Giuliani: 'Should have known' about chief's problems

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik greet supporters during the 2002 Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Giuliani's recommendation of Kerik for secretary of homeland security backfired. Giuliani now maintains Kerik, facing possible bribery and obstruction of justice charges, was an excellent commissioner. Newsday photo.

by Tom Brune

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Rudy Giuliani on Friday offered his strongest defense yet of Bernard Kerik, his former close associate and top New York City cop now targeted in a federal criminal probe, calling him an "excellent police commissioner" and praising him for being courageous on Sept. 11, 2001.

Kerik is facing possible bribery and obstruction of justice charges as soon as next month. Giuliani rejected the idea those charges would harm his campaign and said on balance Kerik had done a good job.

Responding to questions at a news conference, Giuliani applied the same test to Kerik -- whose problems he apologized for not catching earlier -- that he applies to his own difficult family life: Do a public official's personal troubles affect his performance on the job?

"I mean the reality is, if we just look at Bernard Kerik's service as police commissioner, he was an excellent police commissioner," Giuliani said at a campaign stop in this key early primary state.

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Giuliani also tried to extend the aura and celebrity that he won for his performance on the day of the deadly terrorist attacks on New York City to Kerik, his handpicked protege.

"He was there on Sept. 11," Giuliani said. "He was heroic on Sept. 11."

Still, a Kerik indictment would put Giuliani's biggest personnel mistake back in the headlines just as the GOP primaries are heating up and Giuliani is trying to close the deal with skittish Republicans.

For Giuliani, Kerik completes a "trifecta" of political problems that pose serious obstacles to his hopes of winning the nomination, said political analyst Stu Rothenberg -- raising yet another question about Giuliani's judgment among Republicans already fretting over his moderate social positions and messy personal life.

And even if Giuliani won the nomination, any Kerik trial could stretch well into next year. Giuliani "wants to talk about Hillary Clinton and the war on terror, and if every day for a week, he's getting questions about Bernie Kerik ... that's obviously not what Rudy wants to be talking about," Rothenberg said.

Giuliani has admitted he made a mistake in recommending Kerik to President George W. Bush for homeland security chief in 2004. Kerik withdrew amid allegations of misconduct, a major embarrassment to Bush.

Giuliani argues that overall, the hundreds of people he appointed produced more successes than failures. And he hopes to convince voters that he'd do an even better job of picking people based on his mistakes with Kerik.

As for Kerik's problems, Giuliani said, "I take the responsibility that we should have known about them."

Craig Gordon of the Newsday Washington bureau contributed to this report.