The increasingly moribund Washington bureau of the New York Times is getting a huge new boost of fresh, creative energy as the Chicaco Tribune’s Jeff Zeleny joins the Times to “to cover the intersection of politics and money and to tackle investigative projects about political corruption,” according to Times DC bureau chief, Phil Taubman.

Zeleny’s political coverage of the 2004 presidential contest was always a must-read, and he brings some star power to match Anne Kornblut, now basically covering Team Hillary in the runup to ’08.

Here’s the press release from Taubman:

I’m pleased to let you know that Jeff Zeleny of The Chicago Tribune will be joining the bureau later this month to cover the intersection of politics and money and to tackle investigative projects about political corruption. Those of you who have competed with Jeff on political coverage in recent years know he is one of the most enterprising, skilled reporters in Washington, as well as a fine writer. If you don’t know Jeff or his work, take a look at his lively, revealing coverage of Senator Barack Obama.

Jeff has been The Trib’s national political correspondent since 2001. Before that, he was a general assignment reporter. He was a member of The Trib team that won the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism for documenting gridlock in the nation’s air traffic system. Jeff, a Nebraska native, started his career at The Des Moines Register.

The multi-front pressure Clinton Administration forces have placed on ABC-TV regarding the pending “docu-drama” surrounding the run-up to 9/11 is paying off, with ABC now on the defensive and production consultant Tom Kean positioning himself as an advocate for script and scene edits.

Howie Kurtz’s article in the Washington Post this morning makes it appear as though the Clinton people won’t be satisfied until the program is moved off of network television and on to cable — like CBS did with it’s Reagan docu-drama — or even killed outright.

Despite the weak, anemic and generally incompetent foreign policy foreign policy record of the Clinton Administration, ABC clumsily opened the door to criticism by essentially admitting some scenes were “dramatized” and not factual.

With the program to be aired so close to a critical election, it seems foolish to have even moved forward with this program in the first place — especially when the 9/11 Commission itself is being used to legitimize the program.

Look for more pressure on ABC to cave further, and for Bob Iger to take even more heat.

Bottom line: the Clinton forces have shown themselves quite effective in shaping the nature of the ABC program as a fraud, even though it’s not.

Even Bill Bennett is saying on CNN this morning that ABC needs to correct the record, the scenes, and the nature of the program.

“If you want to make a case against the Clinton Administration, fine, but do so on facts.”

Agreed.

Today’s Jonathan Hicks/Pat Healy New York Times follow-up to Wayne Barrett’s Village Voice investigative piece regarding Andrew Cuomo’s ties to a controversial businessman, Andrew Farkas, is striking in that it demonstrates the extent to which Cuomo and his supporters worked to postpone the Voice’s publication of the story until after the Democratic primary.

Putting aside the actual story itself, which has planted the seeds for a damaging series of legit follow-up print and TV stories at the worst possible time for Cuomo, one gets the sense Andy Cuomo is quite prepared to have an ethics dual with Jeanine Pirro, but unprepared to handle this bad press with Mark Green’s campaign still on life support.

Beyond the standard attempt to douse the flames of Barrett’s findings with a diversionary news conference focusing upon endorsements of marginal news value, the stalling moves by Cuomo and his lawyer, reported in today’s Times piece, shows how desperate Cuomo was to push the story back until the hoped-for general election against Pirro.

Beyond the standard libel letter sent to the Voice in hope of delaying publication, the fact Cuomo spent two hours on the phone with Barrett, reported in today’s NYT piece, is remarkable.

Whatever one thinks of Wayne Barrett, he is the last reporter anyone, anywhere, would want to spend two hours on the phone with. That must have been some conversation – and one should be curious how much was on the record, on background and off the record; a very dangerous call which shows just how concerned Cuomo really is.

At the diversionary City Hall news conference yesterday to lay out the endorsements, the Times reported “Mr. Cuomo sidestepped reporters’ questions about his relationship with Mr. Farkas, saying first that he had not read the article and then saying that it described that relationship incorrectly.”

That type of obfuscation will work for a news cycle or two, but the Cuomo body language and gut feel one gets today is that the wolf pack is getting ready to shred its quarry, and that Cuomo and his people need to have their A game to beat back the story, change the subject – whatever. And they should not underestimate and simply discount Pirro, despite her problems, who is the only major statewide GOP candidate with a shot in November.

While Mark Green is clearly and obviously a beneficiary of this development and turn in the race, so is Pirro, for now.