz Benjamin got, naturally.

UPDATE 2: Here is an audio clip of Alan Hevesi speaking after his court hearing this morning. See if you can hear "Jingle Bell Rock" playing in the background.  read more »

-- Andrew Rice

Azi, who's liveblogging the day's events in Albany, called to read aloud a few choice sections of the supporting deposition to Alan Hevesi's three-page plea agreement. This is the most interesting part, from the investigator on the case's description of his interview with driver Nicolas Acquafredda:

During the interviews of Mr. Acquafredda he admitted to providing healthcare related transportation services to Mrs. Hevesi. Mr. Acquafredda also advised that he provided services of a personal and a nonsecurity related nature to Mrs. Hevesi. These personal services included picking up dishes from the residence of Mrs. Hevesi's sister, driving Mrs. Hevesi to shop at Bloomingdales while Acquafredda stayed in the vehicle, picking up items at BJ's Wholesale Club, picking up, and dropping off items for dry cleaning, and other personal services.

-- Andrew Rice

Ben Smith picks up this report that Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. is the favored candidate to replace Alan Hevesi, adding, "Other insiders aren't sure." -- Andrew Rice

Alan Hevesi is going to resign in order to stave off indictment.

The first word of Dicker's story: "Disgraced."

Liz Benjamin says he will plead guilty to a criminal charge, not higher than a Class E felony, whatever that is.

The Times, weirdly, seems to have missed the story. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Newsday handicaps the possible successors: Brodsky, DiNapoli and Mulrow.

Shelly Silver will pick the replacement. He will also decide if you get into heaven.

Joe Bruno's land deal partner is named Featherstonhaugh, "pronounced feather-stun-HAW," says the Times. You may need to remember that.

Republicans are worried.

Atlantic Yards is approved. Next stop: the courts.

Rudy's planning a visit to New Hampshire.

John McCain is becoming a "punching bag" for Dems says Chris Cillizza.

Christmas card analysis: out. Thank-you note dissection: in.

The City Council approved the 421a bill.

An elderly part-time employee in Joe Crowley's constituent service shop got in a car accident after leaving the congressman's Christmas party. Her friend, a passenger, was killed. The driver was apparently drunk. This story is very sad.

Tom Delay is now blogging. This thing could catch on.

Virginia Republican Virgil Goode has some problems with the Koran.

Turkmenbashi is dead. Don't feel bad. -- Andrew Rice

Following up on that Post column today suggesting that Sheldon Silver's support for Alan Hevesi is wavering, I asked Silver's spokesman Skip Carrier to explain exactly what it would take for the Speaker to jump ship.

Here's what Carrier told me: "He has said he would await the outcome of the district attorney's investigation up here and we still have yet to receive the results."

When I asked Carrier if that meant his boss was merely waiting to see if Hevesi was indicted, or whether he planned to stick with him until he was actually found guilty at a trial, Carrier said that the Speaker will wait to see "what exactly DA Soares concludes."

But not what a jury concludes?

"This is a grand jury process involved with this," Carrier said.

So does this mean the Speaker won't support the comptroller if he's indicted?

"He hasn't speculated what he'll do," said Carrier of his boss. "He's only said he's awaiting the results of the DA's investigation. He will make his statement based on the results, after he's seen the results."

-- Azi Paybarah

Hillary Clinton and other elected officials said there may not be enough money to treat 9/11 workers.

Hillary pulled ahead of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in a Newsweek poll.

In that same poll, Barack Obama was in a statistical dead heat with McCain and Giuliani in head-to-head matches.

The Washington Post takes a lengthy look at Giuilani's presidential bid.

The Chicago Tribune has a column defending Obama's experience and credibility as a 2008 candidate.

Alan Hevesi's lawyers are in negotiations with the Albany County District Attorney.

If Hevesi is indicted by the Albany DA, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will not support him, reports Fred Dicker.

Joe Mahoney reports that the indictment could come today.

There may be pressure on Sheldon Silver to delay approval of the Atlantic Yards project.

And Herman Badillo said that education is not a high priority in the Hispanic Community.

-- Azi Paybarah

After giving his speech to state party leaders at the Sheraton today, Eliot Spitzer was asked by reporters about Alan Hevesi, who was noticeably absent from today's event.

Spitzer, still the attorney general, reminded reporters that he recused himself from his office's investigation of Hevesi, and that there were other investigations still underway. Therefore, he said, he wants to "wait and see" what happens.

It wasn't just reporters who found the Hevesi-avoidance to be odd.

One state committee member I spoke with, Judith McGowan of the 81st Assembly District in the Bronx, said, "It was not appropriate to not mention it at all. There should have been something: 'We are going through a difficult time with who shall be the comptroller of New York State. What is the rule of the people? We must think about these things. We must take them into consideration.' But they acted as if it didn't exist."

She added, "He shouldn't be removed. He should pay a fine, he should abjectly apologize. He did a really stupid thing. And it may have been an arrogant action. But does it rise to the level of negating a statewide election?"

I'm sure that and other fun topics will come up at the state Democratic Party's holiday bash, preparations for which are well underway. (See above.)

-- Azi Paybarah

Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota is recovering from stroke-like symptoms.

Hillary Clinton met with her husband's political advisers last night in DC.

George Will wants Barack Obama to run.

Bronx state Senator Efrain Gonzalez, Jr. is charged with pocketing $400,000 from non-profits that received state aid.

