Roger Ailes' Sex-and-Lies Tale: There Is Something Different About Fox

If a television anchor were caught -- on tape! -- encouraging a colleague to lie to federal investigators in order to protect a high-profile friend, do you think he or she would still have a job? Probably not. But if you run a network and if it's Fox, well, then . . .

On Thursday, The New York Times broke one of those deliciously dishy New York political-media exposés involving bold-face names. According to legal papers filed in a civil suit, in 2004 Roger Ailes, the pugilistic head of Fox News, encouraged Judith Regan, a flashy publisher, to lie to federal investigators about an affair she had had with Bernard Kerik, the former NYC police chief nominated by George W. Bush to be the secretary of homeland security. Ailes' motive: to protect Rudolph Giuliani, a close pal of Ailes' and a mentor and supporter of Kerik. Giuliani was at that time looking toward a presidential run in 2008, and any scandal involving Kerik, his close associate, would be bad news for him.

In 2006, after she was fired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which owns Fox News, Regan (who had proposed publishing O.J. Simpson's hypothetical confession of the murder of his ex-wife) publicly claimed that a senior exec at News Corp. had asked her to lie about her affair with Kerik, who was married. (Reportedly, Kerik and Regan used an apartment near Ground Zero -- which had been donated for recovery and rescue workers -- as their love nest.) But Regan did not ID the News Corp. honcho who had encouraged her to hush up. In a lawsuit filed against News Corp. in 2007, Regan said this executive had told her that if she disclosed information about her tryst with Kerik, it "would harm Giuliani's presidential campaign."

There's more to this twisted tale -- including accusations of anti-Semitism, a $10.75 million settlement for Regan, a novel that portrayed baseball great Mickey Mantle as a lascivious drunk, and Kerik's indictment on tax fraud and other charges. (Kerik was sent to the slammer last year.) But let's keep the focus on Ailes. The Times scoop, based on legal filings in a case in which Regan's former lawyers are suing her for not paying them (oy!), reveals that Regan taped the phone call during which Ailes pushed her to lie to the feds about a sexual matter.

This tape is Ailes' blue dress.

more . . . http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/71-71/5094-sex-and-lies-fox-and-roger-ailes

... I'm pretty sure Mickey Mantle was a lacsivious drunk and I don't think even he denies it.

No shit.

I'm assuming some 'artistic license' was exercised (if you can call her schlock 'art,' that is).

especially in his later years.

country hick comes to the city, etc. etc.

Know your BFEE: Homeland Czar & Petro-Turd Bernie Kerik

Bottom Line: The Republican operative Ailes runs a criminal traitorous "news" network.

petty.

to federal investigators may be petty in the world you live in, but it's a freaking major story on my news spectrum.

I just wish the law could wrangle the more central figures in the BFEE instead of just harassing the peripherals.

And any subpoenas can just be blown off, as they have no force or effect. Just issue a statement through some press outlet that you don't intend to appear, and hey presto! it's all over with. I'm not sure if you can keep the witness and travel fee, but I'm sure Roger will try.