Post Reports McFarland Accuses Clinton Team of Spying on Her; McFarland Says It Was All A Joke

More bad publicity today for KT McFarland, who has had her share of PR problems since stepping into the Senate race on the GOP side three weeks ago. McFarland has had to cope with revelations that she didn't vote in several general elections, questions about the accuracy of her resume and confusion over her stance on abortion. She was also the subject of a curious claim by her GOP opponent John Spencer, the former Yonkers mayor, that the Clintons put her up to running to hurt his cause.

Today the New York Post is running a story saying McFarland accused Clinton of "spying in her bedroom window and flying helicopters over her house in the Hamptons." The Post quoted a number of annonymous sources who said McFarland made the comments at a gathering of Suffolk County Republicans on Thursday. Suffolk County Republican Chairman Harry Withers, who hosted the event, is one of only two persons quoted by name in the article to confirm the statements. The other is McFarland's GOP opponent John Spencer. According to the Post, McFarland spokesman William O'Reilly said the comments were made as a joke and they elicited laughter. But, according to the Post's unnamed sources there was no laughter, just a kind of curious silence. A Clinton spokesman quoted by the Post, Howard Wolfson, denied there has been any spying going on.

The AP followed up with a report of its own which quoted a release from McFarland herself calling the comments a joke and its own quote from Spencer that the comments were made and no one found them funny.