The Albany Times Union is reporting that, not only will Albany DA David Soares release a report further exonerating members of Eliot Spitzer's staff in the so called "Troopergate" scandal, but he will also criticize Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's initial investigation as well as the "political theater" that dragged his office into a "needless investigation". It's got to be a rather stinging rebuke to the Bruno crew.

X-posted at TAP  read more »

(X-posted at TAP)

This story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. It starts about 24 hours after Andrew Cuomo released his report on L'affaire Bruno. Bouldin remembers it like this:

The first Spitzer-bashing email from Michael Caputo's NYFacts.net went out on July 10th, 2007, at 12:41 PM Eastern. Since then, the group has sent out 35 further emails. Another site, Spitzerfile.com, which interestingly only loads through a redirect from NYFacts.net, went live sometime after July 10th, and has also been sending out emails.

NYFacts.net even briefly branched out into Obama-bashing on August 8th, with an email entitled "Obama pulls from all-white Harmonie Club', which contained a piece by Maggie Haberman in the Murdoch Post.

Both Bouldin and I were both on this email list as were pretty much every media outlet in the state. It was one hell of a list and it was apparently assembled in record time. what was interesting was not so much who those emails were going to but the addresses that were being used. Some folks were getting those emails at addresses they hadn't used in years, others at brand new ones. Some people were getting them at purely personal addresses.

You ain't seen nothing yet. MUCH more weirdness on the flip...  read more »

Seriously. I know that being a Republican and all, you are predisposed to both extra-legal surveillance and lying about said activities, but please, for the love of Fiorello LaGuardia, please stop bullshitting me. It's unseemly and it makes you look like an even bigger ass. Today I read in the New York Times that you had to unleash the NYPD on all those "potential terrorist" and "anarchist" groups that may have been "planning to cause or take advantage of any disruptions", but that "We were not keeping track of political activities" and "We have no interest in doing that.”

Bullshit. You know it and so do I.

“We had a fundamental responsibility to learn whether groups might include any potential terrorists or anarchists planning to cause or take advantage of any disruptions,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters at a news conference. Toward that end, he said, the Police Department monitored those who said they intended vandalism or disruptions and, he added, “in a few instances, we did keep track of groups or individuals who did plan to come to New York for the R.N.C. convention and who might have been planning violent acts.”  read more »

Well, well. This is interesting. the politicker is reporting in an exclusive that Manhattan Assemblyman Sheldon Silver the stadium slayer might just get a challenger in the next cycle. Who might this be? Current City Coincilwoman, Bloomberg chum and MBP hopeful, Margarita Lopez. Interesting if true.

Exclusive: A Challenge for Shelly?

After Shelly Silver killed the West Side Stadium, there was a quick round of muttering that Bloomberg would take his revenge by supporting a challenger in Silver's Lower Manhattan district.

That speculation dissolved when nobody could name a serious challenger.

But now, The Politicker hears, Bloomberg's circle has a favorite: City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez.

Lopez is now running for Manhattan Borough President, but if she doesn't make it through that crowded field, it's easy to see Bloomberg would backing a woman he's long had a personal liking for. She's also shown her political strength against Shelly by beating his chief-of-staff, Judy Rapfogel, in a 1997 Council race.

In a quick interview this morning, Lopez said she returns the affection -- "He is truly, truly a gentleman," she said -- but called the suggestion she would run against Silver "ludicrous."  read more »

Margarita López Torres picked up some rather big league endorsements this morning down at City Hall.

From the press relase:

At 9:30AM Monday morning, July 18, on the steps of
New York City Hall, three
congressional members from Brooklyn, along with
other elected officials and
supporters, will announce their support for Civil
Court Judge Margarita López
Torres to be the next Surrogate Court Judge of
Brooklyn.

Those three congresscritters? Nydia Velazquez (NY-12), Ed Towns (NY-10) and Major Owens (NY-11).  read more »