Breaking: Regan: News Corp Big Told Me To Lie to Protect Rudy (Updated)

by: phillip anderson

Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 19:25:25 PM EST

Ex-Publisher Says News Corp. Official Wanted Her to Lie to Protect Giuliani

Judith Regan, the book publisher who was fired by the News Corporation last year, asserts in a lawsuit filed today that a senior executive at the media conglomerate encouraged her to mislead federal investigators about her relationship with Bernard B. Kerik during his bid to become homeland security secretary in late 2004.

The lawsuit asserts that the News Corporation executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik's mentor, who had appointed him New York City police commissioner and had recommended him for the federal post.

...

In the civil complaint filed in state court in Manhattan, Ms. Regan says the company has long sought to promote Mr. Giuliani's ambitions. But the lawsuit does not elaborate on that charge, or identify the executive who she alleged pressured her to mislead investigators, nor does it offer details or evidence to back up her claim.

...

"Defendants were well aware that Regan had a personal relationship with Kerik," the complaint says. "In fact, a senior executive in the News Corporation organization told Regan that he believed she had information about Kerik that, if disclosed, would harm Giuliani's presidential campaign. This executive advised Regan to lie to, and to withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik."

Any argument to the effect that Fox News is a credible journalistic enterprise are henceforth inoperative.

UPDATE: The Smoking Gun has the complaint. Here's a screenshot of the relevant passage:

Because Nothing Says "Help Me" Like a 16 Count Federal Indictment

by: phillip anderson

Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 15:07:47 PM EST

Bernie needs cash?

Maybe I'm just slow.

But I'm still a little confused about why Bernard Kerik needs money from me. The man lives in a mansion in New Jersey. He got that $4.4 million stock bonanza for sitting on the Taser board. ("DO Taser me, bro" for that kind of payday!)

Then again, after selling whatever dignity he ever had (as well as his office) he told his bribers, "I feel like I'm on Welfare."

My check is in the mail, Bernie...

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Bernie Kerik is NOT a "9/11 Hero"

by: phillip anderson

Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 13:00:23 PM EST

I don't watch much cable news. It's mostly annoying garbage. And I know that stupid stuff like this happens all the time. I mean, how often is it that FAUX News puts (D) behind the name of a child molester or misidentifies an inocent family as terrorists? Happens all the time. But this one is just beyond the pale and it feels like an insult. MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves.

There are literally thousands of people who can quite properly be described as "9/11 Hero." The disgraced Bernie Kerik is most assuredly not one of them.

Would Rudy Pardon Kerik? Rudy Won't Say

by: phillip anderson

Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 09:47:41 AM EST

Rudy Giuliani won't say if he'd pardon Kerik as President

Rudy Giuliani refused to say if he'd consider pardoning his old friend Bernie Kerik - who was indicted Thursday on federal corruption charges - if elected President.

"It wouldn't be fair to ask that question at this point," the Republican presidential hopeful said in an exclusive interview in Dubuque, Iowa, just hours before Kerik was indicted in New York.

"He may or may not be charged, he may or may not be convicted. Who knows what happens?"

As uncomfortable and hypothetical as the question may be, it's one of many tough queries Giuliani will face as his former police commissioner's case winds its way through the courts amid a white-hot presidential race.

As I've said many times before, if you liked the Bush years, you are absolutely gonna love Rudy.

Bye Bye, Bernie

by: phillip anderson

Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 21:58:07 PM EST

Ex-NYC Top Cop to Face Criminal Charges

Bernard Kerik, the police commissioner under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani who nearly became head of the Homeland Security Department, will surrender to authorities Friday to be arraigned on criminal charges, an official said Thursday.

The federal law enforcement official said prosecutors plan to announce the filing of an indictment against Kerik at a news conference Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

Prosecutors have been presenting evidence to a federal grand jury in White Plains for several months to consider charges against Kerik including tax evasion and corruption.

A second person familiar with the investigation, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, said Kerik will turn himself in Friday morning and be arraigned at noon in U.S. District Court. He would not disclose the specific charges.

