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Geraldo Rivera defends Sean Penn over El Chapo interview

by Jesse Byrnes - 01/11/16 11:45 AM ET

"Sean Penn did the job of a journalist… I would have done it." @GeraldoRivera https://t.co/6z0wft42fy

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 11, 2016

Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera is defending Sean Penn for the actor and director’s controversial interview of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“He was being a journalist when he pursued this worldwide exclusive that we’re all talking about. Everybody was interested in the product,” Rivera said Monday on “Fox and Friends.”

{mosads}”Sean Penn did, I think, the job of a journalist. Like it or not, I really believe this was a huge scoop,” Rivera continued. “I would have done it.”

Penn sparked criticism with his interview, published by Rolling Stone online Saturday, which was conducted after the drug lord escaped a Mexican prison. Guzmán was captured Friday after escaping prison in July 2015.

Questions have also arisen surrounding Penn’s interview with one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, including one from journalists scrutinizing Guzmán’s editorial approval of the story.

Rivera sent a series of tweets on Sunday praising Penn for the interview and published an op-ed on Monday hailing Penn for his “public service” getting an interview that “took major balls.”

It’s not a crime or jerky to be a journalist. Remember @JohnMiller & fugitive #BinLaden? Bravo @SeanPenn & #RollingStone on #ElChapo scoop.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 10, 2016

Like #TeflonDon Gotti #ElChapoArrested because he longed for celebrity Now he must be extradited to spend life 6 stories underground in CO.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 10, 2016

Folks getting mad at Penn cause he got chummy w El Chapo Why?Penn wasnt acting as a journalist he was one risking alot to get huge exclusive

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 10, 2016

Mystifying how outraged so many are at @SeanPenn Is it because he’s a lefty? It certainly c/n be because he intv’d world’s most wanted man.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 11, 2016