Wednesday, November 14, 2007

RUDY'S OTHER JUDITH WOES


Judith Regan Files $100 Million Suit Against HarperCollins, News Corp. AP ^ 111307
Posted on 11/13/2007 7:30:50 PM PST by Fred

NEW YORK -- One-time book publishing powerhouse Judith Regan filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against HarperCollins and News Corp. on Tuesday, saying her former employers tried to destroy her reputation and asked her to lie to federal investigators about Bernard Kerik, the recently indicted former police commissioner with whom she had an affair.

Ms. Regan, who worked for HarperCollins Publishers LLC, said the smear campaign stems from her past intimate relationship with Mr. Kerik, who was police commissioner under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and from the political agenda of News Corp., the parent company of HarperCollins. Ms. Regan, 54, says in court papers that News Corp.'s political agenda centers on Mr. Giuliani's presidential ambitions. It was Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, who appointed Mr. Kerik police commissioner and recommended him to President Bush for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Kerik had to withdraw his nomination after it was revealed he had not reported the wages he paid to a nanny. Ms. Regan says "it is now widely accepted" that one of Mr. Giuliani's vulnerabilities is the 52-year-old Mr. Kerik. Because of Ms. Regan's affair with Mr. Kerik, court papers say, a senior News Corp. executive told her he believed she had information about Mr. Kerik that could hurt Mr. Giuliani's campaign and she should lie to federal investigators.

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