Not good news for Rudy Giuliani's Presidential campaign, as if he needed any help in screwing up his own chances. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/pl_nm/crime_kerik_dc_6 Ex-Giuliani aide Kerik indicted on 14 counts 29 minutes ago NEW YORK, Nov 9 Reuters) - Former New York police commissioner and Rudy Giuliani protege Bernard Kerik was indicted on 14 federal counts including fraud, obstructing an FBI investigation and lying to the federal government, the U.S. attorney said on Friday. The charges, which could pose an embarrassment to Giuliani as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, had been expected after media reports that a grand jury returned the indictments on Thursday. Former New York mayor Giuliani is the front-runner to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidential election in November 2008, according to national opinion polls. New York television stations WABC and WNBC reported that Kerik had already surrendered to federal officials on Friday. A court hearing was scheduled for later in the day. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York called a news conference with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service later on Friday to announce the indictment at the courthouse in White Plains, just north of New York City, where the grand jury was investigating Kerik's finances and business dealings. Kerik, 52, and Giuliani were also business partners and, with Giuliani's backing, Kerik was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2004 to be secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik later withdrew his name from nomination after admitting he failed to pay taxes on a nanny and other embarrassing disclosures about his personal life surfaced. The indictment against Kerik charges him with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud in the theft of honest services; obstructing or impeding the administration of the FBI; aiding and assisting the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return; subscribing to false tax returns; false statements on a loan application; and false statements to the federal government. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Frances Kerry)
This is a very important thread that we must bump in order to rally anti-giuliani sentiment for the purposes of agitating basso and disrupting his important work here on the BBS.
Kerik Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Corruption Charges By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 9, 2007; 1:23 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110900442_pf.html WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 9 -- Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik was charged Friday with 16 counts of mail and tax fraud, corruption and lying on forms submitted as part of his nomination to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. A 29-page indictment released Friday morning accused Kerik of accepting more than $250,000 in free apartment renovations from a company with alleged ties to organized crime. The company hoped to have its reputation cleared by Kerik and to win city contracts in exchange for the renovations. Kerik, 52, wearing a navy pinstripe suit, red tie and U.S. flag lapel pin, pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment and was released on $500,000 bond. At a news conference here to announce the indictment, Michael J. Garcia, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that Kerik was "breaking the very laws he was sworn to uphold." The investigation of Kerik has focused on gifts he allegedly accepted while serving as New York City's corrections chief and later as police commissioner, including the apartment renovations in 1999. Last year, Kerik pleaded guilty to a New York state ethics charge in connection with the gifts and was placed on probation. Federal authorities pursued their own investigation, which also examined Kerik's conduct during his vetting to be the homeland security nominee in 2004. According to the indictment, Kerik over a six year period failed to report $500,000 in income to the IRS and falsely claimed tens of thousand of dollars in tax deductions. Prosecutors also allege that he made numerous false statements on his application to become Homeland Security secretary. Those include failing to disclose business dealings with several individuals allegedly tied to organized crime, as well as his employment of a nanny. If convicted on all counts, Kerik could be sentenced to as much as 142 years in jail, although Garcia said his actual penalty was unlikely to be that severe. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and current Republican presidential front-runner, declined to comment on the case Thursday. Giuliani selected Kerik, his former driver and bodyguard, as corrections commissioner in 1998 and police commissioner in 2000a meteoric rise for an officer whose highest rank in the police department was detective. Giuliani told reporters earlier that he made a "mistake" in failing to investigate Kerik's background, but also praised the former police commissioner, noting that crime in New York had decreased during Kerik's tenure. Garcia refused to answer any questions Friday about Kerik's relationship with Giuliani. Kerik's attorney, Kenneth Breen, declined to comment Thursday but has previously vowed to fight the charges. The indictment came a day after theSenate confirmed a longtime Giuliani friend and political ally, Michael B. Mukasey, as the next attorney general. Mukasey testified that he would recuse himself from issues directly affecting Giuliani, but he was not asked specifically about the Kerik case.
Haven't read the above articles but in case this isn't in there, Rudy has refused to rule out pardoning his old buddy if elected. Good thing he won't be elected.
Hopefully you are right..but i'm not liking the Hillary alternative either. Man this country is screwed.
