NY's version of Katherine Harris Vows to Stay In Race

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ABC News
NY AG Candidate Vows to Stay in Race

NY AG Candidate Pirro Calls for Investigation Into Leak of Document, Vows to Stay in Race

N.Y. AG Candidate's Problems Continue

Talk Politics: Join the Debate
By BETH FOUHY

NEW YORK Sep 28, 2006 (AP)— A defiant Jeanine Pirro said Thursday she is determined to stay in the state attorney general's race and will seek a federal investigation into the leak of sealed court documents regarding her plan to secretly record her husband, whom she suspected of having an affair.

"Ladies and gentlemen, that is a felony. That is the only felony that has occurred in this situation the leaking of sealed court documents," Pirro told the New York Hispanic Clergy Association in New York.

Pirro, a Republican, said she would contact Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to request that a special prosecutor be assigned to determine the source of the leak. And she said she would seek to have an assistant U.S. attorney, who prosecuted her husband on tax evasion charges seven years ago, removed from the case.

Asked if she thought her Democratic opponent, former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo, was involved in the leak, Pirro said, "What I can tell you is this: We're going to find out."

Wendy Katz, a spokeswoman for Cuomo, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. She declined to comment on Wednesday.

Pirro, 55, said she is more determined than ever to stay in the race against Cuomo.

At a packed news conference Wednesday, Pirro acknowledged she was under federal investigation for plotting to record her husband, Albert Pirro, in mid-2005 when she suspected he was having an affair.

"Sometime last year, I came to believe that my husband was seeing another woman," Pirro said. "In the midst of matrimonial discord, I was angry and had him followed to see if what I suspected was true. Although I spoke about taping him, there was no taping by me of anyone. There was anger, and frustration, and disappointment."

Pirro, seeking to become the state's first female attorney general, said the investigation was "highly improper" and politically motivated.

"All I know is that when you start leaking sealed court records 40 days before an election, that's an outrage," Pirro told reporters Thursday.


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U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia confirmed in a statement his office was investigating but declined to offer details. But, Garcia said, "we do not take politics into account in deciding either the subject matter or timing of our investigations."

Two people familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pirro contacted disgraced former New York city police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, now a private security consultant, in the middle of 2005 to discuss possibly placing a recorder in a room to listen in on her husband.

"I was very upset and discussed doing things I had a right to do, but decided not to do. But in any event, they would have been legal," Pirro said.

WNBC-TV, citing transcripts of Kerik and Pirro's conversations, reported that Pirro, in often profanity-laced terms, floated the idea of bugging the family boat.

The location of a bug could matter because in interpreting if a recording was legal, authorities may have to determine if the boat counts as a marital residence. Pirro's husband, a millionaire lobbyist, reportedly owns the boat.

Pirro's troubled marriage to lobbyist Albert Pirro has been a source of controversy throughout her public life. Once a wealthy and influential power broker with close ties to Gov. George Pataki, Albert Pirro was convicted on multiple counts of tax fraud in 2000 and served 11 months in federal prison. He also embarrassed his wife by fathering an illegitimate daughter after they were married.

Jeanine Pirro said Wednesday she had stayed in the marriage because of her two children, ages 21 and 17.

Amid questions about whether she could continue her candidacy, Pirro received a hero's welcome and several standing ovations from the Hispanic clergy organization. Introducing her to the crowd, state Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Democrat and pastor, praised her for staying in her marriage.

"Marriages should be kept together at all costs," Diaz said. "Jeanine Pirro put her marriage first and her children first before her own aspirations. She is a heroine to us."

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Pirro said she was told of the investigation by FBI agents last week.

Political observers said Pirro, who is trailing Cuomo by 53 percent to 36 percent in a Siena College Research Institute poll, can ill afford the new embarrassment.

"She doesn't have any points to give and this only creates a darker cloud over her candidacy," said Lee Miringoff, head of Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion. "It's been one problem after another."

Pirro's stretch of pitfalls began last year, when she announced she would run for U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. While making the announcement, she was left speechless for 32 seconds because a page was missing from her prepared text.

Shortly after that, news reports said her husband, without her knowledge, was pushing an effort with top state Republicans, including Pataki, to get her out of the U.S. Senate race.

Albert Pirro did not deny those reports. "Any private conversations I have had were solely intended to support Jeanine's political aspirations," he said.

Pirro dropped her four-month Senate campaign in December after failing to generate much interest or raise much money. Instead, she said, she would run for attorney general.

Just last week, she came under fire from the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association because she scheduled a news conference at ground zero. The PBA said Pirro's choice of venue was inappropriate to use "as a backdrop for political campaigning."

Pirro canceled the event, citing scheduling problems.


On the Net:

Jeanine Pirro: http://www.jeaninepirro.com

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine


Two people familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pirro contacted disgraced former New York city police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, now a private security consultant, in the middle of 2005 to discuss possibly placing a recorder in a room to listen in on her husband.

"


LMMFAO

Bernie "Homeland Security" Kerik :D

Sure dodged that bullet, eh chimpy?

[FORD]

She's worse than Cruella Harris, at least as far as campaigning goes.

She already fucked up her senate race out of sheer stupidity.

