Preet Bharara explaining the alleged bribery plot. (Photo: Getty)

"That's politics in New York," the New York Post's cover blared in stark black-and-white ink this morning. "It's all about the f--king money."

The quote, allegedly made from Councilman Dan Halloran to a cooperating witness, was revealed yesterday as U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara unsealed charges not only against Mr. Halloran, but State Sen. Malcolm Smith and a small slew of other political figures in what Mr. Bharara called "a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself."

Specifically, Mr. Halloran is accused of "essentially quarterbacking" a scheme to secure Republican establishment support for Mr. Smith's mayoral bid. Mr. Smith, a Democrat, would need the blessing of three of the five county Republican organizations to run on the GOP line, and he allegedly arranged for cash bribes in his attempt to do so. But, looking more broadly, the strange scandal also shines light on these county organizations and their few remaining powers in city politics.

"County organizations, like political parties overall, are dinosaurs, left over from an age where they once ruled earth," said one Queens Republican operative. "These days, when the party says this is our candidate, the average voters says, 'What the fuck are you talking about?'"

Eliot Spitzer, a former state governor and attorney general, argued that because New York City is overwhelmingly Democratic, corruption is even more prevalent in local Republican organizations struggling to make an electoral impact with relatively little amounts of money and influence.

"I don't want to say this the wrong way," he said on Inside City Hall last night. "The Republican Party in this the city, because it's so weak, has been left with virtually nothing other than a series of wealthy benefactors who show up with money and therefore make the system in corrupt in virtually every way. Every party has this problem, but when you have a party with so little, money can buy the nomination."

Furthermore, the two Republican county organizations that have been engulfed in the scandal, Queens and the Bronx, are--according to multiple insiders--dysfunctional and verging on irrelevancy. The Bronx, for example, doesn't have a single Republican elected official, and the local party apparatus is mostly relegated to appointing patronage positions at the Board of Election and a vote to let non-Republicans run on their party's line--the sort of vote that is at the heart of the Smith scandal. "That's the biggest thing for them," a veteran Bronx politico explained. "Otherwise, they aren't really relevant."

The Queens GOP, when it isn't beset by infighting, has a less-than-sterling reputation itself, one highly-placed source with detailed knowledge of the county parties, told Politicker.

"Bronx Republican Chairman Joseph Savino and Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone are bitter enemies," the source claimed, naming two of the officials charged with accepting Mr. Smith's bribes. Mr. Tabone has since resigned. "They hate each other ...  [Mr. Tabone] and Phil Ragusa (Queens GOP Chair) are known as 'Super Mario Brothers' -- even the other Italians call them Mario and Luigi and wouldn't trust them to leave the tip at a diner."

The source additionally said that Mr. Smith's odds of getting into the Republican primary were "zero" because the Wilson Pakula authorization--the letter needed for a candidate to run on another party's line--involves more than simply bribing three top Republicans.

"See, the thing is, the Wilson Pakula letter is portrayed in the complaint as some document that 3 guys have to sign (3 of the 5 chairmen)," he continued. "The reality is, it's way harder to get that. ... So even if these guys were taking bribes for PROMISING to get Smith a WP letter, the reality is they had nearly no chance of actually delivering that letter."

In what may be the most bizarre aspect to this controversy, no one we spoke to thought Mr. Smith had a chance even if he somehow managed to bribe his way into the Republican fold. In addition to Mr. Smith's already badly-damaged brand thanks to a reported federal government probe into a nonprofit he funded with taxpayer dollars, the Republican mayoral field already contains several heavyweight contenders like former M.T.A. Chairman Joe Lhota and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.

"Total stupidity, the whole thing! I mean, it's ridiculous!" former Senator Al D'Amato, a Republican, raged last night--on the same program as Mr. Spitzer. "They get players who are involved in government to be playing this almost childish, ridiculous game ... Bizarre beyond words. If Malcolm Smith could--first of all, he couldn't get the nomination, ... [but] what do you think he'd get? 3, 4, 5, 6 percent of the of the Republican primary voters to vote for him? I've never heard anything so stupid! And then this jackass who's a councilman ... to be involved in this thing, and for party leaders to be involved? Just one more stupid than the other."

In an AM 970 radio interview this morning, GOP Councilman Eric Ulrich--an outspoken rival of Mr. Ragusa's and Mr. Tabone's--largely concurred with this line of thinking.

"The whole thing is like something out of a movie or The Twilight Zone," he mused. “I mean, let's assume their plan had worked, does anyone think that with Joe Lhota and John Catsimatidis also in the race, that Malcolm Smith had any shot of winning a Republican primary? How stupid! The whole thing is stupid."

Although Mr. Smith's electoral plans could have simply been a fantasy in his own mind, some officials and good-government groups claim that the key takeaway from the allegations is the need to reform New York State's campaign finance system. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated over $3 million to various state and county GOP organizations over the past decade, even after he left the Republican Party to run as an independent in 2009. He received their Wilson Pakula blessing in order to do so. And Mr. Catsimatidis, who used to employ Mr. Tabone in both his campaign and his company, has been plowing plenty of his own dollars into the various county parties himself.

