October 12, 2007
Giuliani On Kerik: "It Was My Mistake"
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Rudy Giuliani took "full responsibility" for not properly vetting Bernard Kerik Friday, as news surfaced in New York City that the former mayor's police commissioner is likely to be indicted on federal bribery and tax evasion charges.
"I take the responsibility," Giuliani said at a press conference, where former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson announced his endorsement. "We should have known about [Kerik's problems.] We should have dealt with them. We didn't. It was my mistake. I made it. I am sorry for it. I've learned from it."
At the same time, Giuliani defended Kerik as an "excellent police commissioner" and said that on balance, his thousands of appointments were predominantly positive.
"But I think you have to look at the thousands of choices I've made of people, and you have to look at the results that I got," he said. "I must have been making the decisions about people mostly correctly, because I was able to reduce crime by 66 percent."
Giuliani said he would not comment on the specifics of Kerik's case. The New York Daily News reported Friday that federal prosecutors were planning to indict Kerik on charges of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice next month. Kerik's attorney's said Friday that they would meet with prosecutors before indictments came down. [MATT BERGER]
Posted at 05:06 PM
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