No matter what the Rudy folks say, this one is going to hurt them and they damn sure know it.

Rudy's Old BFF Looking at Federal Indictments

by: phillip anderson

Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 17:12:04 PM EST

Federal prosecutors are scheduled to seek a grand jury indictment on Thursday of Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, on a list of charges that include tax fraud, corruption and conspiracy, according to people who have been briefed on the case.

The grand jury, sitting in Westchester, has been hearing evidence about Mr. Kerik for more than a year as part of a broad federal investigation into a variety of allegations, including his acceptance of $165,000 in renovations from a contractor who was seeking a city license.

If an indictment is voted up, as prosecutors are expected to request, it would remain sealed until Friday, when Mr. Kerik would be arraigned in United States District Court in White Plains.

Mr. Kerik served under former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, and questions about the former police commissioner and correction commissioner have been troublesome for Mr. Giuliani's presidential campaign. There have been concerns about lapses in the vetting of his background when Mr. Kerik was named police commissioner.

Lawyers for Mr. Kerik had been fighting a last-ditch effort to avoid charges, and Mr. Giuliani has said he was not concerned about how such a case might affect his campaign. On Saturday, The Times reported that Mr. Giuliani has tried to shield himself from accusations that he had been too loyal to Mr. Kerik and ignored Mr. Kerik's failings. This week, Mr. Giuliani said that Mr. Kerik's crime-fighting successes outweighed his legal problems.

Don't for a second believe that "we're not concerned" nonsense from the Giuliani camp. They are very concerned and they should be.

Oh, Rudy! Kerik "Likely To Be Charged With Several Felonies"

by: phillip anderson

Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 13:21:50 PM EDT

Ex-Partner Of Giuliani May Face Charges
Kerik Counts Said To Include Deception During Cabinet Bid

Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies, including tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wiretapping.

Kerik's indictment could set the stage for a courtroom battle that would draw attention to Kerik's extensive business and political dealings with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who personally recommended him to President Bush for the Cabinet. Giuliani, the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination according to most polls, later called the recommendation a mistake.

...

During a recent meeting, federal prosecutors told Kerik's attorneys that they are preparing to charge Kerik with filing false information to the government when Bush nominated him to the Cabinet, according to the legal sources.

Prosecutors are also prepared to charge Kerik with violating federal tax laws, alleging that he did not declare on his tax returns gifts he received while serving as New York's corrections commissioner, including costly renovations to an apartment he had bought, the sources said. The FBI is investigating loans Kerik received while he was in private business with Giuliani, the sources said, as well as information Kerik had omitted from a mortgage application.

Heh. Like I've been saying to anyone who will listen lately, if you've loved the blatant cronyism, loyalty over competence, outright lawlessness of the Bush administration, you'l just love a Rudy presidency.

Bernie finds himself in hot water for "Pirr-ogate"on the flip...

Body blow

by: Bouldin

Fri Mar 30, 2007 at 13:34:53 PM EDT

Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik's relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik's appointment as New York City police commissioner, according to court records.

Mr. Giuliani, testifying last year under oath before a Bronx grand jury investigating Mr. Kerik, said he had no memory of the briefing, but he did not dispute that it had taken place, according to a transcript of his testimony.

Kerik, if your memory isn't serving, is the sleaze who carried on an affair with Judith Regan in an apartment set aside for rescue workers overlooking Ground Zero. She later resigned as publisher of her eponymous imprint after making one anti-Semitic remark too many while trying to publish O.J. Simpson's If I did it memoir.

But back to Rudy Giuliani, Saint. Let's just say this: if you're told that the guy you're nominating for police commissioner has mob ties, you have several courses of action. None of these include forgetting about that little piece of information; that is, if you even extend him the benefit of the doubt on forgetting it while under oath in the first place. People forget dinner reservations, not being told that their nominee for police commissioner has mob ties.

(Cross-posted at The Daily Gotham)