Congressman Grimm is not pleased. (Photo: Facebook)

As President Barack Obama's opponents pile on in the aftermath of multiple recent controversies--notably his reaction to the Benghazi attacks, revelations that the Internal Revenue Service focused on conservative-aligned nonprofits and the Justice Department's unprecedented snooping on press communications--one local congressman wants it to be known that he is also not pleased.

To wit, Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, released a lengthy statement this afternoon blasting Mr. Obama for "bringing Chicago-style politics to the White House." This style of underhanded rule, Mr. Grimm said, has resulted in a presidency that is “the most secretive, deceptive, and divisive we’ve seen in modern times."

For its part, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has said the administration had no knowledge of the Justice Department's secret efforts to obtain Associated Press reporters' and editors' telephone records, which the news agency slammed as a "massive and unprecedented intrusion."

Regarding the IRS subjecting conservative groups to additional scrutiny, Mr. Obama himself said Monday that he "will not tolerate it." But on questions as to whether his administration politicized its response to the September 11th, 2012 attacks on America's embassy in Benghazi, Libya, Mr. Obama insisted, “There's no 'there' there."

None of that was enough to persuade, Mr. Grimm, of course, whose entire statement ripping into the president can be viewed below:

“President Obama’s legacy is going to be one tarnished by scandal after scandal. This president had an opportunity to unite our country and move it forward better and stronger. Instead, he brought Chicago-style politics to the White House and divided us as a nation.

“Today this president continues to blame Republicans for politicizing Benghazi, when it is his very own administration that covered up the facts. He was slow to react to the IRS targeting conservative Tea Party groups, and today he denies knowledge of the Justice Department seizing the phone records of AP reporters.

“The president claims to be in the dark on one event after another. What are they doing over there? Who’s accountable if it’s not the commander in chief?

“Instead of a legacy of ‘hope and change,’ President Obama will be known for bringing Chicago-style politics to the White House. The most ‘transparent administration in history’ is actually the most secretive, deceptive, and divisive we’ve seen in modern times. This administration has misled the American people one too many times, and it’s time it is held accountable.”

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city through 9/11, accused some in Washington of being in "denial" about the risks posed by terrorism and said that Democrats too preoccupied with "liberal ideas" are putting public safety at risk.

Speaking at a fund-raiser for Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota last night, Mr. Giuliani, who made an unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2008, said that New York City remains a target, and that government must be ever-vigilant to stave off the next attack.

“There are some people in Washington who--when we captured Bin Laden--thought that the War on Terror was over. They even announced that. I believe that some of these attacks that have taken place have taken place now because there is in Washington a process of denial, a process of not really understanding what is against us,” Mr. Giuliani told attendees at the Excelsior Grand in Staten Island, according to video of the remarks captured by blogger Jacob Kornbluh.

Mr. Giuliani said that New York City remains the No. 1 terror target in the country and needs a mayor who understands that risk.

“We need a mayor who is going to be very, very strong about this. We need a mayor who is not gonna be confused by so many of these liberal ideas that say, 'Oh I don't know, maybe we shouldn't classify this person as an Islamic extremist terrorist. Maybe that will offend somebody if we do it,'" he said, criticizing the way the government handled the Fort Hood shooting, in particular.

Mr. Giuliani also slammed critics who want to do away the police department's controversial with stop-and-frisk policy, and pointed to Chicago, with its far higher murder rate, as an example of what might happen if police tactics change.

“What we do that Chicago doesn’t do… [is] we aggressively enforce our laws to take guns out of the hands of criminals,” he said. “They, instead, are very, very careful. They’re very frightened. They’re very worried, very worried about rights: this right, that right, some other right. The only right they're not thinking about is the right to be safe in your city,” he said, vowing that Mr. Lhota would keep current NYPD policies in place.

He argued that the same aggressive police tactics have also helped protect the city from terrorism--and guessed that police officers would have been stationed in the mosque that the elder Boston Marathon bombing suspect attended, listening to what was said as part of the NYPD's controversial Muslim surveillance program.

