NY AG Candidate Vows to Stay in Race
RSS Feeds From ABC 7 Thursday September 28, 2006 2:48pm
NEW YORK (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.
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."
Pirro said she was told of the investigation by FBI (website) 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.
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.
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On the Net:
Jeanine Pirro: jeaninepirro.com
Andrew Cuomo: andrewcuomo.com
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