"Our wild-west campaign finance laws have nurtured a culture of corruption in this state," Democratic Senator Liz Krueger told Politicker in a statement. "It has become accepted wisdom to too many people in New York politics that enough four- or five-figure checks, distributed to enough elected officials, can change anything and fix anything. At the same time, incumbents raise enormous amounts of money -- the lion's share of their money -- from the established interests that are lobbying them."

Reflecting on the multitude of political scandals that have rocked New York City in Albany in recent years, Ms. Krueger added, "The result is an environment where bribery schemes don't seem outlandish and wrong -- they seem pretty normal."

(Photo: NY1.com)

John Catsimatidis, a prominent Republican fundraiser and supermarket mogul who's exploring a run for mayor, went on Inside City Hall last night. In the course of his interview, the billionaire expressed a few rather interesting opinions including that the recession never hit New York, that many moderate Democrats loved Mitt Romney and that taxing the wealthy involves Nazi-style logic.

Mr. Catsimatidis brought up the Nazis when asked whether he supported higher taxes.

"Taxes are going to go up regardless. What I'm afraid of is, we shouldn't punish any one group. Whether we're punishing people who are wealthy," he said. "New York is for everybody; it's for the poor, it's for the middle-class, it's for the wealthy. We can't punish any one group and chase them away. We--I mean, Hitler punished the Jews. We can't have punishing the ‘2% group' right now."

This remark surprised Inside City Hall host Josh Robin.

"Wait, so you see like raising taxes as the same as putting people in gas chambers?" Mr. Robin asked.

Mr. Catsimatidis elaborated that he simply doesn't believe in selectively "punishing" a small segment of society.

"No, no, I didn't say that. I said we cannot pick any group and punish that group," Mr. Catsimatidis said. "I think the rich should pay more in taxes, I agree with that 100 percent, but everybody should feel the pain a little bit."

Mr. Catsimatidis has said he wouldn't pursue the Republican nomination if NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly is in the race. Last night, he continued to praise Mr. Kelly including claiming the city's top cop and Mayor Michael Bloomberg prevented New York from feeling the impact of the national recession.

"What we need in this city is leadership. In the last 10, 12 years we've had Bloomberg and we've had Ray Kelly. Billions of dollars have been flowing into New York because of their leadership. New York never felt the recession. New York never felt a depression," said Mr. Catsimatidis.

The businessman was also asked about his staunch support of Mitt Romney. Though Mr. Romney was unable to get 20 percent of the city's vote, Mr. Catsimatidis claimed the Republican presidential candidate was supported by the vast majority of the "Clinton Democrats" he knew.

"I was a Mitt Romney Republican because he was pro-business." Mr. Catsimatidis said. "The business community has to do well for the residential community to do well, and I firmly believe it. That's why all of the bankers in  New York were for Mitt Romney, all of Wall Street was for Mitt Romney, all the people that we know that were 'Clinton Democrats,' 90 percent of them were for Mitt Romney."

Mr. Robin also asked Mr. Catsimatidis about his declarations that President Obama's high level of support among black voters was "racist."

"If I'm running, whether I'm Italian or whether I'm Greek, I don't expect an Italian to get 95% of the Italian votes. It was just a point of order. I don't expect an Irish guy to get 95% of the Irish votes," Mr. Catsimatidis explained. "I think we should vote for issues, not for the color of his skin or the person's ethnic background. I was just surprised and I made an issue of it. There's one thing I always do, I always tell the truth."

As far as whether he'll actually run, Mr. Catsimatidis said he would only enter the race if he thinks he will win. To that end, he has started an exploratory committee and hired some staffers.

"Once we get rolling--and we'll probably get rolling in early January with the staff that we're hiring, I would say it would take 60, 90 days to come up with where we're going to be," he said.

It certainly sounds like we haven't heard the last of the outspoken Mr. Catsimatidis.

Eliot Spitzer (Photo: Getty)

"I am delighted to be joining two of New York's sharpest political minds to discuss the important issues of the day," Mr. Spitzer said in a statement distributed by the local cable news network.

Both Messrs. Koch and D'Amato issued statements praising their new colleague.

"Former Governor Eliot Spitzer is one of the smartest people I know.  His joining Wiseguys broadens its political insights. Welcome aboard, Eliot," Mr. Koch said.

“Eliot will certainly add some spark to the Wiseguys. Look for more fireworks!” added Mr. D’Amato.

Prior to joining Current TV as a replacement for Keith Olbermann in March, Mr. Spitzer hosted a show on CNN until it was cancelled last July due to low ratings. Mr. Spitzer had a similarly ignominious exit from state government. He resigned as governor in March, 2008 due to a prostitution scandal.

