Boss Tweed would be quite proud of the corruptive sludge being exposed in New York. We welcome our good friend Judith Regan to the Manhattan ethics' mess. And we herewith provide an informative background article in New York Lawyer by The Associated Press' Samuel Maull....MORE....
A source reports that an attorney ethics complaint by Judith Regan against attorney Rudolph Giuliani will soon emerge. And, says the source, the complaint is jammed with frightening allegations of gross ethical violations.
To the right, see the recently Amended federal complaint against the people in charge of upholding the ethics of attorneys from Manhattan and The Bronx, "Tammany Hall II - NY Ethics Scandal"
Think: whitewashing, cover up, no accountability, favors-for-cash, no oversight, and no ethics. Think: selling the public trust and positions of power. Think: New York, business as usual. It's time for a clean up of the corruption.
Stay tuned.....
Judith Regan, Who Signed Up OJ for "If I Did It," Sues Ex-Bosses for $100 Million
New York Lawyer
November 14, 2007
By Samuel Maull
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- One-time publishing powerhouse Judith Regan filed a $100 million lawsuit Tuesday saying her former employers asked her to lie to federal investigators about Bernard Kerik, the recently indicted former police commissioner who was once her lover, and tried to destroy her reputation.
Regan, who worked for HarperCollins Publishers LLC, said the smear campaign stems from her past intimate relationship with Kerik, who was police commissioner under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and from the political agenda of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the parent company of HarperCollins.
Regan, 54, says in court papers that News Corp.'s political agenda centers on Giuliani's presidential ambitions. It was Giuliani, a Republican, who appointed Kerik police commissioner and recommended him to President Bush as homeland security secretary.
Kerik had to withdraw his nomination after it was revealed he had not reported the wages he paid to a nanny. He pleaded not guilty Friday to a wide-ranging 16-count federal indictment charging him with conspiracy, corruption and tax evasion.
Regan says "it is now widely accepted" that one of Giuliani's vulnerabilities is the 52-year-old Kerik. Because of Regan's affair with Kerik, court papers say, a senior News Corp. executive told her he believed she had information about Kerik that could hurt Giuliani's campaign and she should lie to federal investigators.
Court papers say another executive told Regan, a HarperCollins editor for 12 years, to withhold documents that were clearly relevant to the government's investigation of Kerik.
News Corp. spokesman Howard Rubenstein said, "The claims are preposterous."
Kerik, who married his current wife in 1998 and has two children with her, apparently began his affair with Regan in 2001 while writing "The Lost Son," in which he described being abandoned by his prostitute mother.
Regan's lawsuit says HarperCollins and News Corp. "knew they would be protecting Giuliani if they could preemptively discredit her."
In December 2006, court papers say, Regan was fired with more than two years left on her contract. The defendants said she had made anti-Semitic remarks while talking to an in-house HarperCollins lawyer, Mark Jackson, according to her court papers.
"This charge was completely fabricated," the documents say in bold print.
They say a temporary secretary who set up the Dec. 15, 2006, call and remained on the line confirmed that Regan never made any such comments.
"Defendants knew their allegations of anti-Semitic comments were false and they were manufactured to create a pretext for Regan's termination and further undermine her credibility," Regan's court papers say.
Regan's lawsuit says the statements were defamatory "because they injure Regan's professional name and reputation by charging her with making anti-Semitic comments, by implying that she is deceitful, unethical and without integrity."
Regan was fired less than a month after Murdoch canceled her plans to publish O.J. Simpson's hypothetical murder confession, "If I Did It," a book and Fox television interview that was greeted with widespread public outrage.
Regan's ReganBooks imprint at HarperCollins published a long list of racy best-sellers, including Jose Canseco's "Juiced" and Jenna Jameson's "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star." She has often complained that her more literary side has been overlooked, pointing out that she has published books by Wally Lamb, Douglas Coupland and National Book Award finalist Jess Walter.
I am a descendent of William M. Tweed, who you so negatively refer to as “Boss” Tweed. I resent the suggestion that he would “blush” at the current state of corruption in New York. Our family is quite proud of the fact that he headed Tammany Hall in the late 1800’s, and which stole between $75 million and $200 million from the public.
