Oct 5, 2006 7:51 pm US/Eastern
Pirro Financial Statements Cause Quite A Stir
Shows Numerous Holdings, Interests And Properties
WHITE PLAINS (AP) ―
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Jeanine Pirro defended herself at a news conference on Wednesday. (AP)
AP
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Al Pirro's problems with the law have haunted his wife's career.
Republican state attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro and her husband owned several properties and made numerous stock investments when she was Westchester County district attorney, newly released financial disclosure statements show. One of those properties is a waterfront development and marina, where a boat at the heart of a federal investigation into Pirro's activities is docked.
The heavily redacted financial statements covering 1998 to 2004 were released to reporters Thursday, after county officials confirmed they had been subpoenaed by prosecutors as part of a federal probe of Pirro's activities. Pirro served three terms as district attorney, from 1994 to January 2006.
State law protects public officials' personal financial data from being publicly released, so almost no dollar figures appear in the reports except for Pirro's yearly salary from Westchester County. But taken together, the statements provide a glimpse into the Pirros' numerous holdings, business interests and properties.
Pirro is being investigated over whether she broke federal law in 2005 by plotting to eavesdrop on her husband, Albert Pirro, who she believed was having an affair. She has acknowledged seeking help from former New York police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to plant a bug on the family's boat but said she never went through with the scheme.
Last week, Pirro insisted that all the actions she had considered taking against her husband were legal. She's also denounced the probe as politically motivated and is seeking a special prosecutor to intervene.
Federal officials declined to comment on what specific information they are seeking in the financial disclosure statements. But it is believed prosecutors want to know which of the Pirros' properties are owned jointly and which belong only to Albert Pirro, in particular the Cristine, a 26-foot Sea Ray boat named after the couple's daughter.
Legal experts say the case against Jeanine Pirro may rest on determining who owns the boat. If the boat is joint marital property, Pirro may not have broken the law in plotting to plant the recording device. But if the boat belongs solely to Albert Pirro, she may be in greater legal jeopardy.
State records show the boat is registered to Albert Pirro. And Jeanine Pirro's 2002 financial disclosure filing indicates her husband bought waterfront property including a marina that year in Rye, where he has begun developing as a small luxury enclave called Beechwind. The Cristine is docked at that marina.
Pirro's attorney, Paul Schechtman, said he believed prosecutors had subpoenaed the financial disclosure statements to determine ownership of the boat but said the matter was irrelevant to the case.
"It's in his name, and she has broad access to it," Schechtman said. "What's marital property is what's purchased in the marriage."
Jeanine Pirro's financial disclosures showed the couple owned properties across the country -- from offices in White Plains, Long Island and San Jose, Calif., to undeveloped property in Steuben County and in Florida.
Before Albert Pirro was convicted on federal tax evasion charges in 2000, he was an influential lawyer/lobbyist and real estate developer.
The records also show Jeanine Pirro made a range of stock investments, including Cisco Systems, Walt Disney and Honeywell. Separately, Albert Pirro owned Microsoft stock and several pharmaceutical investments.
Hints of Albert Pirro's tax problems also appear in the report. In her 1999 disclosure, Jeanine Pirro lists the Internal Revenue Service as a creditor but notes that the outstanding taxes were later paid in full. Her husband was convicted in 2000 of hiding $1.2 million in income from the IRS over nine years, claiming lavish personal items as business expenses.
The records indicate Jeanine Pirro ran a small jewelry making business for several years before dissolving it in 2003. She also received income for "To Punish and Protect," a book she penned on criminal justice released in 2003.
Pirro was not required to file a 2005 financial disclosure statement because she left office before February 2006, when the filing would have been required. She filed a 2005 statement to the state Ethics Commission when she became a candidate for state office.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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