Sure, our friend Judd Legum may be running as a Democrat for Delegate in District 30, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking any time off from being a political hack for hire:
Gov. Paterson has hired the man who was responsible for “negative research” on then-presidential candidate Barack Obama to dig up dirt on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is preparing to run for governor, The Post has learned.
Paterson’s campaign committee signed Maryland-based Judd Legum, research director for then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s bitterly fought presidential primary campaign against Obama in 2008, to a five-week contract earlier this month, with the understanding that he would “prepare a research book on Cuomo” and other potential candidates for governor, said a prominent Democratic Party activist.
“Legum is the guy who did a lot of the opposition research work on Obama, and now Paterson’s people are outsourcing that kind of work on Cuomo to him,” said the source, who demanded anonymity.
Legum, a friend of Paterson campaign spokeswoman and strategist Tracy Sefl, is being paid about $25,000 for the project, it was learned.
Legum confirmed that he had been hired by Paterson’s campaign but, when asked to describe his job, insisted, “I really can’t talk about that now,” and hung up the phone.
Repeated attempts to reach Legum for additional comment were unsuccessful.
Well isn’t that special? I wonder what the African-American Democratic primary voters, who just saw Zina Pierre thrown under the bus by the Democratic establishment, are going to think about the white lawyer whose job was to trash Barack Obama in the General Election.
I find it even more humorous that Legum has no comment when you consider the fact that Legum told Capital reporter Eric Hartley that he wants “people would know what I’m up to” in a Twitter interview.
Regardless of the ethical clouds that surround Judd Legum, the fact that of the matter is that he owes the people of District 30 and honest answer; is he going to try and be their delegate, or is he content to be a professional political hack. The people of District 30 want to know…