Giuliani's Tenure: How did the Candidates Run Their Shops?
While there have been fifteen U.S. Senators in American history who became President, only Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy went directly to the White House from the Senate.
Americans seem to want to see some kind of executive/management ability in their president typically, and thus all politics and political affiliations aside, candidates like Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Bill Richardson, and Rudy Giuliani have something in their portfolio a bit different than those who vote but don't get the frills and problems of the buck stopping with them -- like Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul.
But for those who were governors or generals, the spotlight will then go to how did they actually perform as chief executives, and were there any shenanigans that raise serious doubts about competence, self-dealing, or blurry ambiguities that simply ought not to be there.
Ben Smith and Politico have discovered under a Freedom of Information Act inquiry some material exposing Rudy Giuliani's bureaucratic technique of hiding and/or billing travel and security expenses incurred during a marital affair within what appear to be inappropriate agencies in New York.
Read the whole article, but here's the core of what's at issue:
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.The documents, obtained by Politico under New York's Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.
At the time, the mayor's office refused to explain the accounting to city auditors, citing "security."
The Hamptons visits resulted in hotel, gas and other costs for Giuliani's New York Police Department security detail.
Giuliani's relationship with Nathan is old news now, and Giuliani regularly asks voters on the campaign trail to forgive his "mistakes."
It's also impossible to know whether the purpose of all the Hamptons trips was to see Nathan. A Giuliani spokeswoman declined to discuss any aspect of this story, which was explained in detail to her earlier this week.
But the practice of transferring the travel expenses of Giuliani's security detail to the accounts of obscure mayoral offices has never been brought to light, despite behind-the-scenes criticism from the city comptroller weeks after Giuliani left office.
The expenses first surfaced as Giuliani's two terms as mayor of New York drew to a close in 2001, when a city auditor stumbled across something unusual: $34,000 worth of travel expenses buried in the accounts of the New York City Loft Board.
When the city's fiscal monitor asked for an explanation, Giuliani's aides refused, citing "security," said Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for the city comptroller.
But American Express bills and travel documents obtained by Politico suggest another reason City Hall may have considered the documents sensitive: They detail three summers of visits to Southampton, the Long Island town where Nathan had an apartment.
Auditors "were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes," City Comptroller William Thompson wrote of the expenses from fiscal year 2000, which covers parts of 1999 and 2000.
The letter, whose existence has not been previously reported, was also obtained under the Freedom of Information Law.
I maintain my view that Romney would be a more formidable candidate for any of the Dems than Giuliani -- though a good number of Dems disagree with me.
However, I think that these kinds of shenanigans during Giuliani's term would help fill in the long, tedious months between February 6, 2008 and election day.
-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note
I wonder what Patrick Dorismond, Amadou Diallo, Gideon Bush, Dante Johnson, Nathaniel Green and Malcom Ferguson would think of Rudy's economic escapades? Oh, right, I forgot, they're dead.
/c
In the blogosphere every one is an expert, so no one is an expert.
November 28, 2007 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank God Giuliani is the law and order candidate.
November 28, 2007 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This comment is very much on point. Who cares about scandalous expense account stuff when you have a police department going around murdering innocent people?
Often, as with W Bush, and Giuliani -- what is most noxious about some key figures as dangerous demagogues is hidden in plain sight.
November 28, 2007 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I maintain my view that Romney would be a more formidable candidate for any of the Dems than Giuliani -- though a good number of Dems disagree with me. Steve Clemons
Justin Raimondo agrees -- but then, he's definitely not a Democrat.
November 28, 2007 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
The first impulse of our court stenographers over at the New York Times and the Washington Post seems to be to bury the Politico's investigation of Giuliani. So much for the theory that if a scandal includes sex and/or money the media cares.
So now, although we're not only in Day 2 of this (potential) scandal, we're also in Act II, wherein we discover if anyone feels it's in his (or her) interest to keep this story alive...and whether he or she has the wherewithal to do so.
If I were in the Giuliani camp, I'd be very nervous, but I'd still be putting my money on laying low and having this just blow over (in part because there's really nothing else to bet on at this point).
November 29, 2007 2:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Judith Nathan expenses don't seem to fit well with the sub head: How did the candidates run their shop?
I'm reminded of the attacks on Bert Lance for having benefited in equally trivial ways from the bank which he ran. And David Brinkley after reading some of them aloud ending, dryly, "And he even used the bank's pick up truck".
Unfortunately neither Rudy, Hillary, Bill nor you and I are saints. They and we all do bad things and should be criticized if those bad things are meaningful.$20K of Judy Nathan's expenses being charged to the tax payers does not rise to that level.
(Personally I remain more impressed by Jimmy
Breslin's description of Rudy's use of the police as drivers for Judy and yet another mistress along with his use of the police radio controller to ensure their paths didn't cross. That humiliating treatment of the cops seems to me to be more significant than the
money spent on Judy.)
If what we are discussing really is how he ran the shop it's hypocritical to dodge his accomplishments. Putting aside the real but over discussed reduction in crime,I recall a New Yorker piece a few months into his administration about the immediate improvement in the ambulance response to 911 calls which as I remember was the result of his personal involvement.
And a later New Yorker piece on Nicholas Scopetta's dedication to his attempt to improve the child welfare system.
And we should be able to criticize him for the disgraceful lack of police and fire dept radio interoperability on 9/11 while also admitting that on the day itself he did himself credit. At his press conference that evening when asked his estimate of the total number of deaths and his answer:"More than we can bear". At that one moment I liked the guy.
