According to numerous stories, Howell Raines and Maureen Dowd had an affair early in his tenure as editor. He is said to have broken it off, but he still seems to be according her special treatment. When A. M. Rosenthal, former editor of The Times, complained that Dowd was making a fool of herself, Raines fired Rosenthal.
Presumbably the Sulzbergers approve of all this swinish behavior.