As news from Albany seems to involve little other than corruption and scandal, campaign finance reform advocates are putting pressure on Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Times reported.

These advocates, 140 major political donors, including 50 fundraisers for Obama, want Cuomo to change state election laws to include public financing.

This proposal has some support from Democrats, but virtually none from Republicans.

In a letter to the governor, the donors expressed hope that a change in campaign finance laws in New York, with its “national prominence,” could have a larger impact nationally by sending “a strong message to Washington, D.C., that real change is possible.”

They referenced the recent Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, in which the nation’s highest court ruled that political donations by corporations are protected by the First Amendment, and should be unregulated to the same degree as those by individual citizens.

“We write to strongly encourage your continued active leadership in transforming New York State’s broken campaign finance system into a national model in the post-Citizens United era,” the donors said, emphasizing their “firsthand understanding of the country’s current money and politics law.”

“We believe dramatic change is needed so that our proud democracy lives up to the values of being ‘of, by, and for the people,’” the letter continued.

Cuomo has repeatedly called public financing “essential” and promised to push for change to the state’s campaign financing laws, but he has also noted the opposition that such measures will face from the state’s Republicans, who share control of the state Senate.

Donors are concerned that with only a month left in the legislative session, the governor will give up on the issue.

But David Magleby, a political scientist at Brigham Young University who is writing a book about donors, told the Times it’s in the governor’s interest, given his grander political aspirations, to pay attention to these letter-writers.

“These are the kinds of people that a Cuomo candidacy for president will need,” Magleby said. “They’re influencing Cuomo to go full-speed ahead on reforms at the state level, while knowing full well that he likely has national ambitions, and therefore he will be back to them should a set of circumstances arise where he is going to seek the nomination.”

The donors who wrote the letter include billionaire George Soros, “When Harry Met Sally” director Rob Reiner, and Robert McKay, the heir to the Taco Bell fortune.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who is accused in a sexual harassment scandal, is expected to escape all criminal charges against him, the New York Post reports. 

The prosecutor in the trial will announce Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to charge Lopez, sources told the Post. The assemblyman is accused of groping young female staffers.

The scandal, which became public last summer, also revealed that State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker authorized a settlement of more than $100,000 in taxpayer money with two other women who made previous allegations against Lopez.

Lopez remains in the assembly, but was forced to step down as Brooklyn’s Democratic Party leader. The assemblyman held a fundraiser last month for a possible City Council run.

National Organization for Women president Sonia Ossorio blasted Lopez today, saying he should be expelled from political office, now and in the future.

“The Assembly engaged in a shameful cover-up at great expense to all women who live and work in New York State,” she said.  “Despite the fact that no criminality was found, Mr. Lopez is clearly unfit for office.”

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According to a report from Talking Points Memo, Mayor Bloomberg was recently asked about the spying scandal at his former news company, Bloomberg, and told a reporter that he couldn’t say anything due to “an agreement with the Conflict of Interests Board.”

“You’ll have to talk to the company,” he said.

The scandal came to light after a complaint from Goldman Sachs about Bloomberg journalists accessing information about Goldman employees.

It turned out that Bloomberg reporters had been trained to use the terminals to track story subjects and were accessing data on staffers at J.P. Morgan Chase, as well as higher-ups at U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve.

The company has admitted at least one reporter got Goldman Sachs-related information through this terminal-accessed data.

Mayor Bloomberg, who is no longer an executive at the company since he became mayor, but is still a majority owner, was asked about the issue at a press conference regarding water cleanup in the Gowanus Canal.

He reportedly initially declined to discuss the matter, but when a second reporter asked about tracking that occurred when he was still with the company, he replied “I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’ll have to talk to the company.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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State Sen. John Sampson of Brooklyn is expected to be charged with obstruction of justice Monday in connection with a bribery scheme involving a former state senator who secretly recorded conversations with him.

Sampson, a former leader of the Democratic caucus, allegedly approached former state Sen. Shirley Huntley on behalf of a businessman who was offering bribes in exchange for help in expanding his business at Kennedy International Airport, the New York Times reports.

According to court documents, Huntley accepted $1,000 from the unnamed businessman as she reached out to airport officials on his behalf for two months last year, the Times reports.

The documents mention a state senator set up the initial meeting. Sources say the state senator is Sampson.

Huntley, who pleaded guilty to stealing taxpayer money through a charity organization she was running, agreed to cooperate with federal agents and record conversations with a number of elected officials.

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UPDATE: Not long after Councilman Dan Halloran announced he would not pursue a second term in order to “focus [his] attention” on “restoring [his] reputation” in the wake of corruption allegations, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn suggested he take it a step further.