"Another mayor of that other party might not have the courage to do that. Their political thinking is very different," he said.

He further pointed to Mass. Governor Deval Patrick, whom he said had been "giving welfare" to the alleged bombers (the two brothers had reportedly received benefits as children, while the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and daughter had been on welfare until last year)--something he said would never have happened under his or Mr. Lhota's watch. And he slammed Mr. Patrick for refusing to release certain records of suspects' benefits "because he wants to protect the privacy of the terrorist murderers."

"What kind of warped thinking is that?” he asked.

“When you start thinking like that, like this administration does, like many Democrats do, that’s what leads to the mistakes that then result in something like Boston, or something like Fort Hood, or something like the almost-attack on Times Square. When we don’t categorize these people properly, when we don't say we’re going to have to put a lot of focus on them, and make sure that we keep our city safe," he said.

He said that that kind of hesitancy puts people at risk.

"We realize most of these people are honest, decent people. But by the same token, we also realize that it isn't just a few people that are Islamic extremists, it's more than a few people," he said.

“If we did that, who knows? Maybe people would be alive today that aren’t alive now," he said. "That's the kind of mayor we need."

Mr. Giuliani touted Mr. Lhota's performance in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when he said Mr. Lhota was by his side “virtually every day for 40 days” after the planes hit, playing an integral role in every decision they made.

“Joe is a man who has a lot of guts. And he’s got a lot of calm when things are tough. And he’s someone who will keep this city safe from Islamic extremist terrorists and keep this city safe from criminals," he said.

The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An NYPD counterterrorism officer watches cameras after the Boston attack. (Photo: Getty)

During his press conference announcing that Boston Marathon bombers intended to target Times Square, Mayor Michael Bloomberg slamed "special interests" he accused of trying to block the city from installing crime-fighting surveillance cameras.

"The role that surveillance cameras played in identifying the suspects was absolutely essential to saving lives, both in Boston, and now we know here in New York City as well," Mr. Bloomberg told reporters at City Hall.

"We've made major investments in camera technology--not withstanding the objections of some special interests," he continued. "And the attacks in Boston, I think, demonstrate just how valuable those cameras can be."

Mr. Bloomberg has repeatedly butted heads with civil liberties advocates, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, over the city's aggressive policing and counter-terrorism efforts post-9/11.

The group filed an ongoing lawsuit against the city in 2008 for information about the scope of the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, the city's network of thousands of cameras spanning the Financial District, which is a cornerstone of Mr. Bloomberg's counter-terrorism investments. The program was expanded to Midtown in 2010.

But NYCLU Executive Director, Donna Lieberman, said after Mr. Bloomberg's remarks that the group's red flags were justified.

“Our thoughts remain with the victims of this great tragedy. And we understand and agree that there are times, locations and circumstances that clearly call for increased security and protections," she said. "But solutions that seriously undermine our freedom and fail to address the security failures of the past may give us a false sense of security while unnecessarily sacrificing individual privacy.

"We must not play into the hands of those that seek to hurt us by abandoning our free society and allowing our liberties to be needlessly eroded," she added.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that, while Times Square is already under heavy surveillance, the NYPD is planning to further extend the surveillance network with cutting-edge technology.

"We want to expand our cameras--the number of cameras that we have. And we'd like to, also, in that universe, expand our smart camera capability," he said. "We've talked about that, now adding algorithms--'video analytics' it's called. So that's sort of an additional aspect--it doesn't come with every camera, believe me. So just the number of cameras, throughout all five boroughs, and to increase the number of cameras capable of video analytics," he said.

Mr. Bloomberg also re-affirmed his commitment.

"We're working wherever there's large groups of people, that would be the logical place to put your cameras. But one of the thing for sure, you're never going to know where all of our cameras are," he said. "And that's one of the ways you deter people; they just don't know whether the person sitting next to you is just somebody sitting there or a detective watching."

He also thanked President Barack Obama and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "for recognizing that homeland security funding should be based on threat, and threat alone; not poke-barrel politics."

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell.

Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. (Photo John Moore/Getty Images)

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.

