Thanks to Woodward, Bernstein and Deep Throat, the first rule of investigative journalism is “Follow The Money.”
The rule works for Muckety, too, especially when it comes to politics. Connections between politicians and their donors are always revealing.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map 
A case in point: A story by Michael Cooper and Leslie Wayne in Thursday’s New York Times. It focused on the wealthy Paul E. Singer, a hedge-fund founder and backer of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid.
“While he has been a major donor to Republican and conservative causes in recent years, (Singer) has largely managed to stay out of the limelight, even having his picture appear in newspapers,” the journalists wrote.
The Times solved the picture problem, essentially ambushing the recluse on a Manhattan Street.
In the photo, the trench-coated Singer looks a like a spy who is having his cover blown.
In the story, Cooper and Wayne trace Singer’s connections to a voter initiative in California.
If the initiative gets on the ballot and passes, the state will ditch its winner-take-all distribution. Rather, it would allot votes by the outcome in each congressional district.
The new system would favor a Republican candidate, who, while losing the state, would at least pick up some electoral votes in Republican districts.
Singer gave $175,000 to Take Initiative America, the force behind the initiative. However, recent reports have said that the initiative effort may not succeed, in part, for lack of funding.
Singer has been a longtime supporter of Giuliani. He was the head of northeastern fund raising for the former mayor’s presidential campaign earlier this year. Reportedly, he raised $500,000.
He is now a senior policy adviser for the campaign.
But Singer says that he didn’t contribute money to the initiative drive on behalf of Giuliani.
Howard Dean, the Democratic Party chairman, doesn’t seem to believe Singer. He accused the financier of being involved in “a dirty trick aimed at stealing the White House. “
A graduate of the University of Rochester and Harvard Law School, Singer, 63, founded his hedge fund firm, Elliott Associates, 30 years ago.
The multi-billion-dollar fund is controversial for its practice of buying the discounted debt of poor countries and then pressing hard for repayment.
Liberal bloggers consistently say that Singer is operating a “vulture fund.” Therefore, they say, Giuliani shouldn’t be taking Singer’s money. Singer, in turn, says that the countries can and should pay.
He gave $1.5 million in 2004 to the Progress for America Voter Fund, an advocacy group that supported the policies of President Bush.
Earlier this year, the group agreed to pay $750,000 in settlement of a complaint that it failed to register as a federal political committee and it accepted donations that were in violation of federal limits.
Singer serves on the board of the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Other board members including William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and Peggy Noonan, the author and former speechwriter for President Reagan.
He’s also a member of the board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and the board of Commentary Magazine.
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