(Photo: NY1)

Councilman Charles Barron and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, both candidates for an open congressional seat in Brooklyn, don't really like each other very much. At least, that's the most obvious impression from a debate between the two Democrats on Inside City Hall last night.

It started off with Mr. Barron calling Mr. Jeffries "negative and immature" and a "sore loser" over his dismissal of  retiring Congressman Ed Towns' endorsement.

"You're just a sore loser," Mr. Barron continued. "You can't have all of the endorsements. You can't get them all, man!"

But it was over foreign policy issues that the two had the most contentious interaction. Mr. Barron, of course, has a long history of bombastic declarations in support of African dictators and against Israel.

"I certainly can't compete with Charles Barron for the pro-Gaddafi vote," Mr. Jeffries mused on the topic before switching over to Mr. Barron's criticism of President Barack Obama. "Charles Barron has been willing to go after the President of the United States in such a reckless, vicious and disrespectful fashion. In the context of Muammar Gaddafi, my opponent called ... President Obama essentially a murderer."

"That's a lie," Mr. Barron interjected.

"It's irresponsible rhetoric to have called the President of the United States essentially a tool of the white establishment," Mr. Jeffries added. "It's irresponsible to say the president is essentially an Uncle Tom who has got an 'F' grade as it relates doing business on behalf of black folks."

"This is his immature way of trying to use Obama to give himself credibility," Mr. Barron retorted. "We reserve the right to be constructively critical of the president. He's trying to use that because his campaign is desperate now, they're falling behind."

When it came for the opportunity for the two to ask each other questions, Mr. Barron offered a very simple inquiry.

"Why should we trust you?" he asked, alleging Mr. Jeffries has gone through a series of flip flops on a wide range of issues.

"What's the sources, Charles?" Mr. Jeffries responded. "I mean is it the 'Charles Barron Encyclopedia on Conspiracy Theories?'"

Congressman Israel (Photo: NY1)

New York Congressman Steve Israel, who heads up the House Democrats' campaign efforts, made an interesting pitch to NY1's Errol Louis on Inside City Hall last Friday. He argued the most New York is now in play with the judge's new congressional redistricting plan.

"Right in New York, as a result of the map the courts have approved, we have races all over the state that will be competitive," he said, before ticking down a laundry list of newly competitive seats.

"Congressman Gibson now has a district that is much more Democratic, [with] the map on Long Island, Congressman King goes from safe Republican seat to a 49.5% Democratic seat," he continued. "Congressman Reed has a more Democratic district. Congresswoman Buerkle, in the Syracuse area, is so out of touch ... with her district that I believe we're going to pick that one up."

Mr. Israel is correct that a number of Republicans have more competitive districts, but he may need some luck and extraordinary candidates to turn the entire state blue, although it isn't completely out of question. For example, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice might need to enter the race against veteran GOP  Congressman Pete King to truly make that race competitive.

(Of course, every single House seat in New York State except Mr. King's has been held by a Democratic incumbent within the last two election cycles, so perhaps Democratic competitiveness across the state isn't especially new.)

On the flip side of the coin, Republicans have their own reasons to be optimistic with redistricting. Democratic Congresswomen Louise Slaughter, Kathy Hochul, and Nita Lowey have seen potentially strong Republican challengers mull races against them in recent days.

Congressman Grimm (Photo: NY1)

Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm, who The New York Times' sources allege took illegal bribes, continued his efforts to push back against the allegations last night, appearing on NY1's "Inside City Hall." The host, Errol Louis, pressed him the specifics of the case that centered on an Israeli mystic, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, and one of his top aides, Ofer Biton.

Disputing he raised anywhere close to the $500,000 the Times reported he raised from Rabbi Pinto's followers, Mr. Grimm aggressively defended his relationship with Rabbi Pinto.

"The Rabbi introduced me to many important businessmen, very successful business people, and that's how I raised money," he said, adding later that the businessmen supported him because he was "pro-Israel, lower taxes, strong for business, that's what they were looking for and that's why they supported me."

Much of the Times story places Mr. Biton at the heart of the alleged fundraising scheme, but Mr. Grimm was incredulous that Mr. Biton could have done any of the things reported.

"Ofer was nothing more than the Rabbi's assistant. Nobody listens to his assistant," he said.  "The Rabbi made the introductions and Ofer merely did administrative things like reminding me who I met and where to go see them."

When Mr. Louis asked Mr. Grimm if he was overly concerned with the Times report that Mr. Biton is being investigated by the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors for embezzling money from Rabbi Pinto, Mr. Grimm also doubted the credibility of the report.

"To be honest with you, I was in the FBI as a special agent for 11 years. I've never heard of an FBI agent leaking that stuff to the press," he answered. "First of all, if this guy is an Israeli, why would you leak to the press that he's under investigation? He could just flee. Why would they do it? It just doesn't even make sense that they would do that."

"I have no proof that there's an investigation," he added.