DOGGED REPORTER Adams(Photo: Getty Images)

Cindy Adams has made plenty of people squirm with her long-running New York Post column. But now the 76-year-old gossip maven is in sheer panic mode over a federal subpoena involving a controversial item she penned about "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

Also issued subpoenas: ABC's Brian Ross, involving Palfrey's client call list, and The Smoking Gun's Bill Bastone over an item the site posted on October 9 revealing the FBI's seizure of Palfrey's money. All are ordered to reveal their sources for the information (Ross is ordered to turn over the call list).

When a server attempted to deliver Adams's subpoena at work on Monday, Radar has learned, Adams hid behind building security. She has told acquaintances that she has never been issued a subpoena, adding that she "doesn't know what the hell this all means," a source says. She's also asked one of Rupert Murdoch's attorneys to help protect her from making a court appearance. The subpoena calls for her to appear for a deposition on October 5, just eight days from now.

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