Kerik’s Corruption Case Dogs Giuliani By MICHAEL COOPER and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/u...34881-f ct3T zbXaqZubGGR2Xqw&pagewanted=print AMES, Iowa, Nov. 8 — The scene outside the old Victorian-style courthouse in Dubuque on Thursday morning showed that the indictment of Bernard B. Kerik is at the very least a big distraction for Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign. The site had been chosen with care: Mr. Giuliani spoke across from the courthouse, which has a statue of Justice atop its golden cupola. With him were two former United States attorneys who were there to talk about Mr. Giuliani’s record as a corruption-busting federal prosecutor before he became mayor of New York. But the only federal corruption case that reporters asked about was the one being built against Mr. Kerik — his former driver, police commissioner, partner, and, briefly, choice to head the federal Department of Homeland Security. A grand jury on Thursday voted to charge Mr. Kerik, and he is expected to be arraigned on a sealed indictment at midday Friday in United States District Court in White Plains on corruption-related charges, according to people briefed on the case. So Mr. Giuliani said once again said that he had made “a mistake in not checking him out more carefully.” He pointed out the successes he had in New York. And almost lost in the mix was Mr. Giuliani’s effort to highlight a less well-known aspect of his own biography, and to talk up his new endorsement from Pat Robertson to Iowa voters. Of course, a trial during the heat of a presidential campaign could prove another challenge for his bid at a crucial time. Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Kenneth M. Breen, has said several times during the course of the investigation that his client intends to fight the charges. And while the timing of any trial is difficult to predict, several lawyers who practice in White Plains said that the case could reach trial in six months to a year — at the height of the political season. Several people with knowledge of the case said it was unlikely that Mr. Giuliani would be called as a witness at any possible trial. The grand jury voted to indict Mr. Kerik on conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and substantive counts of wire and mail fraud, under a statute often used in corruption cases, according to people briefed on the vote. The panel also voted to charge him with lying on a mortgage application and his homeland security application and with several counts of tax fraud. Democrats and rival campaigns are already looking at the indictment as a way to call Mr. Giuliani’s judgment into question, and to try to cloud his reputation in areas in which he is seen as strong: on fighting crime and corruption. That was apparent after Mr. Giuliani held a question-and-answer session with students here Thursday afternoon at Iowa State University: as the crowd left the hall, they were greeted by a man in a suit and a Giuliani mask holding aloft a sign that read “Free Bernie Kerik!” Dag Vega, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, questioned why Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, had made Mr. Kerik police commissioner, in light of growing evidence he had been briefed about Mr. Kerik’s connections to a company suspected of having mob ties. “Rudy Giuliani’s tough-on-crime mantra is laughable given that he promoted Bernard Kerik throughout his career while knowing about his ethical problems,” Mr. Vega said in a statement. Mr. Giuliani, for his part, said that he expects voters to look at his whole record — not just one mistake. “I think that voters should look at it,” Mr. Giuliani said at the morning event in Dubuque, when asked about the case. “And what they should say is in that particular case I pointed out that I made a mistake; I made a mistake in not clearing him effectively enough. I take the responsibility for that.” “But I think they can then look at the results that I had as a United States attorney,” he continued, “the results that I had as associate attorney general, and most importantly the results that I had as mayor, and say to themselves, ‘If he makes the same balance of right decisions and incorrect decisions as president, the country would be in pretty good shape.’” Mr. Giuliani added that he has “the benefit and the burden of having had a probably more extensive career, particularly public career, than any of the other people running.” “I’ve done more different things at a high level, and under a great deal of pressure,” Mr. Giuliani said. “So you’re going to have to look at the successes and the mistakes, and maybe this will be a healthy process for the American people.” He added, “I am not running as the perfect candidate.”
Our new Attorney General Mr. Mukasey's son (who's a lawyer) has been assigned the task by the Giuliani campaign to keep an eye on the Kerik "problem" and deflect anything that might get close to Rudy. That's the son of the republican AG of the DoJ deflecting bad news of the probable republican nominee for president.
Yes, I post articles... usually for their facts, not their opinions. I'll also post opinions if someone says what I'm thinking but they're a better writer... in which case I'll make it clear I agree with some or all of the piece. But I also write a number of extensive posts. I don't write cryptic little musings that allow me to imply something I don't have the courage to say myself. I don't write snippy little phrases that make it easy to run away from a position when I get called on it.
Keep up the good work, fellow liberals. This thread is really tossing a monkeywrench into basso's friday afternoon program. He is now way off message.
maybe because they are legitimate news stories from mainstream newspapers? would you like it better if we found someone who wrote a blog about that article and posted that instead? its funny that when i ask you why you only seem to post blogs instead of real news stories you ignore me, but you ask the same question when someone posts a mainstream news article. did you just not see my post and it is a coincidence or did 'the plagarist' strike again!!! http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=137416
