Jeanine Pirro | The New York Observer

Protesting Judge Jeanine Pirro

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:10:53 -0400

Yesterday morning about 30 people gathered outside of the Warner Brothers corporate office in midtown to protest the new TV show starring several-times-disgraced Republican Jeanine Pirro.

“I don’t think people want to watch a show of a woman involved in putting innocent people in jail,” said Sam Zherka, perhaps optimistically. Zherka, owner of the libertarian-leaning Westchester Guardian and the Flatiron's V.I.P. Club, helped organize the protest.

The anti-Pirro poster boy and leader of the group...

Report: Pirro Under Scrutiny Again

Thu, 03 May 2007 12:26:09 -0400

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...

Liz Benjamin!

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:30:00 -0400

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...

The Morning Read: Thursday, January 25, 2007

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:05:23 -0500

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...

Post-Election Money: Cuomo, King, Pirro

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:30:00 -0500

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...

Elsewhere: Pirro, Obama, Martinez

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:00:00 -0500

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...

Cuomo's TV Debt

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 10:41:26 -0500

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...

Elsewhere: Schumer, Poverty, McGreevey

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:00:32 -0500

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...

Day 1 at City Hall

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:45:00 -0500

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...

Pataki and the Court

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:40:28 -0500

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...

John Spencer Rues Republican Wash-Out

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500

The 2006 election was a tough one for the New York Republicans: John Faso, who never had much of a shot, and Jeanine Pirro and Christopher Callaghan, each of whom enjoyed a brief moment of hope, were wiped out by a Democratic tidal wave. But perhaps no one better represents the poster child for beleaguered-Republican losses more than the candidate for U.S. Senator, John Spencer, whose campaign seemed to have run off the rails...

A Glamorous New Minarik

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 04:30:00 -0500

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...

Cuomo's speech

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:37:05 -0500

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...

Events for November 7, 2006

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 13:00:00 -0500

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...

Elsewhere: Hillary, Hevesi, Pirro

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 12:21:57 -0500

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...

The Morning Read: October 30, 2006

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 04:00:33 -0500

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...

Sympathy and Public Service

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:47:25 -0400

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...

Pirro on the Cuomo Trail

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 07:38:57 -0400

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...

When John Spencer Says You're A Loose Cannon...

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:15:18 -0400

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...

A Conversational Mind

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 06:54:23 -0400

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....

So Proud

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 09:45:00 -0400

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...

The Morning Read: October 20, 2006

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:07:51 -0400

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...

Big Drama, Little Difference

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:04:24 -0400

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...

The Morning Read: October 18, 2006

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 05:35:22 -0400

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...

Live-Spinning the Debate

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 06:31:32 -0400

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: PIRROS OWN PARTYS 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...

Cuomo, Pirro Endorsed

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:16:05 -0400

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...

The Morning Read: October 16, 2006

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 04:56:41 -0400

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,...

The Morning Read: October 13, 2006

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 05:05:51 -0400

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...

Project Sunlight

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:01:16 -0400

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...

Elsewhere: Kerik, Spano, Kerry

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 14:04:43 -0400

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...

Happy Columbus Day

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 09:39:52 -0400

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 Morning Read: October 9, 2006

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 05:55:09 -0400

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...

Pirro's Debacle Puts Electroshocks Into Flailing Race

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The press has to love the sway of a prosecutor. “I want to say something,” Jeanine Pirro said, at Baruch College, shortly after noon on Oct. 3.

It was at the end of the allotted time for her presentation to the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. She had spoken well, coming off convincingly as a friend of the environment, and only referring conspicuously to her written speech near the end....

Pirro’s Debacle Puts Electroshocks Into Flailing Race

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The press has to love the sway of a prosecutor. “I want to say something,” Jeanine Pirro said, at Baruch College, shortly after noon on Oct. 3. It was at the end of the allotted time for her presentation to the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. She had spoken well, coming off convincingly as a friend of the environment, and only referring conspicuously to her written speech near the end. Her...

Money for Nothing

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:47:01 -0400

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....

The Morning Read: October 6, 2006

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 04:49:17 -0400

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...

Elsewhere: Foley, Pirro, Smith

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 14:23:32 -0400

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...

The Morning Read: October 3, 2006

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 04:58:00 -0400

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...

Elsewhere: Foley, Cookies

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:43:12 -0400

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."...

Cuomo Hires

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:42:45 -0400

Greg Krakower, Mark Green's policy director is now working as a policy adviser for...Andrew Cuomo. One cornerstone of Green's policy was the state attorney general's lawsuit against HUD over federal pesticide laws. The lawsuit included the years Cuomo led the agency, which prompted Green to ask Cuomo the best question of the race. "Your website said you'd continue the lawsuit if you were attorney general. Does that mean you'd be suing yourself as plaintiff...

