Free Republic

One person who is not so thrilled about the prospective elevation of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court is a man named Jeffrey Deskovic. Mr. Deskovic spent 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit — the last six years, Deskovic claims, being a direct result of the actions (or, rather, the inaction) of Judge Sotomayor. Surprisingly, he chose to tell his story last night to, of all people, Amy Goodman, the far-left host of Democracy Now!

Please pardon the psuedo-vanity. I have no link for this item, because as far as I can tell, it's print only in today's NY Post. Accompanying their article Second Degree Katie Gets Two Days With Palin. NBC Gets Cold Moose Stew” in the print edition, they ask "celebrities" what perky cherub Katie should ask.The questions are pretty much fluff, but then we get this gem from alleged Republican television personality (and former GOP candidate for NY Attorney General and Senator):"The founders of our country made a clear distinction between church and state. Do you feel they made a mistake?" Aaaarrrrghh!...

The New York attorney general’s race, one of the most combative and colorful state political contests in recent memory, turned ever nastier yesterday as the two candidates, Jeanine F. Pirro and Andrew M. Cuomo, spent an hour attacking and undercutting each other in their first televised debate. Ms. Pirro, the Republican, went on the offensive against Mr. Cuomo with a prosecutorial zeal. She belittled him as an ambitious politician in search of a job, yet unqualified to succeed the Democratic attorney general, Eliot Spitzer. “My opponent was a junior prosecutor more than 21 years ago,” said Ms. Pirro, a former...

Republican Jeanine Pirro's disclosure that she is under federal investigation for plotting to secretly tape-record her unfaithful husband has had little effect on the New York attorney general's race, a poll released Thursday found. The Quinnipiac University poll found Democrat Andrew Cuomo, a former federal housing secretary and son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, leading Pirro 56 percent to 37 percent among likely voters. Among registered voters, Cuomo led 50 percent to 31 percent, compared with a 52 percent to 29 percent lead in August. The poll was conducted from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1. Pirro acknowledged on Sept. 27...

Foley, Pirro, Allen - Political Set-Ups? Written by Doc Farmer Tuesday, October 03, 2006 File this article under "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...." First of all, let me make my meaning plain -- Former House Representative Mark Foley is a bastard. He's a scumbag. He's a sleazy pervert. He's a disgrace. I don't care if he laid a finger on any congressional pages or not. His Instant Messages were disgusting, and he had no business using his position of power to "flirt" with underage boys (or girls, if he were so inclined). I do, however, have to ask this...

WHEN it comes to political scandals, the one that erupted in New York yesterday just about has it all: the candidate, her cheating husband, a plot to record him on an adulterous “love boat”, the city’s disgraced police chief and the Mob.Jeanine Pirro, a Republican and one of New York state’s most high-profile politicians, admitted that she discussed with Bernard Kerik, New York city’s disgraced former police commissioner, the possibility of secretly taping her husband to see if he was cheating on her. Ms Pirro, who last year abandoned plans to run against Hillary Clinton for her New York senate...

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Jeanine Pirro, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, and Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, illegally taped conversations of Pirro’s husband last year to determine if he was having an affair. At a hastily arranged news conference yesterday, called because of an imminent television report on the inquiry, Pirro conceded that she had her husband, Albert, followed in the summer of 2005. She said she had discussed bugging the family’s boat with Kerik, an old friend who was then running his own security business. But Pirro, who was...

Jeanine F. Pirro, the Republican candidate for attorney general, sharply criticized her husband this afternoon for driving 51 miles an hour in a 25-mile-an-hour school zone on Thursday — only the latest instance of Albert J. Pirro Jr. causing trouble for his candidate-wife. “You didn’t want to be in my house last night,” Ms. Pirro said at a news conference. Mr. Pirro’s speeding ticket in White Plains came two weeks after he accepted a plea deal over another ticket, for driving 98 miles an hour on a 55-mile-an-hour stretch of Interstate 95 in July. Mr. Pirro, a lobbyist with many...

State attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro has made a surprising admission. The former Westchester County district attorney told the state's Conservative Party leadership that she owns three guns. Pirro says she believes in tough gun control laws, but doesn't want to take the rights away of gun holders who are legal. Pirro says her main goal has been to keep illegal guns out of circulation, not curtail legal gun ownership. At a Monday meeting in Albany, the GOP candidate told Conservatives, "I have done everything I can to get them off the street, to make them accountable, to increase penalties...

<p>Bad blood has developed between Gov. Pataki and former Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose hapless U.S. Senate campaign turned into a national "embarrassment" for the governor.</p> <p>"They haven't had a real discussion in weeks, and the sense is that Pataki is furious at Jeanine," said a source familiar with the situation.</p>

So what to make of Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's decision to drop her bid to unseat Hillary? Instant pundit wisdom has it that Pirro's campaign fell apart because of her gaffes on the stump and her failure to raise money. There's some truth to that, of course. But the real reason Pirro collapsed was that it immediately became apparent that her rationale for why Hillary should be removed was not compelling enough — not by a long shot. And that in turn suggests that Hillary has reached something of a milestone: Her public transformation is largely complete. Pirro's disastrous...

(AP) WHITE PLAINS CBS 2 has confirmed that Jeanine Pirro has decided to halt her struggling campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2006 re-election bid and will run instead for state attorney general. An announcement from the high-profile Westchester County district attorney could come as early as Thursday. There was no immediate comment from Pirro. One of the Republicans who first spoke to the Associated Press abou this said the knowledge of Pirro's plans came from a direct conversation with the high-profile Westchester County district attorney and that the announcement of the switch was...

Yonkers, NY: In response to the announcement from the Pirro campaign that Ms. Pirro will run for Attorney General, John Spencer for U.S. Senate campaign spokesman Christian Winthrop had the following statement – “We wish Ms. Pirro well in her race for Attorney General. She is a highly qualified law enforcement official.” “John Spencer is gratified that months of hard work crisscrossing the state and securing grassroots support from Republicans and Conservatives and the financial support of over 15,000 Americans are paying off.” “John Spencer is a tested leader who has run and won difficult battles before and this race...

ASSOCIATED PRESS ALBANY, N.Y. -- After weeks of pressure from her own party to drop out, Republican Jeanine Pirro abandoned her struggling campaign to unseat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and announced Wednesday that she will run for New York attorney general instead. "I have decided that my law enforcement background better qualifies me for a race for New York State attorney general than a race for the United States Senate," Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney, said in a statement. With her campaign against Clinton in trouble, Pirro had been under strong pressure from top state GOP leaders to make...

Per fox news via the AP she is dropping out according to 2 sources.

PIRRO TO END RACE VS. HILLARY THIS WEEK December 21, 2005 -- EXCLUSIVE ALBANY — Hapless Republican Senate candidate Jeanine Pirro has moved up her timetable and will switch to the attorney general's race tomorrow or Friday, sources close to her campaign said last night. Westchester County District Attorney Pirro is expected to hold a short press conference to make the announcement, and then say she'll officially kick off her new campaign early next year, the sources said. State GOP leaders called on Pirro last week to abandon her effort to challenge Democratic incumbent Hillary Rodham Clinton in the wake...

Jeanine Pirro would at least have a chance of winning a statewide race if she drops her hapless campaign for Senate and runs for attorney general instead, a new poll yesterday showed. The Quinnipiac University survey found Westchester County District Attorney Pirro within striking distance of one potential Democratic AG candidate, former public advocate and mayoral contender Mark Green, although she did far worse in a matchup against Andrew Cuomo, another possible challenger. Cuomo, the elder son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, leads Pirro 49-32 percent, while Green leads the district attorney 43-35 percent. The new poll, of 1,091 registered...

