TORONTO

Mayor Rob Ford punched back Tuesday at a Toronto Star story alleging he has a drinking problem and was booted out of the Garrison Ball last month over fears he was intoxicated.

He was supported by six members of the 2013 Garrison Ball organizing committee, including two co-chairs, who issued a signed letter confirming they did not ask the mayor to leave the event “for any reason” on Feb. 23.

Ford, meanwhile, came out swinging at the Star for asking about the alleged incident at City Hall Tuesday after he presented Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo with a key to the City of Toronto.

“Number one, it is an outright lie. It is the Toronto Star going after me again and again and again — they’re relentless, that’s fine. I’ll go head to head with the Toronto Star anytime,” Ford insisted. “Let’s just wait until the election and we’ll see what happens.”

A visibly agitated Ford accused those at the paper of being “pathological liars” making “lies after lies and lies.”

“Why don’t you take me to court? Let the courts decide,” Ford said.

The Star reported Tuesday that Ford was asked to leave last month’s Garrison Ball “because organizers were concerned he was impaired.”

Ford’s press secretary George Christopoulos later said “the mayor was never asked to leave the gala.”

In their open letter, six members of the ball’s organizing committee stressed they didn’t give Ford the boot.

“To my knowledge, no member of the event’s organizing committee, including (Councillor Paul Ainslie), directed the Mayor to leave the event that night,” the letter stated.

Ford attended the event with his two children and did not drive himself away from the gala that night, the Toronto Sun learned.

“He had a driver,” a source said.

The day after the ball, Ford did not appear on his weekly radio show as planned.

“The mayor is spending time with the kids today and his family,” Councillor Doug Ford said on the radio at that time. “(He) went to the Garrison Ball last night, I understand.”

In an interview Tuesday on CP24, Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Cooke encouraged Ford to take the newspaper to court if “he feels that our story is wrong and there is a slur on him.

“I expect his lawyers’ bills will be paid by the taxpayers ... We could defend this story. The story is correct. We stand by the story; it is airtight,” Cooke said.

Ainslie — a member of Ford’s executive committee — was the only politician who talked to the Star on the record about the Garrison Ball. He said he urged Ford’s chief of staff to “have the mayor leave the event.”

Ainslie wouldn’t speak publicly Tuesday, saying, “I don’t have time to scrum.”

Councillor Mike Del Grande accused Ainslie of being miffed because Ford didn't pick him to be budget chairman earlier this year.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay released a statement Tuesday confirming he chatted with Ford “briefly” at the event.

“He looked fine to me,” MacKay stated.

Councillor Joe Mihevc expressed dismay Ford’s ongoing fumbles were capturing the attention of the media and the city.

“This is not helpful ... I swing between frustrated and (thinking) the sideshow is irrelevant,” said Mihevc.

He added that with attention focused on Ford, issues such as homelessness and whether Toronto should host a casino fall off the public’s radar.

This latest alleged incident comes to light just a few weeks after former political rival Sarah Thomson accused Ford of being “intoxicated” at a Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee fundraiser. Thomson claimed Ford “grabbed my ass” and made an inappropriate remark on March 7. The mayor has denied those allegations.