An alert reader pointed us to the following item in (the essential) City and State First Read:

8:15 p.m. – Liu attends a holiday reception with President Barack Obama, Sheraton Hotel, 811 Seventh Ave., Manhattan.

The president, of course, is making a major NYC swing tonight, with not one but three separate stock-piling events, but it is a little remarkable that City Comptroller John Liu is touting his attendance.

Mr. Liu has been in the cross hairs of federal law enforcement authorities after a chief fundraiser was busted by the FBI for committing wire fraud, and after a Times investigation found that many donors of Mr. Liu’s denied have actually donated to him.

The New York Post meanwhile has kept up a daily drumbeat of negative stories on Mr. Liu, a drumbeat that seems unlikely to abate any time soon. Most local politicians have made an effort to steer clear of the comptroller while the investigation is ongoing.

It is unclear how many people are attending tonight’s fundraiser with the president, but you can be sure that if Mr. Liu gets close enough to him, some GOP operatives would be willing to pay big money for a photograph of the two of them.

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