Gov. Pataki (l.) Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani join other officials in paying respects to slain Officer Daniel Enchautegui. Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro was seen giggling and chatting outside a Bronx church after the funeral Mass for slain Police Officer Danny Enchautegui - spurring outrage from cops. One officer brusquely told her to "shut up," prompting Pirro to zip her lips and snap to attention just after the flag-draped coffin holding Enchautegui was placed into a nearby hearse. While grim-faced Finest stood ramrod-straight, Pirro drew glares from the hero cop's fellow officers...

Jeanine Pirro is "happy" that the state GOP is urging her to run for attorney general and will make the switch from the Senate race "around" the first few days of the new year, sources told The Post yesterday. State Republican leaders, most of whom initially urged the Westchester DA to enter the race against Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, held an extraordinary meeting Monday at which they urged Pirro to drop her embattled campaign and run instead for attorney general.

The GOP is once failing to support a promising Republican Woman candidate for higher office . The New York GOP does not want her to run against Hillary Clinton for her U.S. Senate seat . Instead they want her to run for State Attorney General again . The reason seems that Pirro is not as fabulously weel funded as Hillary for a U.S. Senate Campaign . Also, Pirro's campaign got off to a messy start .it

State Republican Party leaders meeting in Albany recommended that Jeanine Pirro abandon her struggling campaign to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and instead run for state attorney general. State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik said that no vote was taken but that the recommendation was the consensus of the county leaders. Rockland County Chairman Vincent Reda said support for a Pirro switch was "overwhelming."

Republican prosecutor Jeanine Pirro's once-promising campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is lingering somewhere between the critical list and terminal. --snip-- She supports abortion rights and favors an assault-gun ban and preserving Social Security. None of that pleased upstate... Reached in his liquor store in Brooklyn, Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said he likes Pirro, but not as a Senate candidate. "The press was looking at a catfight between two powerful women, okay?" Long said. "But I'm not looking for cats, I'm looking to elect conservative people to statewide office. I told her she's...

ALBANY, Dec. 12 - After weeks of messy public squabbling, leaders of the New York Republican Party met in a smoke-free back room here on Monday and reversed course, urging Jeanine F. Pirro to quit her bid to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and run for state attorney general next year. Ms. Pirro, the district attorney of Westchester County, immediately issued a statement rejecting the suggestion, saying, "I remain a candidate for U.S. Senate, but I greatly respect the opinion of the county chairs and their confidence in my abilities as a statewide candidate." The shift by the party came...

ALBANY - Jeanine Pirro will not immediately end her campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2006 re-election bid even if GOP leaders ask her to do so, a top aide said Sunday. "The rumors and speculation that Jeanine Pirro is dropping out of the Senate race tomorrow are false," Pirro campaign spokeswoman Andrea Tantaros said Sunday. Tantaros refused to comment on what might ultimately happen with the struggling Pirro campaign. The latest speculation about the Pirro campaign's future came on the eve of a meeting of the state's county GOP chairmen. The session today in...

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York's Republican Party county leaders recommended Monday that Jeanine Pirro abandon her struggling campaign to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and instead run for state attorney general. State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik said no vote was taken but that was the consensus of the county leaders. Rockland County Chairman Vincent Reda said the support for a Pirro switch was "overwhelming." There was no immediate comment from the Pirro campaign. The county chairmen also voted in favor of having former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld run for governor in his native New York, Minarik said. However, that ballot...

IS DICK MORRIS AN IDIOT? OR IS HE STILL ON THE CLINTON PAYROLL? by Mia T, 12.12.05 Pirro, he said, also fell into the trap of making a central issue of her campaign that Clinton harbors presidential ambitions and won't finish a second term, a claim that, even if true, doesn't seem to matter much to most New Yorkers. Jeanine to disa-Pirro from race vs. Hil ( Pirro Dropping Out of Race Against Hillary )NY Daily News | 12/12/05 | JOE MAHONEY   Former President Bill Clinton's thesis, articulated on "Meet the Press," is that "large" figures in their...

