Andrew Cuomo, gradually moving up in the world from "not his father" to "not Eliot Spitzer", has subpoenaed Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank in his crusading subprime mortgage investigation. And now Merrill Lynch is predicting "an almost unremittingly gloomy forecast for the US economy next year." It's all your fault, deadbeat consumers! You made them lend to you! [NYT, Telegraph]
Does Joe Bruno feel the noose tightening around his neck?As Governor Eliot Spitzer continues to die the death of a thousand cuts in the ongoing investigation of Statetroopergate or whatever the hell we're calling it, an interesting facet to the examination of the use of state planes for political purposes by the Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Graftsville) - the thing that got the governor into trouble in the first place - emerged yesterday.
On the second day after the release of a report from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office revealing that staffers working for Governor Eliot Spitzer aggressively attempted to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, the stories keep coming. The governor was in Buffalo yesterday, where he couldn't avoid questions about the report. "All I can do is get back to business and that's what I am doing," he said. Meanwhile!
Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf: "All kinds of forces that have an interest in weakening the governor are joining together, either directly or indirectly, to do so. So, it tells you about the lack of partisanship. The partisanship no longer matters. It's about ambition. Right? Protecting turf. The Republicans in the state Senate and the attorney general essentially have the same agenda right now. Think about it." [NYO]
How screwed is Eliot Spitzer? That's probably the most important question after yesterday's release of a report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that accuses "Mr. Spitzer's communications director, Darren Dopp, and a top state homeland security official of ordering state police to take extraordinary measures to track the use of air and ground police escorts by the Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, in an effort to catch him abusing state resources."
Truly, it's the most wonderful time of year! Pretty lights twinkle down Fifth Avenue, ice skaters hold hands, couples cuddle over cups of cocoa, and, under the influence of this holiday cheer (or a few flutes of sparkling wine), politicians and the press, like lions and lambs, make peace to make party. Last night, we sent walking tragedy AngelinaWilliams and Gakwer shutterstud Nikola Tamindzic up to the New York Palace Hotel to witness this sign of the Apocalypse, also known as the New York Press Club's Holiday Party. Singing clerics can be found after the jump.
"Next" you say? New York Observer owner Jared Kushner's record of federal campaign donations have been all straight-line Democratic — senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, even the defenestrated Joe Lieberman. So what's he doing on the hosting committee for a shakedown breakfast in honor of Jeanine Pirro, doomed Republican candidate for attorney general? She's 17 points down in the polls to Andrew Cuomo, and has the faithful support of basically no one, including her own party. Seems doubtful that Kushner would bother to plant pro-Pirro bias at the Observer, though the paper certainly doesn't mind sticking it to Cuomo. (In the Observer's defense, Cuomo is usually more than capable of sticking it to himself.) Perhaps Kushner admires Pirro's courageous stand against pedophiles. One can only help that Kushner is just doing Pirro or someone in her campaign a solid by throwing a little pity-cash her way.