"Where's my page 10?" (http://asphaltjungle.com/Speechless.mov)

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine


Pirro dropped her four-month Senate campaign in December after failing to generate much interest or raise much money. Instead, she said, she would run for attorney general.

Just last week, she came under fire from the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association because she scheduled a news conference at ground zero. The PBA said Pirro's choice of venue was inappropriate to use "as a backdrop for political campaigning."

Pirro canceled the event, citing scheduling problems.



ROTMFFLMAO........

Running for ATTORNEY FUCKING GENERAL while under Grand Jury Indictment

Only in New York:D



If you recall, this is the same dipshit who sttod silent at a press conference for 30 seconds because she lost a page of her speech and was unable to ad lib

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by FORD
She's worse than Cruella Harris, at least as far as campaigning goes.

She already fucked up her senate race out of sheer stupidity.

"Where's my page 10?" (http://asphaltjungle.com/Speechless.mov)

Think they're neck-and-neck in the stupidity race to the bottom....


Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrell:D

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
[B

Pirro's troubled marriage to lobbyist Albert Pirro has been a source of controversy throughout her public life. Once a wealthy and influential power broker with close ties to Gov. George Pataki, Albert Pirro was convicted on multiple counts of tax fraud in 2000 and served 11 months in federal prison. He also embarrassed his wife by fathering an illegitimate daughter after they were married.

[/B]

Well, with this kind of judgement skills, I think she'd make a fine AG :D :D :D

[Nickdfresh]

It's pretty funny that she was actually trying to justify her spying, bringing some jilted woman shit.

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
It's pretty funny that she was actually trying to justify her spying, bringing some jilted woman shit.

Just what you want to see in an AG candidate....

Yeah I broke the law, so what?

I did it for the sisterhood:D

[Nickdfresh]

I bet she was hot 10 or 20 years ago though...

[LoungeMachine]

Prosecutors Seek Pirro’s Financial Records

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times



By SEWELL CHAN and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: October 2, 2006

Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena for copies of financial disclosure statements filed by Jeanine F. Pirro, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, from 1998 to 2005, when she was the Westchester County district attorney, a person familiar with the subpoena said yesterday.
\

The request for the documents, which contain details of Ms. Pirro’s personal finances, is the latest in a series of developments that have roiled her campaign. On Wednesday, Ms. Pirro disclosed that she was the subject of a federal investigation into whether she illegally recorded her husband’s conversations on the family’s boat last year to determine whether he was having an affair.

The New York Post, which reported on the subpoena yesterday, said it came from a federal grand jury in Manhattan.

A person familiar with the subpoena said yesterday that it was delivered late Friday afternoon to the Westchester County Board of Ethics and gave county officials until Wednesday to respond.

The subpoena asked for disclosure reports from 1998 to 2005 and for the instructions given to Ms. Pirro to use in filling out the reports, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the highly politicized nature of the case.

The reports ask officials to disclose bank accounts, stock transactions, real estate holdings, memberships on corporate boards and significant stock ownership. It was not clear why the disclosure statements were being sought.

Paul Shechtman, Ms. Pirro’s lawyer, said, “In my conversations with the government, they have given no indication that the investigation involves anything else than Jeanine’s talking about eavesdropping.” He added, “The only thing that I can guess is that the financial disclosure statements are being sought to ascertain whether Jeanine claimed an ownership interest in the boat.”

Ms. Pirro has acknowledged that she had private investigators follow her husband, Albert J. Pirro Jr., and that she spoke with Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, about possibly taping Mr. Pirro. She has said she never carried out the idea.

Yesterday, Ms. Pirro attended a campaign rally and a Columbus Day parade on Staten Island, but did not take questions from reporters.

In a written statement released by her campaign, Ms. Pirro repeated her criticism of leaks that she said were intended to smear her campaign. She called again for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to review her case. And she lashed out again at Elliott B. Jacobson, an assistant United States attorney who Ms. Pirro says has a “partisan political agenda.” Mr. Jacobson helped convict Ms. Pirro’s husband of tax evasion in 2000; he served 11 months in prison.

“Today’s leak to The New York Post really comes as no surprise,” Ms. Pirro said in the statement. “As long as Elliott Jacobson remains at the head of this case, continuing leaks are unfortunately predictable. In fact, no one will be surprised if there are more leaks before the end of the week.”

In calling for a special prosecutor, she added: “I know there is only one way this case will end; I will be cleared. The only question is whether I will be cleared before Election Day or after Election Day.”

Michael J. Garcia, who supervises Mr. Jacobson as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement last week, “We do not take politics into account in deciding either the subject matter or timing of our investigations.”

A spokesman for Mr. Garcia said in a statement yesterday: “Because the investigation is ongoing, we are not going to comment further. We stand by the statement we issued last Wednesday.”

Representatives of the Justice Department in Washington did not immediately respond to several messages yesterday.

[FORD]

Is there a Republican candidate running for office ANYWHERE this year that either isn't under investigation, or should be (i.e. Cruella Harris, Uncle Tom Blackwell)?

[Nickdfresh]

I don't know about Cruella needing an "investigation," but she certainly needs observation from a team of psychologists.