“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex world where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

Mr. Bloomberg, who has come under fire for the N.Y.P.D.’s monitoring of Muslim communities and other aggressive tactics, said the rest of the country needs to learn from the attacks.

“Look, we live in a very dangerous world. We know there are people who want to take away our freedoms. New Yorkers probably know that as much if not more than anybody else after the terrible tragedy of 9/11,” he said.

“We have to understand that in the world going forward, we’re going to have more cameras and that kind of stuff. That’s good in some sense, but it’s different from what we are used to," he said.

The mayor pointed to the gun debate and noted the courts have allowed for increasingly stringent regulations in response to ever-more powerful weapons.

“Clearly the  Supreme Court has recognized that you have to have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and what it applies to and reasonable gun laws … Here we’re going to to have to live with reasonable levels of security,” he said, pointing to the use of magnetometers to catch weapons in city schools.

“It really says something bad about us that we have to do it. But our obligation first and foremost is to keep our kids safe in the schools; first and foremost, to keep you safe if you go to a sporting event; first and foremost is to keep you safe if you walk down the streets or go into our parks," he said. "We cannot let the terrorists put us in a situation where we can’t do those things. And the ways to do that is to provide what we think is an appropriate level of protection."

Still, Mr. Bloomberg argued the attacks shouldn't be used as an excuse to persecute certain religions or groups.

“What we cant do is let the protection get in the way of us enjoying our freedoms," he said.  "You still want to let people practice their religion, no matter what that religion is. And I think one of the great dangers here is going and categorizing anybody from one religion as a terrorist. That’s not true … That would let the terrorists win. That’s what they want us to do.”

SWAT team prepares at the Watertown Mall (Photo: Getty)

With the news that two of the suspected terrorists from last Monday's Boston Marathon bombing have roots in the Russia's Muslim-dominated Chechnyan region, Long Island Congressman Pete King says the United States "can't afford to be politically correct" with its immigration policies anymore.

"I do believe that whether it's Chechnya or whether it's really any countries from areas where there is fighting going on--particularly terrorist fighting--that we have to be extra careful, extra scrupulous," Mr. King argued during a PIX 11 interview earlier this afternoon. "That would include, to me, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia [and] obviously .... somebody of a Chechnyan background. All of that, to me, we can't afford to be politically correct and say that somebody coming from a country where there's a Muslim war going on is the same as somebody ... from Switzerland, for instance. There's a difference."

Mr. King, who is also the former head of the House Committee on Homeland Security, pointed to the fact that both suspects have been in the country legally for a number of years, one of whom immigrated when he was very young. Although the motives for the Boston attack are still very much unclear, Mr. King concluded that there's a problem of radicalization in the local Muslim community.

"This person was 9 years old when he to this country," he said. "Basically, he was raised as an American. It's not like he came over here as some kind of a terrorist. So what in the community radicalized him? We have to look at the whole issue of radicalization as to why someone--who was 9 years old who he came to this country, has received scholarships to an excellent school--what would prompt him to kill and maim and cause such carnage to innocent people and kids?"

Of course, this is not the first time Mr. King has brought up the "radicalization" of America's Muslims--the Republican congressman previously held high-profile committee hearings on the very subject that drew controversy and accusations of Islamophobia. Regardless, Mr. King feels it's a simple issue as he pressed his case today.

"This is just something that has to be faced," he said. "There are people in this country that want to kill us and we have to face up to that."

Cambridge, Massachusetts earlier today. (Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have canceled his morning radio appearance today in response to the ongoing manhunt for a suspect involved in Monday's deadly bombing attack on the Boston Marathon, but another top New York official, Governor Andrew Cuomo, scheduled his own radio interview on The Capitol Pressroom soon after. Mr. Cuomo directly addressed the high-profile situation in the Bay State by employing a phrase he previously used to describe climate change in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: "the new normal."

"It's a terrible situation in Boston. And, unfortunately, ... one gets the sense that this is more reflective of the 'new normal,' if you will," he explained. "So much of society is changing so rapidly. We talk about a 'new normal' when it comes t0 climate change and adjusting to a change in the weather patterns. 'New normal' when it comes to public security in a post-9/11 world. Where these random acts of violence, which at one time were implausible, now seem all-too-frequent."

