Giuliani thinks his old client Murdoch couldn't possibly have condoned what FBI is investigating

Rupert Murdoch pimps the "news."
(Caricature by DonkeyHotey)

Rudy Giuliani, who is pondering whether the Republican Party needs him to rescue it from its sad sack collection of presidential candidates, said in a interview Thursday that Rupert Murdoch is being treated unfairly:

"Give people the presumption of innocence," Giuliani told CNN's Candy Crowley in New Hampshire on Thursday. "I think that just how high up it goes is a big question and one we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions about" ...

Giuliani maintained confidence in his longtime friend despite allegations that the News of the World tabloid may have hacked the phones of September 11, 2001, terror attack victims in New York City. Giuliani was mayor of the city at the time of the attacks.

"He's a very honorable, honest man," the former mayor said. "This can't be something that he would have anything to do with."

As Glenn Greenwald tweeted: "Rudy Guiliani defends the only person to have more effectively exploited and monetized 9/11 than he."

Okay. Sure. Innocent until proven guilty. So far, with the FBI investigation one day old, there could be a long way to go before anything definitively prosecutable is publicly announced. But, seriously, does the former mayor really expect anyone to believe that his long-time pal and business client didn't carefully create the "newsroom" culture that led to the scandal that brought down News of the World? Or the culture that infects Foxaganda? Does he expect anyone to believe that Murdoch wasn't in on this from the get-go? C'mon.

Murdoch has always been a hands-on micro-manager. Or rather, an up-to-his-elbows manager. He didn't know members of his team were bribing public officials? Hacking phones? Sheeeeeesh. Whatever else can be said about Giuliani, he's not naive. He knows perfectly well Murdoch is ethically capable of having commanded his minions to do whatever was necessary to gather the phone messages and emails of 9/11 victims, as has been alleged. International boundaries never were an obstacle to Murdoch's ambitions. Why would there be any difference between what his media teams did in England and what they did on this side of the Atlantic?

Honorable and honest? Puhleez. A half-point for alliteration, Mr. Mayor, but that's all I've got.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/gzmnnjAV0RM/-Giuliani-thinks-his-old-client-Murdoch-couldnt-possibly-have-condoned-what-FBI-is-investigating

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