“I urge Council Member Halloran to think hard about whether he should go further and step down immediately,” Quinn said in a statement.

Quinn brought up not only the allegations of bribery and corruption, but also more recent ones of sexual harassment.

“The constituents of Dan Halloran’s district deserve to have a Council Member who is full-time, 100 percent focused on representing them,” the statement continued. “Clearly, with the outrageously unacceptable allegations that are pending… he is far from 100 percent focused on his constituents.”

The Wall Street Journal noted that following Halloran’s arrest about a month ago, Quinn took away his committee assignments and barred him from allocating city money, rendering him essentially ineffective as a councilmember.

Metro’s original story is below.

Councilman Dan Halloran, who was arrested about a month ago on corruption charges along with State Senator Malcolm Smith, announced that he is cutting short his campaign for re-election in order to focus his energies on clearing his name.

Halloran and Smith are accused of trying to use bribes to get Smith on the GOP ballot in the city’s mayoral race this year.

“Regrettably, I must now focus my attention on clearing my name and restoring my reputation, while I continue to discharge my sworn duties as a member of the New York City Council,” Halloran said in a statement. “After much thought, I have concluded that it is impossible for me to properly do these things and take on the enormous demands of a political campaign.”

Halloran continues to insist he is innocent and said he is “confident that [he] will ultimately be vindicated.”

“Our Nation enshrines the presumption of innocence for a reason, and I look forward to having my day in court,” he said.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Former congressman and potential mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner said in a TV interview on Wednesday that it’s possible more photos could surface from the 2011 sexting scandal that ended with his resignation.

“If reporters want to try to find more, I can’t say they’re not going to be able to find another picture, another person who may want to come out on their own,” Weiner told RNN-TV. “But I’m not going to contribute to that. The basics of the story are not going to change.”

Weiner, who recently returned to the public light when he said in a New York Times Magazine interview he was considering a run for mayor, also could not give a definitive answer when ABC News asked him on Wednesday how many women were involved in the scandal. He had previously said it was six.

The former congressman still has not announced whether he is running for mayor or not. He returned to Twitter earlier this week, and has appeared in a number of TV interviews. A NBC News/Marist Poll last week revealed that he would trail only City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the race if he ran.

Weiner resigned in June 2011 after he exchanged lewd photos with multiple women online and then lied about it.

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More than 80 percent of New York voters expect more arrests among state lawmakers, a new poll showed.

The Siena College poll also revealed that nine of 10 voters believe corruption in the state legislature is a serious problem. Forty-one percent believe it’s a “very serious” problem.

The results came the same month that state Sen. Malcolm Smith was arrested for attempting to bribe his way onto the Republican mayoral ballot. Just days later, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson of the Bronx was arrested in a separate bribery scandal.

According to the poll, voters overwhelmingly support legislative term limits 82-17 percent. They also favor limiting candidates to one party line 55-40 percent, and they support having full-time state lawmakers with no outside jobs 54-42 percent.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorability rating dipped slightly to 62 percent this month, down from 64 percent in March.

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State Sen. Malcolm Smith was formally indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly trying to bribe his way onto this year’s mayoral ballot.

Smith was arrested by FBI agents April 2 for allegedly scheming with Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, a Republican, to bribe the GOP party in order to get Smith on the Republican ballot for mayor. As a Democrat, Smith needed the support of at least three Republican county chairmen to get on the ballot.

Halloran and party leaders Joseph Savino of the Bronx and Vincent Tabone of Queens were also named in the indictment. Smith and Halloran face 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges, the New York Post reports.

The councilman allegedly set up meetings with the party leaders to negotiate thousands of dollars in bribes, while keeping some of the money for himself.

Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret were also indicted Thursday for taking money and property in a related bribery scheme.

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Former congressman Anthony Weiner is considering a run for mayor, according to a new interview with The New York Times Magazine.

Weiner, who resigned in 2011 after a sexting scandal, said in the interview that it is “now or maybe never” for him to return to politics. Weiner added that he still does not know if he wants to run or not, and the fact that he doesn’t know may be a sign that he shouldn’t, the Times reports.

The interview, which is to be published in print this Sunday, delves into the post-scandal life of the former congressman and his wife Huma Abedin. He is a changed man, the two say. Weiner has been enjoying the past year and a half as a stay-at-home father in the family’s new apartment on Park Avenue South, miles away from the Queens home where reporters parked themselves for days while the scandal unraveled in the spring of 2011.

Weiner first tweeted a shirtless photo himself to a female follower on May 27, 2011. He claimed for days that someone had hacked his account, until he finally held a news conference and admitted to posting the photo and maintaining several inappropriate online relationships.

Weiner paid to have a poll conducted earlier this year to gauge whether or not voters would take him seriously as a candidate, according to The Times. The former congressman considered running for mayor during the Democratic primary in 2005 and in 2009, but he never did.

To qualify for public funding, Weiner would have to declare his candidacy by June 10.

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Another FDNY employee has come under fire for racist tweets, the NY Post reported, the second in as many weeks.

Despite a warning from the EMS union in January tipping members off that the department was keeping an eye out for inappropriate uses of social media, Timothy “Bad Lieutenant” Dluthos didn’t stop using his Twitter account — even the recent outing of fire commissioner Sal Cassano’s 23-year-old son didn’t stop Dluhos from tweeting rants mocking and deriding various minority groups.

Joseph Cassano, 23, resigned last Monday over tweets complaining about his job, Jews and African-Americans.

Dluthos, who tweeted under the name “Bad Lieutenant” with the handle @BKNorthLt and used a picture of Hitler as his avatar, was suspended for 30 days, the Post reported.

He has claimed that he was simply venting due to his stressful job, referring to Bedford-Stuyvesant, the neighborhood in which EMS Station 57 is located, as “like a battlefield.”

A source reportedly told the Post that his punishment could range from a fine to termination.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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The special prosecutor investigating sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, has requested that the legislative ethics committee of the New York State Legislature withhold the report they’ve drafted until his investigation is finished, the NY Times reported.

However, a source allegedly told the Daily News the delay is “probably indefinite.”

According to the Daily News, the report “eviscerates” Lopez, and also does not reflect well on Speaker Sheldon Silver, who became entangled with the issue over a $103,000 settlement given to two female staffers who accused Lopez of harassment. The report allegedly does not say that Silver or his staff committed any ethical or criminal violation.

The report also allegedly describes new or worse instances of inappropriate touching by Lopez, according to the Times, though it is not clear if those details are grounds for criminal charges or simply unsavory.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Visitors to UK supermarkets are being confronted by a strange beast with the head of a horse and the body of a cow. “If You Wouldn’t Eat a Horse, Why Eat a Cow? Go Vegan,” the beast challenges, and the same messages are appearing on billboards across the country.

This campaign from animal activists PETA seeks to take advantage of the horsemeat scandal engulfing Europe. Traces of the meat have been found in products in 16 European countries and has panicked buyers.

6% of British people know someone who has turned vegetarian since the scandal broke in January, according to a consumer poll Monday. An Irish poll found 5% had refused to buy meat themselves. By contrast, health food stores have reported a 50% increase in sales of meat substitutes.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Ben Martin, campaigner at Animal Aid, told Metro. “Our ‘Go vegetarian’ month in March will urge people to quit meat as the only guarantee of avoiding contamination.”

Activists hope that new scrutiny of supply chains, with graphic films from abattoirs broadcast, will impact on consumers. “We have known about these industry practices for years but people turned a blind eye,” said Justin Kerswell, campaigns manager for vegan group Viva! “Now that people see their trust is abused, it forces them to question their habits.”

The following weeks will see undercover filming in slaughterhouses and public information campaigns as activists seize the moment. They are already seeing success with Viva! reporting a 50% increase in requests for vegan starter packs. Celebrity supporters are also weighing in, with singer Morrissey forcing all non-vegetarian vendors to shut down at a Los Angeles concert venue.

The campaign is supported by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which reported Monday that Europeans consume 70% too much protein from animals and recommended they halve consumption.

UNEP’s report author Mark Sutton, who invented the word ‘demitarian’, told Metro the supply chain is “unsustainable” and causes air pollution and climate change in addition to health problems. “I hope the governments of Europe will make this a really big issue in the next decade,” said Sutton, who also called for a “new cultural attitude from consumers. Meat could become like smoking.”

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Lisa Weiss went public in June 2011, revealing an extensive online exchange of sexual messages with Weiner beginning in August 2010, just a month after he married his wife Huma Abedin. Weiss and Weiner exchanged more than 220 racy texts and Facebook messages, including one conversation made public where they discussed the “bulge” in his pants.

The revelation led to Weiner’s swift political downfall, as several other women stepped forward to say that they, too, were regular sexting pals. Abedin, who was pregnant when the scandal broke, stayed by Weiner’s side, but the couple stepped out of the public spotlight where they proceeded to live a quiet life below the radar, and welcome their son months later.

On a family photo that Weiner posted in September 2012 on his Facebook page, showing him with his wife and young son, Weiss left a rather interesting comment that seems to be the talk of the town today:

So great to see you back! Your wife and son are beautiful! Please let me apologize again for any pain I caused your (sic) or the beautiful Huma… it was unintentional… I still think you are our liberal hero and we need you back in politics!!

The most questionable element to it all, though, is why Weiner and Weiss are still Facebook friends.

Weiner also recently made a quiet comeback to Twitter, lighting up his dormant account with a plea to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The post Sexting pal Lisa Weiss apologizes to Anthony Weiner on Facebook wall appeared first on Metro.us.

Clash announced he is permanently leaving the children’s show after a second man, Cecil Singleton, named him in a lawsuit, saying he was 15 when he met and had sex with the 32-year-old Clash in 1993. Singleton said he met Clash during a gay phone chat, according to TMZ.

This comes just one day after 23-year-old Sheldon Stephens, Clash’s first accuser, said he wanted to back out of a settlement that gave him $125,000 in return for saying his sexual relationship with the voice actor took place when they were both consenting adults. Stephens’ original claim that he was just 16 when he started having sex with Clash came to light last week.

Sesame Workshop issued a statement in the wake of these allegations:

Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street.

No word yet on who will replace Clash as the new voice of Elmo.

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Panetta, on a visit to Thailand, acknowledged that further revelations were possible in the case. But his comments suggested that, at least for now, questions about email traffic with a Florida socialite had ensnared no other officers.

“I am not aware of any others that could be involved in this issue at the present time,” Panetta told reporters.

“Obviously as this matter continues to be investigated, both on Capitol Hill and by the inspector general, I’m sure that we’ll have to wait and see what additional factors are brought to our attention.”

Marine General John Allen, who remains in his post as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is being investigated for potentially inappropriate communications with a woman at the center of the Petraeus case, Jill Kelley, a Florida socialite.

Kelley may have been seen as a rival by Petraeus’ biographer, Paula Broadwell, who sent Kelley anonymous, harassing emails which touched off an investigation that uncovered evidence of an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. It also led investigators to examine her emails to Allen.

Allen and Kelley communicated often enough over the past two years to produce 20,000 to 30,000 pages of email and other messages, which were turned over to Defense Department investigators on Sunday.

A senior defense official has told Reuters the messages with Kelley were seen as inappropriate because they were “flirtatious” in nature, not because they dealt with sensitive information.

Asked whether the emails were sexually explicit, Panetta declined comment, saying: “What I don’t want to do is to try to characterize those communications.”

“Because I think I don’t want to do anything that would impact on their ability to conduct an objective review of what was contained in those emails,” he said.

In a statement late Wednesday issued by the Marine Corps’ chief defense counsel, Allen pledged to resolve the questions surrounding his email communications with Kelley, who is also at the center of the Petraeus case.

“To the extent there are questions about certain communications by General Allen, he shares in the desire to resolve those questions as completely and quickly as possible,” Colonel John G. Baker said.

PROMINENT PRESENCE IN MILITARY CIRCLES

Kelley, a 37-year-old wife and mother, is described as a prominent presence in military circles in Tampa. She had come to know both Petraeus and Allen as a volunteer setting up social events at MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa, headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

Defense officials have said Allen did not have a romantic relationship with Kelley. But the relationship was evidently close enough that both men intervened in a child custody battle involving Kelley’s twin sister, Natalie Khawam.

“I have tremendous confidence in General Allen, certainly his ability, his leadership — and I don’t think anybody ought to jump to any conclusions as to where any of this will lead,” Panetta said.

General Martin Dempsey, the top U.S. military officer, also expressed confidence in Allen’s leadership and was quoted Thursday in a Defense Department news article as saying he hoped the investigation would not derail Allen’s nomination to the military’s senior post in Europe.

His nomination was suspended to allow for the investigation to proceed.

“We have John Allen scheduled to become the (European Command) commander, and I wouldn’t want him to miss that opportunity unless there is reason for that to happen,” Dempsey told a reporter with the Pentagon’s American Forces Press Service.

“I don’t see that at this point, but I see this investigation and how long it could take affecting that.”

Dempsey said he asked Allen whether he could carry on despite “this additional stress in his life.”

“He assured me that he was ready, willing and able to continue in command, and I absolutely have confidence in his ability to do that,” Dempsey was quoted saying.

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Petraeus and Allen wrote letters in September to the District of Columbia Superior Court in support of the twin sister, Natalie Khawam, as she sought to gain more visitation rights with her son, according to a review of the court file.

The letters deepen the mystery of how two Tampa socialites developed close access to top military officials and raise questions about the specific nature of those relationships.

It is unclear why Petraeus and Allen, two of the U.S. military’s biggest names, felt the need to formally interject in a nasty custody dispute of someone they characterized as a family friend.

The court files also provide a glimpse into the connections Khawam had built with Washington elite, including U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Defense officials said earlier on Tuesday that Allen is under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with Khawam’s sister, Jill Kelley. Kelley is a fixture in military circles in Tampa, where she was a volunteer social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base.

Officials said they were combing through thousands of pages of email and other communications between Allen and Kelley.

Allen has denied that the two had a sexual relationship, officials said on condition of anonymity.

It was Kelley’s complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation that ultimately disclosed Petraeus’ involvement with Broadwell, according to law enforcement officials.

Petraeus resigned from the CIA post on Friday.

‘DEDICATED MOTHER’

Khawam for months has been fighting for greater access to her 4-year-old son with Grayson Wolfe, a former Bush administration official who directed Middle East initiatives and Iraqi reconstruction efforts at the Export-Import Bank.

Wolfe could not be immediately located for comment. His LinkedIn profile identifies him as a founding partner of Akkadian Private Ventures, but when a Reuters reporter went to a Washington address listed for the firm, it was occupied by an unrelated private residence.

Wolfe, whose divorce from Khawam was finalized earlier this year, was awarded sole custody of their son in 2011.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz found that Khawam “has extreme personal deficits in the areas of honesty and integrity.” He cited false domestic violence petitions and a lack of honesty in her dealings with her family and employers.

On June 21 of this year, Kravitz ordered Khawam to pay Wolfe $350,000 in attorneys fees and costs, but Khawam continued to push for more access to her son.

A lawyer for Khawam did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In his September 20 letter to the court, Petraeus said he had known Khawam for three years while serving in Tampa, through the friendship he and his wife, Holly, have with Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott Kelley, a Tampa cancer surgeon.

Petraeus said he had observed Khawam with her son during that time, including when the Petraeuses hosted them for Christmas dinner.

“In each case, we have seen a very loving relationship – a mother working hard to provide her son enjoyable, educational, and developmental experiences,” Petraeus said.

Allen in his September 22 letter said he and his wife, Kathy, came to know Khawam through social functions while stationed at U.S. Central Command in Tampa. “She is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love and care for her son,” Allen wrote.

LAWMAKER CONTACTS

Khawam not only tapped her military connections in her custody battle but also invoked broader contacts as she sought greater access to her son.

In emails with her ex-husband, Khawam wrote that Senator Kerry asked about the son and whether he would be coming to Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 2012.

She also wrote that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island invited the son to a summer clambake in the state, and that the son “would greatly appreciate attending this family clambake.”

Included in the court file is what appears to be a handwritten note from Whitehouse, writing, “I am excited to hear that you, Natalie and (the son) may be coming to the family clambake. That would be terrific!”

The Whitehouse note was addressed to Gerald Harrington.

Harrington served as national vice chairman of finance for Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, according to a biography posted on the website of Harrington’s lobbying firm, Capitol City Group.

A spokeswoman for Kerry said Kerry was introduced to Khawam by Harrington, whom the spokeswoman described as Khawam’s boyfriend.

A spokesman for Whitehouse also said Whitehouse knew Khawam through her relationship with Harrington, whom Whitehouse has known since college. “Ms. Khawam attended the Senator’s clambake fundraiser this summer as Mr. Harrington’s guest, and he was glad to see them there,” the spokesman said.

Harrington did not respond to requests for comment.

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The revelation threatens to fell another of the U.S. military’s biggest names and suggests that the scandal involving Petraeus – a retired four-star general who had Allen’s job in Afghanistan before moving to the CIA last year – could expand.

The U.S. official said the FBI uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of communications – mostly emails spanning from 2010 to 2012 – between Allen and Jill Kelley, who has been identified as a longtime friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida, volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

It was Kelley’s complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation that ultimately disclosed Petraeus’ involvement with Broadwell. Petraeus resigned from the CIA post on Friday.

Asked whether there was concern about the disclosure of classified information, the official said, on condition of anonymity: “We are concerned about inappropriate communications. We are not going to speculate as to what is contained in these documents.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters flying with him to Australia that he had asked that Allen’s nomination to be Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe be delayed “and the president has agreed.”

President Barack Obama has put the nomination on hold, the White House said on Tuesday.

Allen, who is now in Washington, was due to face a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, as was his successor in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford.

The FBI referred the case to the Pentagon on Sunday and Panetta directed the Defense Department’s Inspector General to handle the investigation. Panetta informed the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee during the flight to Australia. The House Armed Services Committee was also notified.

The U.S. defense official said that Allen denied wrongdoing and that Panetta had opted to keep him in his job while the matter was under review – and until Dunford can be confirmed to replace him, a process that gains urgency given the cloud the scandal could cast over the mission in Afghanistan.

“While the matter is under investigation and before the facts are determined, General Allen will remain commander of ISAF,” Panetta said, referring to the NATO—led force in Afghanistan.

Only hours earlier, Panetta had said he was reviewing Allen’s recommendations on the future U.S. presence in Afghanistan after most troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

Commending Allen’s leadership in Afghanistan, Panetta said: “He is entitled to due process in this matter.”

At the same time, he noted that he wanted the Senate to act promptly on Dunford’s nomination.

The U.S. official said Panetta was informed of the matter involving Allen on Sunday as he flew to Hawaii, after the Pentagon’s top lawyer called Panetta’s chief of staff. The White House was informed next.

FBI RAID, SHIRTLESS PHOTOS

Evidence that the case involving Petraeus was not fully closed came late Monday when FBI agents searched the Charlotte, North Carolina, house of Broadwell.

Agents entered the house carrying boxes at around 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Tuesday) and about four hours later took away what appeared to be two computers and about 10 boxes.

During the search, agents inside could be seen moving through multiple rooms, gathering materials and taking photos.

Broadwell’s family was not at home at the time. The FBI and a Justice Department official would not comment on the raid.

U.S. officials had said in recent days that their investigation was largely complete and that prosecutors had determined it was unlikely they would bring charges in that case, which started when Kelley contacted an FBI agent in Tampa about harassing emails from an anonymous source.

That FBI agent, who has not been identified, has also come under scrutiny after it was discovered he had sent shirtless photographs of himself to Kelley, but “long before” this investigation, a law enforcement official told Reuters. The photographs were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The agent had never been on the Broadwell case, but had taken the information about the emails to the FBI cyber squad in Tampa, the law enforcement official said.

The FBI agent, who works in the Tampa office, apparently became frustrated at the pace of the investigation and complained to a member of Congress about it, the official said.

The FBI investigation of the emails received by Kelley traced them to Broadwell and subsequently uncovered emails that revealed an affair between Broadwell and Petraeus.

The emails between the two women were of a “childish”, jealous nature and showed some one-upmanship of trying to come across as being more important to Petraeus, the official said.

When Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday he publicly admitted to having engaged in an extramarital affair.

Lawmakers and others have questioned whether Broadwell, who co-wrote a biography of the decorated former general, obtained classified information from him or another source.

Panetta had earlier said Petraeus did the right thing by stepping down, given the security concerns, but he was saddened by the end of the retired general’s distinguished career.

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A person familiar with the investigation identified the second woman as Jill Kelley, a long-time friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

Kelley went to the FBI after receiving threatening emails that eventually were traced to Broadwell, law enforcement and security officials have said, prompting an investigation that turned up evidence that Petraeus and Broadwell were having an extramarital affair.

“We and our family have been friends with General Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three children,” Kelley said in a statement obtained by ABC News.

Broadwell has not been available for comment and both the FBI and CIA have declined public comment on the matter.

Petraeus has made no public comment since he announced his resignation on Friday.

The affair has raised questions about whether U.S. national security was ever at risk and the timing of law enforcement and intelligence officials’ revelation of the matter to the White House, as well as who knew about the investigation before last week’s presidential election.

Meanwhile, a former spokesman for Petraeus during his time as an Army general has said the affair with Broadwell, an Army reserve officer who co-authored a glowing biography of him, began after Petraeus retired from the Army in August 2011 to lead the spy agency and ended four months ago by mutual consent.

Retired Colonel Steven Boylan, who was Petraeus’ spokesman in Iraq and has spoken to the general since he resigned at the CIA, downplayed the question of whether U.S. security had been at risk. He said Petraeus never gave Broadwell classified information or communicated with her via his government email.

“My understanding is that she was only at the CIA twice. And at no time, based on conversations with him, did he provide her classified information, nor did she receive anything from him in that manner,” Boylan said in an interview.

“My understanding is that they mutually determined that it was time to end it,” he said, adding that Petraeus “knows he made a huge mistake” and is now trying to focus on his family. “It wasn’t right. And it was done. That was about four months ago.”

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Petraeus was first interviewed in connection with the FBI investigation during the week of October 28, about a week after Broadwell was questioned. The FBI informed Petraeus’ boss, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in the early evening of Election Day, November 6.

Senior U.S. officials said Clapper then informed the White House’s National Security Council staff of the issue and Petraeus’ intention to resign on Wednesday, the morning after President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second four-year term. Obama was informed later that day, they said.

‘EXTREMELY POOR JUDGMENT’

Petraeus, a widely admired soldier-scholar credited with turning around the U.S. war in Iraq and who led NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, announced his resignation in a letter to the CIA workforce on Friday, acknowledging “extremely poor judgment” in having an extramarital affair.

The person familiar with the investigation said Kelley initially approached a Florida field office of the FBI – not FBI headquarters – with a complaint of cyber-harassment. She had received numerous intimidating emails from a handful of different, opaque pseudonymous addresses.

The nature of the emails, according to the source, who was briefed on their contents, was “I know what you’re doing” and similar suggestions that someone was onto Kelley. There was no explicit threat of violence.

Upon tracing them, the FBI found out that Paula Broadwell was behind them, this source said. They also found correspondence between Broadwell and Petraeus leading to the revelation of an affair between them.

High-level Justice Department officials were informed in late summer 2012 of an ongoing investigation involving Petraeus, according to a law enforcement official. This source would not name the Justice officials or say whether Attorney General Eric Holder was among them.

The Justice Department followed long-standing policy by not revealing the investigation to anyone outside the department, such as White House or congressional aides, this official said. It would be inappropriate and unfair to do so, and it might jeopardize any potential prosecution, the official added.

As the investigation moved into the fall, the focus was potential cyber-harassment by one woman against another woman.

Petraeus was thought of by investigators as a potential witness or party to the investigation, but he was never a target of investigators. Prosecutors considered whether the conduct in question constituted a crime of cyber-harassment under the law.

During their interviews with investigators, Broadwell and Petraeus both admitted to the affair, the official said. After the interviews, prosecutors decided they likely would not bring charges, based on the available evidence.

Another U.S. government official said the FBI investigation into the emails was fairly straightforward and did not require obtaining court orders to monitor the email accounts of those involved, including the personal email account of Petraeus. Rather, the official said, investigators reviewed the emails that Kelley had brought to their attention.

“There wasn’t a court order,” the government official said, adding that that action would have been a last resort when other avenues had been exhausted.

A source close to the Petraeus family confirmed that Kelley, who is 37 according to published reports, and her husband, Scott Kelley, a Tampa cancer surgeon, became friends with Petraeus when he was stationed at MacDill from 2008 until 2010 as commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, which runs operations in the Middle East and South Asia.

The Kelleys later visited the Petraeuses in Washington while on a trip to visit relatives.

The Kelleys did not answer phone calls to the number listed for the family’s mansion-style home on Tampa’s exclusive Bayshore Boulevard, close to the military base.

The Kelleys made the VIP guest list at military functions at MacDill and also hosted Petraeus and his wife at their home in 2010, for the city’s annual Gasparilla pirate parade, according to a report at the time in the Tampa Bay Times.

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“Dave’s decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation’s most respected public servants,” Clapper said in a statement without giving a reason for the resignation.

White House spokesman Jay Carney did not provide any details but said: “We’ll have something from the president on it today.”

Petraeus said in a message to the CIA workforce that he was resigning because of an extramarital affair.

“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours,” Petraeus said.

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Four years after her exposure as the former New York governor’s favorite escort, Ashley Dupré has literally set up shop in New Jersey’s Red Bank community in the form of a lingerie and swim suit shop called Femme by Ashley. The woman who was once at the center of attention for her sexy, scandalous lifestyle is now peddling racy little numbers to other women, inspiring them to embrace their own sexuality.   

But the former “Girls Gone Wild” star seems to have come a long way from her days in the spotlight, which led to brief moonlighting as a singer and a sex columnist for the New York Post. Now, Dupré is looking to fly below the radar as she concentrates on her transition from sex to retail. She agreed to one interview with local Jersey blog Red Bank Green, but said it would likely be her only contact with the press about her shop’s opening. She credited her boyfriend, TJ Earle, with convincing her to do the interview to foster a good relationship with the community.

“I made a bunch of mistakes when I was younger, and I feel like, for the first time in my life, I’m growing into an adult, and I’m really excited about that,” Dupré, now 27, told the blog.

Dupré said she settled on the upscale downtown of Red Bank as the location for her boutique after visiting the area frequently during her childhood in Wall Township.

“I just fell in love with the community as a whole,” she said. “It is like a little mini SoHo, and the people here are great.”

She didn’t allow the blog to photograph or videotape the interview, saying she is now a very private person. Dupré said she plans to be at the store everyday and is already bracing for curious onlookers eager to spy a glance at the Playboy centerfold.

“Well, I’m sure I’m going to see everybody,” she said. “I’m sure a lot of interesting people are going to walk through those doors.”

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After insisting on his innocence, Sandusky was asked to elaborate:

Costas: Innocent? Completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect?

Sandusky: I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids, I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their leg without intent of sexual contact so if you look at it that way there are things that would be accurate.

He was also asked about the alleged 2002 incident in Lasch Hall in which graduate assistant Mike McQueary witnessed him raping a 10- or 11-year-old boy.

