Questions for Giuliani

30 November 2007 |permalink | email article

One major scandal is apparently is not enough for former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Republican presidential candidate, as Bernard Keric, his former police commissioner, sidekick and uber loyalist awaits trial in 2008 after a 16-count federal indictment.

In a story first published Wednesday by the Web site Politico, Guiliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars for NYPD security expenses at a time when he was beginning an extramarital affair with his future wife in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.

The documents obtained by Politico show that the practice of transferring the travel expenses of Giuliani’s security detail to the offices of little known mayoral offices have never been brought to light, despite behind-the scenes criticism from the city controller weeks after the mayor left office.

Auditors “were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes,” City Controller William Thompson wrote of the expenses from fiscal 2000, which covers parts if 1999 and 2000.

In a 2002 letter to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Thompson wrote that his auditors “were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes,” and referred the matter to the Department of Investigations, which refused to comment yesterday.

CNN moderator Anderson Cooper, part of the so-called “best political team” on TV, asked Giuliani about the Politico story during Wednesday night’s televised debate in Florida and he vigorously denied the accusation.

“First of all, it’s not true. I had 24-hour security for the eight years I was mayor. I had nothing to do with the handling of their records, and they were handled, as far as I know, perfectly appropriately.”

Cooper, given a chance to pursue the accusation, never followed up and Giuliani skated into the night.

But late yesterday in a still developing story, a feisty Giuliani told ABC News the report was a “hit job. This was really done to focus on my personal life.”

Politico said the ex-mayor and his senior aides blamed anonymous bookkeepers for his administration’s practice of billing the travel expenses of his detail to obscure city agencies. 

This is controversy, with questions about his administrative management and widely publicized extramarital affair with a now third wife, that raises the bar on character and judgement for a presidential candidate. 

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