If these sound like an endorsement of Rudy, forget about it. I despise the guy. But we owe it to ourself to admit the good things he did when he ran the shop . In part because being a rational adult means accepting complexity.And
pragmatically ,if we wish to have intellectual credibility when we argue against Rudy we need to be prepared to admit those things. Otherwise
people we are trying to convince will sense our bias and tune us out.
November 29, 2007 4:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Keith Olbermann aired a disturbing piece this evening about Rudy's post-9/11 business dealings with terrorist enablers. It can be viewed here.
November 29, 2007 5:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just to add to this...it's not just the overly aggressive behavior of the NYD during Rudy's tenure, but how he defended and justified its mistakes.
Take Patrick Dorismond, who was mistakenly gunned down on a street corner in daylight by a narcotics officer. No drugs were found, nor any connection with the drug dealer who was the target of the police on that corner.
These things happen. They are regrettable, sad and the police and the city needs to be accountable. What did the mayor do? He released Dorismond's juvi record to prove that Dorismond was no angel. When asked by the press corp if it was appropriate or legal to release a juvi record, which is sealed, Rudy said the law did not apply to Dorismond because he was dead.
I was struck by the subtle calculus and judgment required to measure a candidate's character in MJ Rosenberg's thread about choosing a candidate based on character the other day. Rudy makes this exercise too easy. There was a time when the ends justifying the means was seen as Soviet; which is to say the opposite of American.
/c
In the blogosphere every one is an expert, so no one is an expert.
November 29, 2007 6:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
flavius said:
I never heard that Breslin story but I did hear, probably 1,000 times, that Clinton used Arkansas State Troopers to procure women for him.
Liberal media my ass.
November 29, 2007 7:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
. . . admitting that on the day itself he did himself credit.
Actually, he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off once his love-nest -- otherwise known as the emergency-command center at 7 WTC -- was, due to some sort of "emergency," deemed inop. The result was no communication between the Chiefs of the Fire and Police Departments (Bernie Kerik's* only concern was the Mayor's safety) and so, while the police knew the building was coming down, the firemen never found out.
Don't believe Rudi's "Lies"!
* For the 102 minutes when the city most needed a police commissioner orchestrating an overall response with an embattled fire department, Kerik became Giuliani's body guard, just as he had been in the 1993 mayoral campaign. Village Voice 8/29/2006
November 29, 2007 7:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
jconorflynn said:
That's as cold as Bush ridiculing, to Tucker Carlson, the woman in Texas he allowed to be executed.
November 29, 2007 7:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
This kind of thing will be much more effective against Giuliani than a moutain of stories about love nests and petty corruption.
November 29, 2007 7:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, it's uglier than that.
Turns out the officer that Rudy was defending had a history of bad behavior including pulling his service revolver during a bar room brawl in Pennsylvania, and shooting his neighbor's dog with his service revolver because he felt the dog was menacing his son. Of course Rudy only released the officer's record in dribs and drabs and only after a media frenzie.
Here's a link from NYT -
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E3D6113AF932A15750C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3
/c
In the blogosphere every one is an expert, so no one is an expert.
November 29, 2007 8:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. That's so persuasive. Tell you what: Go ahead and fraud your employer for 20 k, and then explain how it 'doesn't rise' to that level.
Or steal 20 k from a bank, and later, sit back with the tellers and enjoy a good laugh because it doesn't rise to that level.
Or borrow 20 k from some drug dealers. I'm sure they won't miss it.
How about this. Sit on a jury for some poor welfare mom charged with defrauding the agency for 2 k. She'll do time.
Or maybe try some three time loser for busting a B&E for a 200 dollar stereo. He'll do time.
Or come down on some black kid selling a piece of rock for 20 dollars. He'll do time.
But 20 k just 'doesn't rise to that level'?
Uh huh.
But you're concerned about the humiliation to some cops for shlepping Rudy around to his assignations?
Mmm hmmm.
Flavius, ol pal, ol buddy, you told us more about yourself than we really needed or wanted to know.
November 29, 2007 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I admit it.I'm a bad person.
November 29, 2007 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Before you take the following as gospel you should know that I'm the source. I filed this at some point last year. When I attempted to
find it again today at Newsday , it reported it couldn't find the story so I goggled it and got my own post from some months ago.
Newsday 10/19/2000 Abstract of Jimmy Breslin's
column
This had one driver nervous. Some time back, he had been driving the girl friend, Judi, to Gracie Mansion and he pulled into the driveway with Judi the Girlfriend just as the car was pulling out with Donna Hanover, the Mayor's wife.
They had five units operating. One took the Mayor to Yankee Stadium. Another took his son to the stadium. The other car was supposed to take his girlfriend Judi to the Stadium where they would place her in a seat belonging to some big corporation. There was a fourth car, driven by Wrong Way and holding another girlfriend of the Mayor's. He had picked her up somewhere in the 30s. She is know as the Other Girl. They had a corporation seat for her, too.
"Just the other day. Columbus Day. When we came up to St. Patrick's, they whisk me away and the next thing I know I'm hiding on the side street while he goes up the steps to shake hands with the Archbishop. Why I couldn't go with him I don't know
Rated 4.5 by 2 users. see individual ratings
edit | reply | link |
November 29, 2007 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't say bad.
Just coming from a certain place that the rest of us might not relate to.
November 29, 2007 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
So he had security details accompanying him on trips to boff the mistress...what, is he going to start claiming that he's chanelling JFK now?
Republicans are people too.....mean, selfish, greedy people
November 30, 2007 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
and that's the Valdron I've come to know and luv.
Republicans are people too.....mean, selfish, greedy people
November 30, 2007 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Rudy's Foiled Love Nest Tryst"
www.ilovepoetry.com/viewpoem.asp?id=94014
Your tax dollars at work - and, at play?
December 3, 2007 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink