Jam Piper Jam
Truth Seeker
New York Times
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October 9, 2003
U.S. Bug in Mayor's Office Roils Philadelphia Race
By JAMES DAO
hiladelphia and federal officials said on Wednesday that a listening device found in Mayor John F. Street's office in City Hall had been planted by F.B.I. agents in an investigation.
Mr. Street, a first-term Democrat, is locked in a bitter race for re-election with a Republican businessman, Sam Katz, and the discovery of one or more bugs in the office on Tuesday morning further roiled the race.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States attorney's office in Philadelphia have declined to explain the purpose or target of the inquiry other than to say it was not related to the contest for mayor.
Going on the offensive, Mr. Street's campaign said federal investigators might have planted the device as part of a conspiracy by the Bush administration to undermine the mayor's integrity a month from the election.
"We are openly speculating and questioning the timing of this discovery with the backdrop of the next presidential election," a spokesman for the campaign, Frank Keel, said, "and quite frankly wondering aloud could the Republican Party of George Bush, John Ashcroft, etc., have engineered an incident like this that would cast some doubt and questions on the current Democratic mayor at a critical time in the election.
"State and federal Republican power brokers are pulling out all the stops to get their Republican candidate elected."
He did not offer any evidence to back up his statements.
The contest is a replay of the campaign in 1999 that Mr. Street won by fewer than 10,000 votes. Recent polls have shown the new race to be very close again.
At a news conference, Mr. Street did not directly accuse his opponent or the Republican Party of initiating the bugging.
But he said: "Some of this might be politically motivated. The timing is very suspicious."
Mr. Katz's campaign, Republican officials and federal law enforcement official responded indignantly to those accusations.
"The U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has a long and proud history of doing its work without regard to partisan politics," said United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan.
A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, Christine Iverson, laughed when told of the statements by Mr. Street's campaign. "That," Ms. Iverson said, "is one of the most wild and off-the-wall allegations we've ever heard."
A spokesman for Mr. Katz's campaign, Nathan Raab, said: "John Street is very focused on blaming other people for what has happened in John Street's City Hall. Maybe he should start focusing on the corruption and the secrecy that he has let fester."
The administration has been rocked by scandals, including accusations that it fixed parking tickets for allies and awarded a $13.6 million contract to a firm linked to the mayor's brother. An aide to Mr. Street has been charged with threatening a landlord who rented space to Mr. Katz's campaign.
The Philadelphia police found the device in Mr. Street's office on a routine sweep. For years, officers have checked for such devices at City Hall, officials said.
Democrats, including Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia, called on the Justice Department to explain the nature of their investigation, saying anonymous news leaks had made it difficult for the mayor to defend himself.
Mr. Rendell "doesn't believe Mayor Street is being investigated," Kate Philips, a spokeswoman for the governor, said. "But regardless, he thinks the F.B.I., in light of this discovery, should characterize what their investigation is."
A spokesman for the United States Attorney's office, Richard Manieri, released a statement last night saying: "We have stated very clearly, to both Mayor Street and his attorney, the mayor's status in this matter. Beyond that, we have no further public comment."
Political experts said it was not surprising that Mr. Street campaign would try to tie the bugs to national Republicans, saying Mr. Bush is not very popular among Philadelphia voters.
"Increasingly," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., "you see Democrats running in elections where they have problems, dragging in the Republican Party at large and the president in particular to buoy up their base."
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October 9, 2003
U.S. Bug in Mayor's Office Roils Philadelphia Race
By JAMES DAO
hiladelphia and federal officials said on Wednesday that a listening device found in Mayor John F. Street's office in City Hall had been planted by F.B.I. agents in an investigation.
Mr. Street, a first-term Democrat, is locked in a bitter race for re-election with a Republican businessman, Sam Katz, and the discovery of one or more bugs in the office on Tuesday morning further roiled the race.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States attorney's office in Philadelphia have declined to explain the purpose or target of the inquiry other than to say it was not related to the contest for mayor.
Going on the offensive, Mr. Street's campaign said federal investigators might have planted the device as part of a conspiracy by the Bush administration to undermine the mayor's integrity a month from the election.
"We are openly speculating and questioning the timing of this discovery with the backdrop of the next presidential election," a spokesman for the campaign, Frank Keel, said, "and quite frankly wondering aloud could the Republican Party of George Bush, John Ashcroft, etc., have engineered an incident like this that would cast some doubt and questions on the current Democratic mayor at a critical time in the election.
"State and federal Republican power brokers are pulling out all the stops to get their Republican candidate elected."
He did not offer any evidence to back up his statements.
The contest is a replay of the campaign in 1999 that Mr. Street won by fewer than 10,000 votes. Recent polls have shown the new race to be very close again.
At a news conference, Mr. Street did not directly accuse his opponent or the Republican Party of initiating the bugging.
But he said: "Some of this might be politically motivated. The timing is very suspicious."
Mr. Katz's campaign, Republican officials and federal law enforcement official responded indignantly to those accusations.
"The U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has a long and proud history of doing its work without regard to partisan politics," said United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan.
A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, Christine Iverson, laughed when told of the statements by Mr. Street's campaign. "That," Ms. Iverson said, "is one of the most wild and off-the-wall allegations we've ever heard."
A spokesman for Mr. Katz's campaign, Nathan Raab, said: "John Street is very focused on blaming other people for what has happened in John Street's City Hall. Maybe he should start focusing on the corruption and the secrecy that he has let fester."
The administration has been rocked by scandals, including accusations that it fixed parking tickets for allies and awarded a $13.6 million contract to a firm linked to the mayor's brother. An aide to Mr. Street has been charged with threatening a landlord who rented space to Mr. Katz's campaign.
The Philadelphia police found the device in Mr. Street's office on a routine sweep. For years, officers have checked for such devices at City Hall, officials said.
Democrats, including Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia, called on the Justice Department to explain the nature of their investigation, saying anonymous news leaks had made it difficult for the mayor to defend himself.
Mr. Rendell "doesn't believe Mayor Street is being investigated," Kate Philips, a spokeswoman for the governor, said. "But regardless, he thinks the F.B.I., in light of this discovery, should characterize what their investigation is."
A spokesman for the United States Attorney's office, Richard Manieri, released a statement last night saying: "We have stated very clearly, to both Mayor Street and his attorney, the mayor's status in this matter. Beyond that, we have no further public comment."
Political experts said it was not surprising that Mr. Street campaign would try to tie the bugs to national Republicans, saying Mr. Bush is not very popular among Philadelphia voters.
"Increasingly," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., "you see Democrats running in elections where they have problems, dragging in the Republican Party at large and the president in particular to buoy up their base."