GRAVEL FAILS IN BID TO MUZZLE PRO-CLINTON 527

Ultra-long-shot Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Gravel has failed in his bid to silence a so-called 527 organization formed by backers of Senator Clinton, the American Leadership Project. On Friday, a federal judge in Toledo, Ohio, rejected Mr. Gravel’s request for a temporary restraining order barring the group from running a television ad touting Mrs. Clinton’s record. In a seven-page ruling, Judge Jack Zouhary said the law required Mr. Gravel to take his complaints first to the Federal Election Commission. The judge said the former Alaska senator’s complaints that the commission lacks a quorum at the moment were no ground to excuse him from going through the process Congress established. “Plaintiff cannot avoid the FEC by taking a shortcut through the federal courts, even if Plaintiff believes the required statutory procedure will take him nowhere. Congress has made it clear where he must start his journey, and that is at the steps of the FEC, not the Toledo courthouse,” the judge wrote. The group formed earlier this month, and there were early reports that it was seeking to raise $10 million. It quickly posted a commercial-length video on the Web, but with two days to go before the critical Ohio and Texas primaries, American Leadership Project has yet to air a single ad. Mr. Gravel said the Web video “clearly” advocated Mrs. Clinton’s election. However, organizers of the group insisted that it was strictly about issues.

RICHARDSON SAYS TUESDAY IS ‘D-DAY’ FOR PRIMARY

A neutral former Democratic presidential contender is signaling he will have little patience with Senator Clinton if she decides to press forward with her campaign without decisive victories in Ohio and Texas tomorrow. “I just think that D-Day is Tuesday,” Governor Richardson of New Mexico, who has not endorsed either candidate, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Whoever has the most delegates after Tuesday should be the nominee.” Mr. Richardson is setting a high bar for Mrs. Clinton, who can cut into Senator Obama’s triple-digit delegate lead with a good day tomorrow but probably not overtake him. Two top Obama supporters, senators Kerry and Durbin, echoed Mr. Richardson yesterday, stepping up the pressure for Mrs. Clinton.

AIDE TO PRESIDENT CLINTON CLEARS RELEASE OF FIRST LADY RECORDS

A longtime aide to President Clinton, Bruce Lindsey, has finished his review of about 11,000 pages of schedules from Senator Clinton’s time as first lady, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton said yesterday. “We’ve given the records back over to the archives,” Mrs. Clinton’s communications director, Howard Wolfson, said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Our say in the process is over, and I assume that they will be releasing them very expeditiously.” Senator Obama’s campaign and conservative critics of Mrs. Clinton have complained that Mr. Clinton’s team was foot-dragging, but Mr. Lindsey asserted that the delay was chiefly due to short staffing at the National Archives, which runs the Clinton Library. Mr. Clinton was formally notified of the release January 31. After the issue was raised again at a debate last week, Mr. Lindsey issued a statement saying his review of the records could take up to 45 days.

OBAMA SAYS MUSLIM RUMORS ‘DELIBERATELY PERPETRATED’

Senator Obama said Internet rumors that he is a Muslim were part of a “confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated.” He made the comment while campaigning in Ohio in an effort to minimize any lingering concerns voters may have about his religious heritage. “I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. I pray to Jesus every night,” Mr. Obama said, according to the Associated Press.