Concord, NH

Mitt Romney counter-attacked Rudy Giuliani on his judgment today. Much as Rudy questioned Mitt’s appointment of Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge Kathe Tuttman who released a convicted killer, without bail, who then allegedly killed a newlywed couple. Romney compared Rudy to Hillary Clintonsayin g the attack “was a very strange turn of events and suggests a level of desperation may be born out of the polls in New Hampshire.” Romney compared his appointment of Judge Tuttman to Rudy’s Bernie Kerik appointment saying, “He nominated a person who was a very close confidant, a god father to their, parent to their children. An individual he worked with for years. He’s under investigation and this record is a very different setting and one which certainly calls into question his judgment in making that selection and that is why it was such a strange thing for him to attack me.”

Giuliani not only questioned Romney’s judgment yesterday, but also his record on crime while he was the governor of Massachusetts. Romney hit back hard, “He has a real problem with facts. He’s now done this time and again making up facts that just happen to be wrong and facts are stubborn things. The truth of the matter is that during my administration. The F.B.I. crimes statistics showed violent crime was reduced in Massachusetts by 7 percent so he is wrong again on the facts. He needs to go back to school and look at the facts and add up the numbers properly.”

Romney also said Rudy would be the wrong course for the G.O.P comparing him to Clinton several times, “He is pro-choice like Hillary Clinton, he is in favor of civil unions like Hillary Clinton, he is in favor of sanctuary cities like Hillary Clinton and the record of ethical conduct, in this case Bernie Kerik reminds us very much of the administration that Hillary Clinton was part of in Washington.”

Romney added that when the Kerik indictment happened he didn’t attack Giuliani directly, “When the Bernie Kerik story came out I basically kept quiet on it. I said look I have no comment on it. It is sad and disappointing that Bernie Kerik has done this, but I didn’t make an attack on Mayor Giuliani.”
Giuliani responded by again attacking Romney on his crime record, but evading the Kerik question, “This whole appointment of a judge goes to a much bigger point-that governor Romney had a very poor record in dealing with murder and violent crime as governor and I think that’s not just an isolated situation.