Jeanine Pirro is expected to quit her bid to unseat Sen. Hillary Clinton as early as tomorrow, prematurely ending what had been billed as one of the nation's marquee races. Just a few months ago, the smart, aggressive and charming Westchester district attorney was the darling of a Republican Party convinced she was the right candidate who - even if she couldn't beat Clinton - could at least slice into her high approval ratings. But now, Pirro, 54, is being written off as the first political roadkill of the 2006 election season. And Clinton never even had to throw a...

The controversy over the meeting of the county chairmen of the state Republican Party next week is just another sign of a party that is divided and dysfunctional - with five important statewide races at stake less than a year away. Next year may be the clearest shot that the state's Democrats will have at a clean sweep of state offices in decades. It also should have the GOP members concerned about what hits they may take in both the Assembly and state Senate. The county chairmen are meeting in hopes of finding a consensus on candidates who are viable...

With the end of Pataki’s reign nigh, the New York State Republican party seems to be at war with itself. A handy guide to who’s stabbing whom in the back, and why.Pataki’s Inner CircleState GOP Chair Stephen Minarik Current Play: Hanging on as party supremo. Boosting: Socially liberal candidates Pirro and Weld. Undermining: Conservative Party honcho Mike Long and his power over the GOP. Strategy: Strong-arming county chairmen into supporting his duo. Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld Current Play: Hoping his blue-blood charm will out-affable Spitzer to win governorship. Boosting: Minarik, his prime sponsor. Strategy: Pushing for Minarik-engineered “straw poll”...

  AN OPEN LETTER TO TIM ROBBINS, DAVID GEFFEN, CHRIS MATTHEWS, MAUREEN DOWD + JEANINE PIRRO RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton December 7, 2005 Dear Concerned Americans, Hillary Clinton's revisionist tome notwithstanding, 'living history' begets a certain symmetry. It is in that light that I make this not-so-modest proposal on this day, exactly 64 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The context of our concern today--regardless of political affiliation--is Iraq and The War on Terror, but the larger fear is that our democracy may not survive. We have the requisite machines, power and know-how to defeat the...

FOR BACKGROUND: www.HillCAP.org; PETER PAUL AND HILLARY SERIES After following the drama in New York about whether Jeanine Pirro was in or out of a race against Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, I made a call to the New York GOP headquarters yesterday. It appears that Jeanine is staying in the race, rather than making a try for Attorney General. At least, that is the plan for now. I called to discuss the one issue that Pirro could use that may actually have some impact -- the 2000 campaign finance fraud by Hillary and her campaign team. The lady who answered...

Jeanine Pirro is preparing to call off her challenge to Sen. Hillary Clinton, but she might be boxed out of the state attorney general's race, too, Republican insiders said yesterday. Well-placed GOP sources said there could very well be no room for Pirro on the Republican ticket because potential attorney general candidate Chauncey Parker has impressed county leaders. Parker, a former Manhattan prosecutor who is the state criminal justice czar, now has the inside track on getting the party nod to vie for the attorney general post being vacated by Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the sources said. Pirro apparently has fallen...

As if the sun were finally shining upon her, Jeanine F. Pirro strode coatless onto a chilly Manhattan sidewalk yesterday and declared to reporters that her campaign to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was "going extremely well," and she was in it to win it. As if, only minutes earlier, Gov. George E. Pataki had not talked to her about withdrawing from the race, which he had. Michael Long, the head of the state Conservative Party and an ally of Ms. Pirro's in some past campaigns, said yesterday that her Senate candidacy was in a "meltdown" and indicated that his...

