The Nation: Rudy & Bernie, BFF

[marmar]

RUDY & BERNIE, BFF...This week the Giuliani campaign will begin introducing voters to the pre-9/11 Rudy. We'll hear all about how Giuliani lowered crime, cut taxes, pushed out pornographers and saved New York City from itself. But conspicuously absent from this narrative will be the mayor's close friendship to former police chief Bernie Kerik.

The New York Times reported on Saturday how Giuliani repeatedly ignored warning signs about Kerik's checkered history. Before appointing him as the city's top cop, Giuliani was informed of Kerik's links to a mob-tied construction company. More than half of the mayor's cabinet opposed Kerik's appointment. Yet Giuliani steadfastly defended him. After leaving Gracie Mansion, Giuliani made Kerik a partner at his consulting firm. In 2004, he lobbied for Kerik to become the new Homeland Security czar.

By that time, a former warden under Kerik at Rikers Island had been indicted for coercing officers to work on Republican campaigns. Another top deputy had been sentenced for stealing $142,000 from a charity Kerik headed.

The nomination famously crashed and burned when the press uncovered Kerik's affairs, unpaid back taxes and ties to the mob. Giuliani claimed to have been blind-sided. The record now shows that he knew all along.


Posted by Ari Berman at 11/05/2007 @ 11:55am

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=248826