The Morning Read: October 2, 2006

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 04:40:00 -0400

Kevin Sheekey keeps pitching the 'Bloomberg for President' storyline, and the mayor keeps traveling outside of New York. Jeanine Pirro stays married to her politically-damaging husband because he pays her $15,000 a month. The feds have subpoenaed Pirro's financial records and are looking to see whether she paid Bernie Kerik to spy on her husband. Pirro said she only wanted photos to prove her husband was cheating. The feds are also investigating Bronx Democratic County leader Jose Rivera...

Elsewhere: Paranoia, Conspiracy

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 13:35:32 -0400

Hillary Clinton says,"I'm always the most paranoid campaigner you can find." Jeanine Pirro has a pleasant conversation with Bill O'Reilly. New York Magazine notes the inconsistency in Jeanine Pirro's conspiracy theory about Andrew Cuomo. Speaking of conspiracies, Pirro's lawyer is chair of the state ethics commission investigating Alan Hevesi. No matter what the commission finds out about Hevesi, most voters have already decided they don't care. Roger Ailes of Fox thanked Bill Clinton for arguing with Chris Wallace....

Pataki For Pirro, From A Distance

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:29:13 -0400

With no one on the bench for November, the Republican Party is (mostly) sticking by Jeanine Pirro, whose self-portrayal as the wronged victim of a politically motivated federal investigation wasn't exactly Plan A. Rudy Giuliani and John Faso may have jumped ship, but Governor George Pataki won't leave Pirro's side. Except that he won't be attending the fund-raiser he is reportedly throwing for Pirro at the Marriott Eastside Hotel on October 3. ...

Elsewhere: Spitzerese

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:30:00 -0400

A Marist poll will come out tonight poll about Jeanine Pirro. Ben explains how Eliot Spitzer can play a pivotal role in the race for a new minority leader in the state senate, proving there is no race Spitzer can affect. Liz Benjamin follows that race too, noting there's one upstate candidate (Neil Breslin) and three downstaters (Malcolm Smith of Queens, Martin Dilan of Brooklyn and Eric Schniederman of Manhattan.) Before anyone blows a...

But Pirro Soldiered On

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:15:00 -0400

Standing under a chandelier that looked like an exploding atom particle, a smiling Jeanine Pirro told LGBT activists and donors at a Manhattan fundraiser that "When I got out of law school 150 years ago, I was taught that equal rights and equal justice applied to all of us. And then, I got into the real world..." This was last night, about three hours after Pirro publicly confirmed that her attempt to verify her...

Morning Read: September 28, 2006

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 05:15:00 -0400

Lots of Pirro today. The Post calls yesterday's news of a federal investigation into Jeanine Pirro over allegations of illegal wire-tapping a "devastating blow to her campaign," while the Daily News has a sidebar piece - leading with the cancellation of a planned fund-raising appearance by Rudy Giuliani - headlined "Uh, Jeanine, hope you had career Plan B." Jeanine Pirro's plan to bug her husband's boat is, according to her lawyer, perfectly legal under federal...

Pirro: How Was Your Day?

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:44:40 -0400

Standing under a chandeleer that looked like an exploding atom particle, a smiling Jeanine Pirro told LGBT activists and donors at a Manhattan fundraiser that "When I got out of law school 150 years ago, I was taught that equal rights and equal justice applied to all of us. And then, I got into the real world..." This was about three hours after Pirro said her attempt to verify her husband's infidelity is now...

Elsewhere: Jeanine Pirro

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:27:19 -0400

Tom Golisano returns. So do some Swift Boat tactics. But the Republican convention doesn't. And picturedto the right is Jeanine Pirro, whose press conference about her husband's infidelity, her venting to Bernie Kerik, and the fed's probe into the whole thing...is here. -- Azi...

Pirro in Tears, Not Dropping Out

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:12:25 -0400

Pretty dramatic stuff at the Jeanine Pirro press conference at the Sheraton in midtown. With a story set to break on WNBC, Pirro confirmed to a group of reporters that she iswas under investigation by federal law enforcement officials. They are reportedly looking into an allegation that she had placed an illegal wire-tap on the phone of her husband Al. About a year ago, Pirro said, she initiated a conversation with Bernie Kerik (of all people)...

PirroGate

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:40:58 -0400

Jeanine Pirro just sent out an intriguing release saying that she "will discuss an official investigation into her personal life" at 4:30 in midtown. Ben has more on the investigation here. It seems that she may have done what any law and order candidate would have done with a law-ignoring husband: tap his phone. Release is after the jump. -- Azi Paybarah ATTENTION: News Editor From Empire Information Services For TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, call 1-800-552-2194 09/27/06 15:12 News from Jeanine Pirro for Attorney...