Negotiations in Albany over key bills are deadlocked.

The plan to close some New York hospitals is headed for approval.

The Post says that the Albany DA has enough to indict Alan Hevesi on criminal charges.

Bill Hammond says Alan Hevesi is in denial.

The sale of government office space in Manhattan before its value was determined is "at best, bizarre and, at worst, illegal," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.

Daily News editors say there's no reason the Public Authorities Control Board should not approve the Atlantic Yards Project.

And City Comptroller Bill Thompson wants Google and Yahoo to address censorship issues.

-- Azi Paybarah

Alan Hevesi responds to his settlement with the AG's office by saying that most of the chauffering for his wife was "related to her security."

Here is a calendar of state employees who chauffeured Hevesi's wife, and how the AG's office came up with their calculations.

Eliot Spitzer's adviser, Paul Francis, said that health care is one of the greatest challenges facing the new governor.

Siberia may not open tomorrow.

Mitt Romney, John Edwards and Tom Vilsack all made hires for their presumed presidential campaigns.

A documentary about the role of bloggers in Ned Lamont's race will air on Dec. 28.

Andrew Sullivan is less annoying than Kos, according to a new poll.

Mike Bloomberg looks ahead to 2030.

And pictured above is the room at Gracie Mansion where the mayor hosted his party for City Hall reporters last night.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer's investigation into the Alan Hevesi has been resolved. The comptroller will pay $33,604.97 within ten days, bringing his total reimbursement for using a state employee as a chauffeur for his wife to $206,293.79.

Still no word from the Albany DA's office about their separate criminal investigation.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's something that should be a pleasant change for Alan Hevesi from his recent press coverage: it's Wayne Barrett's Top Ten reasons not to oust the state comptroller.

1. Hevesi is not a recidivist abuser

2.Hevesi cannot be removed based on speculation about his intent.

3.The commission ignored indications that Hevesi intended to reimburse the state.

4.Removal is inexcusably disproportionate to Hevesi's wrongdoing.

5. The commission's findings are politically selective.

6. The two other Pataki-appointed commissioners are as ethically challenged as Shechtman [NYS Lobbying Commission member]

7. Spitzer isn't transcending personal and political ties in the war on Hevesi; he's bowing to them.

8. Singling out Hevesi on the basis of commonplace car abuse would be a hypocritical high.

9. Spitzer is allowing campaign damage control to frame critical government policy.

10. Going forward with a senate trial and replacement will be a colossal mess.

Barrett, no softy on public corruption, argues that it's not too late for Spitzer to back away from his stance on Hevesi without losing face. Spitzer "could say now that he will await the result of the ongoing grand jury probe by Albany District Attorney David Soares and be bound by it; if no criminal charges are brought, he could conclude that no further action would be necessary."

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's the conclusion of that report on the process of impeachment co-written in 1986 by Long Island Republican state Senator Michael Balboni, then the counsel to the state Senate's Judiciary Committee John Dunne:

"The conclusion is that the laws governing impeachment and removal of a public official fail to fill the substantive due process void."

Newsday wrote it up as a possible line of defense for Alan Hevesi as Eliot Spitzer mulls the options for removing him.

The argument sounds a lot like what George Pataki's special counsel concluded when he opted not to recommend impeaching Hevesi: it wasn't for a lack of evidence, but rather because it was unclear how the removal process would work.

Incidentally, this wouldn't be the first time vague legislative rules turned out to be an impenetrable defense against ethics-related allegations in Albany. Clarence Norman beat back charges that he double-dipped and fraudulently billed the state for travel expenses that other people paid for on his behalf. The Assembly rules about travel reimbursements were found to be so vague that Norman was acquitted.

-- Azi Paybarah

Check out this teaser New York magazine just sent out about their upcoming story on Alan Hevesi.

"No one is more upset about the Alan Hevesi chauffeur scandal than Alan Hevesi. But just because he spends most nights morosely fixating on his troubles doesn't mean he's going to accept whatever punishment his former friend Eliot Spitzer decides to dish out. And he's got a better chance of keeping his job than most people think."

Just to review: If Eliot Spitzer asks the state Senate to recall Hevesi, two thirds of the chamber will need to go along with it. So if Joe Bruno supported it, but not Malcolm Smith and the minority Democrats, it wouldn't be enough votes.

Smith, so far, has said he won't discuss the issue in detail because he's like a prospective juror on a trial.

If Hevesi resigned, it would create a vacancy which the state constitution says needs to be filled by both chambers of the legislature. Since the 108 Assembly Democrats are the largest bloc of votes, the decision would be in the hands of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

If Hevesi, Silver and Smith all decided to push back against Spitzer on removing the comptroller, then... what?

-- Azi Paybarah

Alan Hevesi's last campaign finance statement finally went online last night.

His campaign account had $4,675,357 at the start of the reporting period, which ran from October 24 to November 6.

The campaign was billed about $3.9 million for "media" by consultants at Morris and Carrick.

Much of the remaining funds went to "surveys," wages for his skeletal campaign crew and work done by the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

Yet, as the News reported today, he ended the reporting period with $118,928 left over.

As it turns out, Hevesi was able to show the surplus because he transferred $165,392 into his current campaign account - Hevesi for New York - from his previous campaign account, Hevesi 2002.

A list of his final bunch of contributors is here.

-- Azi Paybarah