Herald Media Inc.

Bill Weld may not have made much of an impression on Al D’Amato --"he had not even met Mr. Weld until recently," the ex-Senator told the Times -- but the Weld campaign emailed over a pretty convincing set of clips that detail at least two meetings, despite D’Amato’s denials. Weld apparently recalls three more, including the one he described yesterday.

Boston Globe, 1/25/96: "Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York introduced Weld..."

Boston Herald, 6/18/96: "Gov. William F. Weld, who has offered to be a "character witness" for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, last night wined and dined the GOP’s Whitewater attack dog at a $ 1,000-a-head fund-raiser..."

(The canine in question being D’Amato.)

Weld’s spokeswoman, Andrea Tantaros, said the candidate recalls two other meetings, also in 1996.

They were together at a Suffolk County rally for Dole, she says, and at that year’s GOP convention, "They both walked into a room together where Dole was and a bunch of other people and someone said, ’Wow, look at this odd couple.’"

The Boston Herald writes up a new book on the notorious Bulger brothers, and doesn't think it's good news for the campaign.

" Under Weld's aegis as U.S. attorney, Whitey basically turned the FBI into a wholly owned subsidiary of his Winter Hill Gang. And Weld not only befriended Billy Bulger, he eventually found him a soft landing place at UMass."

And you thought Al D'Amato was unhappy with his days as a prosecutor.