Mort Zuckerman pursued by terrorists for supporting Israel. Not

by on April 10, 2012 10
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I never heard this story before, but it's funny. Reporter Leonard Levitt, who's been chasing down the NYPD surveillance scandal, has come up with a document that confirms what he says is an old story: back in 2004, Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman got a NY Police Department Intelligence Division tail-- three officers assigned to follow him-- because "people were following him."

Terrorists, evidently. Levitt:

[Zuckerman's friend] NYPD Intelligence Division’s Deputy Commissioner David Cohen.. Cohen had Intelligence Division detectives tail the folks tailing Zuckerman.

Recently, NYPD Confidential obtained a document confirming this police favor to the billionaire publisher...

Zuckerman’s spokeswoman at the time justified the NYPD surveillance by suggesting that terrorists may have been following Mort, given his outspoken support for Israel....

As it turned out, Zuckerman’s pursuers had no connection to terrorism. They were two retired NYPD detectives, working for a local interest that has never been disclosed.

Police sources at the time offered two theories as to the identity of that interest: either a rival businessman or Zuckerman’s ex-wife, who was in the midst of her divorce from him.

Zuckerman did not return a call to his home, seeking comment.

(thanks to Justin Elliott's twitter feed):

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in American Jewish Community, Israel Lobby, Media, US Politics

{ 10 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Leper Colonialist says:
    April 10, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    Given the direction of the NY Daily News under Morty’s insipid and Likudist-centric ownership, i would suspect they were really disgruntled subscribers.

    Never though I would miss the red-baiting, commie-bashing NY Daily News of my youth, but…

  2. marc b. says:
    April 10, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Zuckerman’s ex-wife

    so it was a terrorist.

  3. CTuttle says:
    April 10, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    Do you suppose John Mclaughlin will ask his BFF Mort about it Friday…? ;-)

  4. DICKERSON3870 says:
    April 10, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    RE: “Zuckerman’s spokeswoman at the time justified the NYPD surveillance by suggesting that terrorists may have been following Mort, given his outspoken support for Israel…” ~ Leonard Levitt

    MY SNARK: What’s the frequency Kenneth Mortimer?

    P.S. AN EARLY SPRING NIGHT’S MUSICAL INTERLUDE, brought to you courtesy of the makers of new Ziocaine Xtreme®: It’s guaran-damn-teed to blow your effing mind!™

    “‘What’s the frequency, Kenneth?’ is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
    I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
    I thought I’d pegged you an idiot’s dream
    Tunnel vision from the outsider’s screen
    I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
    You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh…”
    ~ R.E.M., from the “Monster” CD, 1994

    R.E.M., What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? (Official Video) [04:02] – link to youtube.com

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      April 10, 2012 at 10:50 pm

      P.S. What’s the frequency Kenneth…Mortimer…Cheney…Bruce (Kovner)?

      SEE: George Soros’s Right-Wing Twin, by Philip Weiss, New York Magazine, 7/24/05
      Multibillionaire commodities king Bruce Kovner is the patron saint of the neoconservatives, the new Lincoln Center’s crucial Medici, owner of a vast Fifth Avenue mansion—and the most powerful New Yorker you’ve never heard of.

      (excerpt). . . Rumors befitting a Jewish Gatsby abound with [Bruce] Kovner. New York Supreme Court minutes indicate that at the same time she served her husband with divorce papers in January 1998, Sarah Peter produced the affidavit of an investigator. Then Kovner bought his giant bachelor pad, and as renovations dragged on for years, including the restoration of the correct historical mortar color and bronze shutter hardware, the Times printed a neighbor’s rumor that he was providing an entire floor for his beloved dogs—which may have come out of the counterculture-style name of the limited corporation that owns the building, Three Dogs.

      Some delay in construction might be laid to changes. In the year after 9/11, architects’ drawings filed with the Buildings Department were revised in one crucial respect. The big study on the fourth floor was now sheathed with “lead-lined plywood” and called a “CBR Room.” I Googled that acronym. Chemical Biological Radiation: a safe room against a dirty bomb. . .

      ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to nymag.com

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      April 10, 2012 at 11:42 pm

      P.P.S. “Mott the Hoople and the game of Life (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      Monopoly, Twenty-one, Checkers, and Chess (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      Let’s play Twister, let’s play Risk (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      See you heaven if you make the list (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
      ~
      Now, Andy did you hear about this one
      Tell me, are you locked in the punch
      Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby
      Are we losing touch
      If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
      If you believe there’s nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool. . .”
      ~ R.E.M., “Man on the Moon”, Automatic for the People CD, 1992
      Man On The Moon [Live In Dublin] (VIDEO, 06:05) – link to youtube.com

      P.P.P.S. Andy Kaufman: “I Trusted You” (VIDEO, 03:42) – link to youtube.com

  5. Nevada Ned says:
    April 11, 2012 at 9:22 am

    Let’s suppose that the people following Zuckerman were working for Zuckerman’s ex-wife.

    Then the investigators were hoping to gather information to support the famous “principal of distribution”:

    from each according to his ability

    to each according to HER need.

    Reference: somewhere in Philip Roth’s My Life as a Man

  6. MarkF says:
    April 11, 2012 at 9:30 am

    So Mort’s right. Ex-wife puts a tail on him ‘cus of his affair with mistress Israel. He just couldn’t quit her.

  7. Les says:
    April 11, 2012 at 11:10 am

    Once upon a time Newsday had great reporters like Leonard Levitt, Gail Collins, and Laurie Garrett. Now their news is all local including, I presume, those reporters who get a buyline in lieu of pay. Actual paid staffers do puff pieces that promote Cuomo and promote the notion that overpaid public employees, especially educators, are the cause of New York State’s pension problems and the explanation for high real estate taxes in Long Island. It is telling that Bloomberg’s and Kelly’s chosen Muslim hunter, David Cohen, was sigged on Zuckerman’s presumed enemies.

  8. Kathleen says:
    April 11, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    Using tax payers money to tail those tailing the tailed. Zuckerman has his spot at MSNBC’s Morning Joe all sewn up.