Giuliani’s ‘Mafia family.’

Thinkprogress:

The close relationship between Rudy Giuliani and his former police commissioner, the disgraced Bernard Kerik, “raises questions” about Giuliani’s “ability to pick leaders” and his propensity to value loyalty above all else. The New York Times describes a meeting between the two men shortly after Giuliani became mayor of New York City:

Mr. Kerik followed Mr. Giuliani downstairs to a dimly lighted room. There waited Mr. Giuliani’s boyhood chum Peter J. Powers, who was first deputy mayor, and other aides. One by one, they pulled Mr. Kerik close and kissed his cheek.

“I wonder if he noticed how much becoming part of his team resembled becoming part of a mafia family,” Mr. Kerik wrote. “I was being made.”

Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card also noted that Giuliani was a “champion” of Kerik to be Homeland Security chief: “It wasn’t an arm-twisting session. It was more of a character reference.”