Costas: What did happen in the shower that night that Mike McQueary happened upon you and the young boy?

Sandusky: We were showering and horsing around and he actually turned all the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor, and we were, as I recall, possibly like slapping a towel, horseplay.

But the segment of the interview that will likely incriminate Sandusky in the court of public opinion was the coach’s couched response when asked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys.

Costas: Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?

Sandusky: Am I sexually attracted to underage boys? Sexually attracted? You know, I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, I, I…but no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.

Allegations of indecent contact date back to 1994, according to a
grand jury report, which detailed abuse in hotels, Penn State locker
rooms and Sandusky’s home. Though he was banned from bringing minors on
campus in 2002 after a witness reportedly saw him molesting a boy, he
violated the ban at least once, the report says.

Sandusky met his alleged victims through the Second Mile charity, which he founded in 1977 as a group home for at risk boys. He surrendered his daily duties with the organization in 2010.

Sandusky is currently free on $100,000 bond.

The post Jerry Sandusky: Former Penn State coach admits to showers with kids appeared first on Metro.us.

Yesterday, one of his “sexting” mistresses shared messages with the Daily Mail in which Weiner calls Abedin’s parents “backwards thinking” and claims religious differences have burdened their marriage.

Traci Nobles, 35, a former cheerleading coach who had textual trysts with Weiner, revealed the scandalous excerpts in her new book, “I Friended You,” set to be published this week.

In some exchanges, Weiner complained to Nobles that Abedin’s Muslim family clashed with his Jewish faith.

“They just believe I should be Muslim or convert … it makes for a lot of uncomfortable meetings,” Weiner wrote. “I wish I had an escape route sometimes.”

Another time he confided in Nobles: “A lot has to do with religion. Lots of restrictions and how I’ve never been accepted by them.”

In other texts, he bragged about masturbating in the restroom of the House of Representatives.
“It’s a big office and you know that’s not the only thing here that’s big,” he wrote, according to Nobles.

Abedin was pregnant when the scandal broke and is due to give birth to the couple’s first child, a boy, on New Year’s Eve. The couple has reportedly moved to the West Village.

Huma’s family tree

Abedin, born in Michigan and raised in Saudi Arabia, is the daughter of an Indian scholar father and Pakistani academic mother. Her father, Syed Zainul Abedin, died when she was 17. Her mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is an associate professor of sociology. She has been Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aide since 1996, when she began as an intern alongside Monica Lewinsky. President Bill Clinton has referred to her as his “second daughter” and presided over her and Weiner’s wedding.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.
 

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During a Quinnipiac University poll conducted between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, Bloomberg’s job approval rating shot up nearly 10 points since July, to 54 percent.

Across the boroughs, 86 percent of people supported Bloomberg’s response to Hurricane Irene, and 90 percent backed his decision to evacuate neighborhoods.

“The critics cried ‘overkill,’” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “But most people agreed with the mayor, ‘Better safe than sorry.’”

The ratings are Bloomberg’s highest ranking since the December blizzard, but they came at a time of criticism. The polling period occurred when the public learned the truth about former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, who the mayor said had resigned to pursue other work, but had been arrested for an alleged domestic dispute days before resigning. 

Bloomberg was blasted for his failure to reveal the arrest.

“This survey was conducted after Hurricane Irene and during the storm about [former] Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith’s arrest — but maybe that second storm is a tempest in a teapot,” Carroll offered.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

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There’s a firestorm surrounding Indiana State Representative Philip Hinkle today after the Republican lawmaker may have cruised the “men seeking men” section of Craigslist looking for a sexual rendezvous.

That’s where The Indianapolis Star reports Hinkle met Kameryn Gibson, an 18-year-old man who had posted an add seeking a “sugga daddy.” Hinkle offered Gibson about $80, plus a $50 to $60 tip “for a really good time.” Whoa, big spender! Apparently, that was enough for Kameryn because he told The Star he agreed to go to a hotel with Hinkle:  

The young man told The Star that they met, but that he tried to leave after the man told him he was a state lawmaker. He said the lawmaker at first told him he could not leave, grabbed him in the rear, exposed himself to the young man and then later gave him an iPad, BlackBerry cellphone and $100 cash to keep quiet.

Hmmm, maybe not the best idea considering there was probably a wealth of other equally-scandalous information on his iPad and his phone. But hey, it’s the guy’s first sex scandal, so we’ll let it slide.

When asked about his emails with Gibson, Hinkle responded, “I am aware of a shakedown taking place,” but wouldn’t elaborate on what he meant by “shakedown.” Oh Hinkle, you and your riddles!

Here’s the kicker: Hinkle recently voted for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

Oh hey, irony — have you met hypocrisy? 

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