Additionally, Mr. Cuomo said New York police units are on stand-by and assisting authorities in Boston. The governor further noted that he worked with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick during their shared time in former President Bill Clinton's administration some years ago.

"I have been in contact. Our offices have been in contact and our respective officials have been talking," he said. "I'm wanted him to know that we're here for him. The authorities have been cooperating. We have a very good relationship with Massachusetts. They've been very kind to us in many circumstances ... I'm a big fan of Deval's. We were together in the Clinton administration so I know him personally and he's doing a very good job."

Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly. (Screengrab: NYC.gov)

This afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly gave a press briefing to update the public on the city's security efforts in the wake of yesterday's deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon. And, while stating there are no specific threats connected to the Boston incident, Mr. Bloomberg ominously warned about "special interests" shaping the city's security policies in a way "that the terrorists are waiting for."

"The N.Y.P.D ... has helped deter and thwart numerous terrorist attacks on our city in the past," Mr. Bloomberg explained. "But we must remain vigilant for the future. And we are vigilant. The fact is there remain people who want to attack us. The moment we let our guard down, the moment we get complacent, the moment we allow special interests to shape our security strategies is the moment that the terrorists are waiting for."

Although Mr. Bloomberg didn't explain what those special interests were, he did acknowledge Manhattan's public security camera network as the sort of program that needs additional investment. Left unmentioned were the N.Y.P.D.'s controversial stop-and-frisk tactic and Muslim surveillance efforts, both of which Mr. Bloomberg has staunchly defended in the past.

"The Boston bombing is a terrible reminder of why we've made these investments, including camera technology, that could help us deter an attack," the mayor said. "Of course, no system is perfect and no system can eliminate the threat of an attack. That's why it's so important that we continually improve the system, especially as technology improves and allows us to expand our capabilities."

Additionally, Mr. Bloomberg said the city's stepped-up police presence--very noticeable to commuters at public transit hubs--will continue until the still-unclear facts from Boston emerge.

"Since yesterday afternoon, we have fully mobilized our resources to protect New Yorkers from any related threats that might emerge," he said. "The N.Y.P.D. quickly stepped up security at strategic locations and critical infrastructure, including our subways, ... as soon as we heard about the attacks. And we'll leave those measures in place until we learn more about what actually happened in Boston."

Pete King on Morning Joe. (Screengrab: MSNBC)

President Barack Obama may have been reluctant to use the term "terrorism" to describe yesterday's deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, but Long Island Rep. Pete King, who up until recently was Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, thinks there's no doubt.

"Clearly, this was a terrorist attack," Mr. King said on Morning Joe today. "You had the multiple explosions. You had someone who was able to penetrate security. Amateurs don't do that, so this was well-planned and coordinated. It was a terrorist attack. It's a question of who did it, ... it's too early to say. Obviously we have to consider whether it was Islamic jihad. It could also be white supremacist, it could be anti-government people."

Regardless of who committed the crime, Mr. King said, the bombing serves as a reminder of why security procedures are in place even when they're inconvenient.

"When people complain about being stopped at the airport, or they talk about too much security at events, that's why that security is there," he added. "Because of what happened yesterday."

Mr. King would later elaborate on this point in another MSNBC interview this morning, arguing that the New York Police Department's occasionally controversial surveillance policies should be a model for security efforts in other areas vulnerable to terrorism.

"If you're out in public, I don't believe you have the right to assume that anything is private. So that's why I believe [in] these cameras on street corners, the way they have in London, the way that they have in lower Manhattan in New York and they're working their way up through Midtown,"  he said. "I know it's a very, very effective tool that the N.Y.P.D. uses ... It's important to have intelligence, that's why I think what the N.Y.P.D. has done--going out to communities, monitoring areas where they think they can get intelligence--is absolutely vital."

And to critics who would disagree with Mr. King, the Republican congressman urged them to talk to the families of the victims, such as the 8-year-old boy who died in Boston yesterday.

