The Locus of Big Media, Crime, Cover-Ups, and Rudy Giuliani

Sounds like the makings of a major scandal.

Judith Regan, the book publisher who was fired by the News Corporation last year, asserts in a lawsuit filed today that a senior executive at the media conglomerate encouraged her to mislead federal investigators about her relationship with Bernard B. Kerik during his bid to become homeland security secretary in late 2004.

The lawsuit asserts that the News Corporation executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik’s mentor, who had appointed him New York City police commissioner and had recommended him for the federal post.

Ms. Regan makes the charge at the start of a 70-page filing that seeks $100 million in damages for what she says was a campaign to smear and discredit her by her bosses at HarperCollins and its parent company, the News Corporation, after her project to publish a book with O.J. Simpson was abandoned amid a storm of protest [...]

“Defendants were well aware that Regan had a personal relationship with Kerik,” the complaint says. “In fact, a senior executive in the News Corporation organization told Regan that he believed she had information about Kerik that, if disclosed, would harm Giuliani’s presidential campaign. This executive advised Regan to lie to, and to withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik.”

Will THIS get the attention of the traditional media? It has almost everything: sex, adultery, OJ, the Mob, 9/11 (the love nest where Kerik and Regan were getting it on was supposed to house Ground Zero rescue workers) and the 2008 race. Throw in a missing white girl and you've got it all!

This is only the latest in a series of actions that reinforce the belief that News Corp., the parent company of Fox, has their thumb on the scale for Giuliani. Roger Ailes worked for Giuliani prior to heading up Fox News. The network denied John McCain the use of their footage in TV ads, but said nothing about Giuliani's usage. News Corp. apparently got a $20 million dollar tax break from the Giuliani Administration for setting their offices and studios in Manhattan. Sean Hannity has appeared at Giuliani fundraisers. These are more than coincidences.

Regan's lawsuit is here. Get digging, traditional media types!