ReplyDeleteIf not for William Tweed, we would not have had such a movement of reform in New York, indeed- in U.S., politics. (I note that then-special prosecutor Sam Tilden forgot to mention that fact years ago, instead choosing to focus on the bookkeeping error where William overcharged the city $11 million on a $400,000. building project.)
Our family fondly credits William Tweed as the first true New York political boss who, through extortion and threats, masterfully manipulated and controlled judges, public employees and the system. From where else, but William Tweed, do you think today’s thugs, er-people, now get their lead?
Please, let’s give credit where credit is due. Indeed, William Tweed would be proud of the rampant corruption that currently exists in New York court.
He would be proud that NY gave a federally convicted felon back his law license, and the person who took over for that person, Top Judge Kaye should be honored to be compared to the likes of William Tweed, may he rest in peace.
Long live Tammany Hall. I, for one, welcome, Tammany Hall 2, and with fond memories.
Bessie Tweed
The more things change the more they are the same. It's the same old corruption no matter how you cut it.
ReplyDeleteTime for the feds to step up to the plate. Yes, it's that bad. Pirro, Kerik and Rudy ruled by bullying and selectively enforcing the law-- and that's wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnd boy, did these 3 ever profit from their wrongs against the public-- looking the other way for friends or the paying, etc.
Yes, Washington, we have a problem.
How could they violate ethics, they don't even know how to spell the word ETHICS or must less know what it means!
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea what kind of can of worms is involved here. I'll give you a hint, with a question. When was the last time you heard of a nyc based ausa or ada being disciplined for an ethics violation ?
ReplyDelete... not in recent memory, huh. And though most NYC ausa and ada people are really good and ethical, there are some who got away with crimes because a phone call was placed to deep-six any complaints made at the DDC.
I know, I saw some of those phone calls being made.
I filed complaints against several attorneys (one a former Judge) including 2 staff attorneys in the Westchester Surrogates' Court, Jody Keltz and Charles Scott. I have proof that I filed, but the Ethics Committee could never find the copies. I provide 3 additional copies at various times and then waited, I'm still waiting. Called the Ethics Offices and complained to Thomas Cahill, he told me there was no record - now I understand why. The fix was/is in and they (the Judges et al.) cover for one another, it's just one big protection society.
ReplyDeleteAn epidemic of corruption has engulfed the body politic and the Judiciary in NY State. Many lawyers and Judges know this and do nothing. What the silver bullet will be that will end it all is unknown at this time. But the time if fast approaching when it will end.
ReplyDeleteI love it. There's no better way to desribe the current OCA mess than by TAMMANY HALL Part 2.
ReplyDeleteHey, Mel, why don't you just save everyone's time and just plead guilty?!? Oh, wait. That would mean you telling the truth and being a big enough person to take what you deserve. Never mind, Mel.
ReplyDeleteA moment of silence - On this day in 1876 William Marcy "Boss" Tweed, the leader of New York City's corrupt Tamany Hall political organization, was delivered to authorities in New York City following his capture in Spain. Just so everyone knows, he become a powerful and revered figure in the New York City political machine in the late 1850's and had risen to the top position in the orgaization, which openly bought (purchased) votes, encouraged (and participated in) judicial corruption, extracted millions (in 1860 Dollars) from city contracts and dominated New York City politics, by the mid-1860's. After the exposure of embezzlement of city funds by the New York Times and other newspapers in 1871, every Tammany Hall member was voted out in the elections of that year. All the members of the Tweed Ring were later tried and sentenced to prison. Boss Tweed escaped from prison in 1875, it was alleged that guards and prison officials were bribed to permit the escape. However, he was returned to Sing Sing prison, where he died in 1878.
ReplyDeleteWe want to thank old Bill Marcy "Boss" Tweed for all that he has taught us. One of the many beautiful structures that he was responsible for is the Tweed Building immediately north of New York City Hall in lower Manhattan.
It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
What a bunch of Jokers? The joke will be on them shortly.
ReplyDeleteYours truly,
Bat out of Hell