"I would just say, ask the parents of that 8-year-old--I don't want to even get into it," he said. "Talk to people who have lost somebody in one of these terrorist incidents and say, 'Would you rather have your loved one dead or a camera on the telephone pole?' I think they'd say they'd take the camera on the telephone pole."

Morgan Gliedman (Photo: Facebook)

Occupy Wall Street doesn't want to be associated with the young West Village couple who were allegedly busted over the weekend with a houseful of explosives, weapons and a bomb-making guide. Morgan Gliedman, 27, and Aaron Greene, 31, were arrested Saturday after police reportedly found seven grams of highly explosive HMTD powder, a flare launcher, a shotgun, ammo, rifle magazines and instructions on making bombs, including a printout entitled "The Terrorist Encyclopedia," at their home. An early report from the New York Post identified Mr. Greene as an "Occupy Wall Street activist," but this afternoon the movement's public relations arm said there is no evidence to support links between Mr. Greene and Occupy.

"There is nothing in the news stories to support a link between OWS and the individual arrested; his name is unfamiliar to many OWS activists," the statement posted on the Occupy Wall Street Press Relations Working Group page said. "A very large number of people came through Zuccotti Park, and there are countless Occupy-related groups nationwide, so it is very difficult to ascertain if one person participated in anything related to OWS."

The Occupy Wall Street statement on the arrest of the young bombers described attempts to link the movement to the incident as part of an ongoing police smear campaign.

"Since its beginnings in September 2011, Occupy Wall Street has vigorously used its Constitutional rights to protest Wall Street greed, and is firmly committed to non-violence," said the statement. "Nonetheless, Occupy has been subjected to extensive surveillance and repression, and the NYPD takes every opportunity to link OWS to crime."

Back in July, Occupy Wall Street was publicly linked to a 2004 murder case after unnamed sources said DNA from the scene of the brutal killing of Juilliard student Sarah Fox matched a chain protesters used to hold open the entrance of a subway station to give free rides. The link was soon chalked up to a "laboratory error."

According to the Post, Mr. Greene was also a Harvard alum who also did graduate work at the university's Kennedy School of Government. Mr. Greene reportedly had "five prior run-ins with the police" on charges including assault and weapons possession.

Despite Mr. Greene's troubles with the law cops reportedly arrived at the couple's West Ninth Street home because Ms. Gliedman was wanted for credit card theft. The house is just two blocks from the street where three young activists affiliated with the Weathermen died in 1970 when a bomb exploded in their makeshift townhouse lab.

Politicker hasn't found any public materials linking either Mr. Greene or Ms. Gliebman to Occupy Wall Street. As of this writing, the NYPD has not responded to a request for comment about the couple's connection to the group.

More is known about the background of Ms. Gliedman, who is reportedly nine months pregnant, than the history of her male companion. Her father is Dr. Paul Gliedman, the director of radiation oncology at the Brooklyn Division of Beth Israel Hospital, and her mother is a real estate agent, Susyn Schops Gliedman. Ms. Gliedman graduated from Dalton in 2002. According to a Facebook page for "Morgan Gliedman" that was recently deleted, she went on to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A "Morgan Rose Gliedman" wrote for a monthly journal at that school, F Newsmagazine, in 2009. That January, she penned a piece for the paper with tips for "enjoying life as a starving artist."

Robert Gibbs (Photo: Wikipedia)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Obama administration has been criticized for offering evolving, confusing explanations for the cause of last month's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. However, current senior Obama campaign advisor and former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs thinks his successor in the press office handled the situation well. 

Politicker spotted Mr. Gibbs walking through the press filing room at tonight's presidential debate. We asked him for his take on White House Press Secretary Jay Carney's handling of the Libya attack.

"I think the press secretary's handled it well because he's told people what we know when we knew it," Mr. Gibbs said.

We wanted to ask Mr. Gibbs more about his thoughts on the White House's public statements after the incident, but he walked behind a curtain and an aide told the reporters who were accompanying him that we weren't permitted to follow.

"Guys, you can't come back here," she said.