Embattled Republican Senate hopeful Jeanine Pirro will hold an "emergency summit" with Gov. Pataki today as she weighs pulling out of the race against Hillary Rodham Clinton. A leading Republican official said Pirro was "weighing her options, weighing her future as a Senate candidate." The source added, "She wants to hear what the governor has to say about this. She's open." Pirro, whose troubled campaign was thrown into serious doubt this week when state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno urged her to run for attorney general instead, sought the meeting with the governor to discuss the direction of her campaign,...

New York -- Jeanine Pirro said Friday she is staying in the race against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, despite pressure from some top Republicans that she abandon her struggling campaign. "I said from the beginning I am running for the United States Senate. I am a candidate for the United States Senate," Pirro said after emerging from a two-hour meeting with Gov. George Pataki in Manhattan. She said her meeting went well but did not detail the discussion.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Jeanine Pirro, under pressure from some top Republicans to give up her quest for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton next year, has asked to meet with Gov. George Pataki to discuss the future of her campaign, an aide to the governor said Thursday. Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo said the meeting would take place Friday in the governor's New York City office. Catalfamo said he did not know if Pirro was considering leaving the Senate race and noted that Pataki and the Westchester County district attorney "meet from time to time." Pirro campaign spokeswoman...

Searing divisions among New York Republicans deepened yesterday as a growing number urged Jeanine F. Pirro to drop her bid to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Concerns also emerged that departing Gov. George E. Pataki was no longer able to unify the party. On a day of rapidly developing events, more Republicans joined what appeared to be a mounting effort, led in part by Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate's majority leader, to press Ms. Pirro to run for state attorney general instead. But other Republicans warned that any switch by Ms. Pirro might alienate some county leaders who could...

ALBANY, Nov. 29 - Jeanine F. Pirro's bid to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton suffered an embarrassing setback on Tuesday when the State Legislature's most powerful Republican said she should call the whole thing off and run for state attorney general instead. The remarks by the official, Joseph L. Bruno, the majority leader of the State Senate, forced out into the open simmering concerns about Ms. Pirro's candidacy, which has been beset by gaffes and fund-raising difficulties. And it heightened the sense that the state Republican Party is nervous about its future and riven by squabbles as its de facto...

Jeannine Pirro should get out of this race immediately. Her campaign is going nowhere and she is selfishly wasting our time. Here's why. “Forty-five percent (45%) now see [Senator Hillary] Clinton as politically liberal.” So says the Rusmussen Report. Why? What positions do voters believe Hillary Clinton holds that turn them off? Well people believe she supports gay “marriage.” They believe she supports abortion up to and including partial birth abortion. Likewise, they believe she supports extreme positions attacking the second amendment and they believe she supports affirmative action. Since she is the most calculating person in American politics this...

November 30, 2005 -- Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Thus did Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno yesterday step forward to fill the leadership void at the New York Republican State Committee — saying out loud what party leaders have been whispering for months. That is, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro has no chance of defeating Sen Hillary Clinton next fall — none whatsoever. So, says Bruno, Pirro should run for an office she can — possibly — win: attorney general. It's for the good of the party, he says. In truth, Bruno has neither custody of — nor...

Bruno: Pirro should quit anti-Clinton race By MARC HUMBERT AP Political Writer November 29, 2005, 12:44 PM EST ALBANY, N.Y. -- The most powerful Republican in the state Legislature called Tuesday for Jeanine Pirro to give up her quest to unseat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2006 and run instead for state attorney general. State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said the Westchester County district attorney could win the attorney general's race while in running for Senate, "she's going to have one of the most competitive races in the state." Independent polls have shown the former first lady well ahead...

Isn't strange that Sean Hannity prides himself on his reach and he has yet to discover the truth about Jeannine Pirro? Look at the parallels between the Pirro effort and the attempt to clear Harriet Miers way onto the Supreme Court. We were asked to trust the president on Ms. Miers, I did. My trust began to wane when some of what we were told in support of the nomination turned out to be untrue. Ultimately Ms. Miers problems were greater than she could handle because her nomination was not built on a solid foundation. The efforts toward securing the...

