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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― In the latest twist in an ongoing political soap opera, state attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro on Wednesday angrily denounced a federal probe of her plan to secretly record her husband because she suspected he was having an affair.

At a packed news conference in Manhattan, a furious and at times tearful Pirro insisted she would not quit the race and blasted the investigation as politically motivated and sexist.

"There is no way, when I have the opportunity to be the first woman attorney general in the history of this state, that I'm going to be pushed out of a race because somebody wants to delve into the personal lives of my husband and myself," Pirro said. "I'm standing up for myself and standing up for women."

Pirro said FBI agents had confronted her outside her home late one night to inform her she was under investigation. She said she had hired an attorney to represent her in the case.

But she insisted that prosecutors had no business delving into her troubled union with lobbyist Albert Pirro, who spent 11 months in prison on tax fraud charges and fathered an illegitimate daughter after their wedding.

"Sometime last year, I came to believe that my husband was seeing another woman," Pirro said. "In the midst of matrimonial discord, I was angry and had him followed to see if what I suspected was true. Although I spoke about taping him, there was no taping by me of anyone. There was anger, and frustration, and disappointment."

Pirro, a former Westchester County district attorney once hailed as a rising star in Republican politics, has been plagued by missteps and drama since last fall, when she announced she would challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

At her televised campaign kickoff, Pirro lost a page of her announcement speech and stood silent for 32 seconds. Her momentum -- and fundraising -- never recovered, and she quit that race to run for attorney general instead.

Lately, Pirro has had to answer questions about her husband's repeated speeding violations.

Pirro noted Wednesday that one of the U.S. attorneys assigned to her case, Elliott B. Jacobson, had prosecuted her husband's tax evasion case seven years ago.

"This is personal and highly improper," she said, adding that she would demand an investigation into who leaked information about the case to reporters.

In a statement, Michael J. Garcia, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said his office was investigating Pirro for possible violations of a part of the U.S. Code relating to interception and disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communications.

Garcia declined to offer further details of the probe. But, he said, "we do not take politics into account in deciding either the subject matter or timing of our investigations."

Pirro spoke with Bernard Kerik, the disgraced ex-New York police commissioner, about possibly placing a recorder in a room to listen in on her husband, said two people familiar with the situation, who spoke to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity.

Pirro said Kerik was a friend and confirmed that they had spoken about her marital concerns. And while she said she had ultimately decided against recording her husband, she said none of the actions she'd contemplated taking was illegal.

"I was a very angry woman, and I said a lot of things," Pirro said. "What matters is what I did and didn't do, and I didn't do anything here other than vent."

She declined to speculate on what evidence of illegal behavior investigators may have against her.

Kerik, who was working as a private consultant when the conversation occurred, has his own problems. There were reports that during his 18-month tenure as police commissioner he had simultaneous extramarital affairs with two women, including the publisher of his memoir. And he pleaded guilty three months ago to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from a New Jersey firm accused of having mob connections.

Kerik lawyer Joseph Tacopina confirmed Kerik's role in the matter but said he had become involved through a long friendship with Pirro.

"Bernie spoke to a friend in distress regarding a domestic issue," Tacopina said. "Nothing illegal was said, and nothing illegal was done."

Pirro faces former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo in the attorney general's race. A Siena College poll released last week showed her trailing Cuomo, 53 percent to 36 percent.

A telephone call to Albert Pirro's White Plains office was not immediately returned Wednesday. A Cuomo spokeswoman, Wendy Katz, declined comment.

In a statement released late Wednesday, state GOP chairman Stephen Minarik said the party continued to support Pirro's candidacy.

"This is a political leak five weeks before the election," he said. "New Yorkers will see right through this."

Pirro, whose troubled relationship with her husband of 31 years has been a source of controversy throughout much of her public life, was unusually candid when she spoke of why she remained in the marriage. The couple have a 21-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son.

"My husband is a great father. I have two beautiful children in school, a teenage son, who needs his father with him," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "These are personal choices that I have made, and I shouldn't have to keep explaining them."

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)