November 16, 2005 -- ALBANY — Republican Senate hopeful Jeanine Pirro refused yesterday to back President Bush's selection of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, in part because of Alito's past anti-abortion views. The refusal by Pirro, who backs abortion rights, drew a quick condemnation from state Conservative Party leader Mike Long, whose support Pirro has been aggressively seeking. "I'm assuming Jeanine supported Bush for president and, therefore, she should be out front supporting the president's nominee for the Supreme Court — because we know Hillary Clinton is going to vote 'no,' " Long said. Pirro, the outgoing Westchester district...

New York Senate hopeful Jeanine Pirro is blasting 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for throwing a birthday party tonight for Ku Klux Klansman-turned-Senator Robert Byrd at the home of a civil rights pioneer. "It's outrageous and shocking that Senator Clinton and her Democrat colleagues would choose Frederick Douglass' house to honor Senator Robert Byrd, who has a history of involvement with hate groups and has used racial slurs publicly," said Pirro spokeswoman Andrea Tantaros told the Associated Press. "Any person who has made racially insensitive comments and participated in groups that promote ethnic prejudice - Republican or Democrat - does...

Pirro Has Yet to Take Off GOPer Lagging in Polls With Clinton By Josh Kurtz Roll Call Staff November 15, 2005 Jeanine Pirro, the choice of Republican leaders to take on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) next year, is struggling to establish herself as a formidable contender, political observers in Albany and Washington, D.C., believe. Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney who was recruited into the race when better-known candidates declined to run, is in the midst of a surprisingly tough battle with former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer to secure the Republican nomination, though she is still the favorite. "If...

While the Republicans celebrate their victory in the New York City mayoral race, the state Republican Party is beset by ideological divisions, personal rivalries and individual agendas that are undermining any semblance of party unity as the 2006 elections approach, many party officials say. Leading Republicans across the state are alarmed and say the problems stem largely from the power vacuum resulting from Gov. George E. Pataki's decision not to seek re-election in 2006 after three terms in office. One consequence is that Republicans are deeply at odds about their political lineup for the coming year.

JEANINE PIRRO Conservatives eye rival. Jeanine Pirro's little-known opponent for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate is close to winning crucial backing from the small but influential Conservative Party, insiders say. Such a success by former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer would deny Pirro a vital endorsement in what would already be — if she is the GOP nominee — an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. And it would be the latest blow for Pirro, the outgoing Westchester County district attorney whose campaign has been marred by stumbles and fund-raising shortfalls. Tactically, Spencer, a tough-talking ex-Marine who...

ALBANY - Jeanine Pirro, the Republican prosecutor looking to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2006 bid for re-election, has a simple question for the former first lady: Just what are your intentions beyond next year? Thus far, Clinton has not ventured beyond her stock line that she is totally focused on winning re-election. Like any good prosecutor, Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney, knows that you don't ask a question unless you have a very, very good idea what the answer is. As far as Pirro is concerned, the answer is clear: Clinton is running for president in 2008 and...

Last week, Jeanine F. Pirro assembled the press corps in Albany to announce a statewide advertising campaign meant to draw attention to her criminal justice agenda, a pillar of her campaign to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton next year. But if Ms. Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney, hoped the event would give her flagging campaign the lift it needed, she might have been mistaken. Mrs. Clinton's political operation moved swiftly to undercut the announcement's significance and, more important, deprive her of any positive news coverage: a political operative from the state party was dispatched to the Pirro event to...

Last week, Jeanine Pirro assembled the press corps in Albany to announce a statewide advertising campaign meant to draw attention to her criminal justice agenda, a pillar of her campaign to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton next year. But if Ms. Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney, hoped the event would give her flagging campaign the lift it needed, she might have been mistaken. Mrs. Clinton's political operation moved swiftly to undercut the announcement's significance and, more important, deprive her of any positive news coverage: a political operative from the state party was dispatched to the Pirro event to hand...