Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Challenging The Rudy Giuliani 9/11 Hero Myth

Why are you being so kind to the reasonably intelligent when there is obviously a lack of reason to their said intellect?

JeffH in Occupied TX

Did Giuliani Partners' Biz Deal with Dossier Gatherers Break the Law?

December 13, 2007
By Sarah Lai Stirland

Time magazine has a story that scrutinizes Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani's dodgy business relationships.

In particular, the piece focuses on the way Giuliani Partners made money from client Seisint. Long time THREAT LEVEL readers will remember this company as the one that compiled massive dossiers on individuals who were classified as terrorism suspects -- even if they didn't have prior criminal records. Access to the databases was sold to federal and state law enforcement officials who were participating in an information-sharing program called the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange program, otherwise known as Matrix.

The program has since died because of its controversial nature, but the Time piece focuses on the way Giuliani Partners was paid.

Here's the key paragraph:

But the Seisint deal wasn't as perfect as it seemed. One problem: the payment of percentages or commissions to "solicit or secure" government contracts is prohibited by federal law and laws of some states. Tom Susman, ethics chairman of the American League of Lobbyists, says the bar on commissions is intended to eliminate incentives for middlemen to bend the rules to land a contract. A GP official who refused to be named insists that the firm never received "commissions" from Seisint — despite what Brauser and Latham remember and despite the fact that payments to GP are labeled "commissions" in both the minutes of a Seisint board meeting and a key financial statement. Instead, says the official, GP earned "special bonuses" based on the achievement of corporate "milestones."

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/12/did-giuliani-pa.html

Any Democratic Candidate would be roasted in the media for this, until he/she had to withdraw from the race.

In Rudy's case it will be forgotten by Sunday.

yes

GIULIANI Lies About His Record & His "Good" Judgment, Again

MR. RUSSERT: But that was for policeman commissioner. When you recommended to the president of the United States in 2004 that Bernard Kerik be the secretary of homeland security...

MR. GIULIANI: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: ...the number one position in this country to fight terrorism, you knew at that time that Lawrence Ray had been indicted, had pleaded guilty. There was a lot of information available.

MR. RUSSERT: That’s a big misjudgment to make when you recommend someone to the president for that kind of a sensitive job.



The Office I Left Giuliani

By JOHN S. MARTIN Jr.
Published: December 17, 2007

ON “Meet the Press” a week ago, Rudolph W. Giuliani attempted to deflect criticism of his close relationship with his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, by saying that his misjudgment of Mr. Kerik had to be weighed against his other accomplishments. “How can I not have pretty good judgment about the people who work for me and not been able to turn around the United States attorney’s office?” he asked. But Mr. Giuliani’s claim to have turned around the Manhattan United States attorney’s office is not only untrue, it is an insult to the outstanding men and women who have served in that office over the last 50 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/opinion/17martin.html

Giuliani’s Cheney-like penchant for secrecy

When it comes to secrecy, it’s hard to match Dick Cheney. Man-size safes, used elsewhere in government for classified secrets, store the workaday business in Cheney’s office. No one is allowed to know who works in his office. The VP has even created his own classified designation for all of his documents — materials are stamped “Treated As: Top Secret/SCI” — including mundane papers like talking points for reporters.

As far as we know, Rudy Giuliani isn’t quite that bad, but he’s certainly in the same league.

When a mayor of New York leaves office, little goes out the door but memories — unless he’s Rudy Giuliani. Government rules discourage the city’s most powerful officeholder from departing with more than token gifts collected on the job.

Ed Koch, mayor from 1978 to 1989, recalls keeping some neckties. His successor, David Dinkins, walked away with knickknacks from his desk, including a crystal tennis ball and a collection of photographs documenting his meetings with celebrities and business icons.

When Giuliani stepped down, he needed a warehouse.

Under an unprecedented agreement that didn’t become public until after he left office, Giuliani secreted out of City Hall the written, photographic and electronic record of his eight years in office — more than 2,000 boxes. (emphasis added)

At a recent debate, Giuliani boasted that his mayoral administration reached the pinnacle of transparency: “I can’t think of a public figure that’s had a more transparent life than I’ve had.”

The reality, of course, is the complete opposite. He not only left office with thousands of boxes of documents Giuliani didn’t want to go public, but he also quietly secured the materials of his deputy mayors, his chief of staff, his travel office and his official residence. While in office, Giuliani sought to limit public access to information on such mundane matters as working water fountains in city parks and the city’s recycling program.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14041.html

9/11 turns against Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani has not had a good month. He’s slipped in the polls, the wisdom of his multi-state strategy has been called into question, and he could use a decent showing in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. But Saturday, a couple of men who were injured in the World Trade Center's collapse are hoping to undercut his Republican presidential bid.

The pair plan to show up at the GOP candidate debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., to protest what they say is the former New York City mayor's lack of concern for some of those who developed chronic illnesses as a result of breathing tainted air in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Giuliani has made his response to the 2001 terrorist assault on New York the centerpiece of his campaign. But at least two other groups representing some of those involved in 9/11 rescue and cleanup efforts are working against him, claiming either that Giuliani’s mistakes contributed to the disaster or that he has used the tragedy to enrich himself.

One, 9/11 Firefighters and Families, is setting up a political committee to launch attacks and has already campaigned against him in New Hampshire. Another, the International Assn. of Firefighters, has made its own video urging members to oppose his candidacy.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/01/giuliani-to-enc.html

Memo Details Objections to Command Center Site

By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: January 26, 2008

The New York Police Department produced a detailed analysis in 1998 opposing plans by the city to locate its emergency command center at the World Trade Center, but the Giuliani administration overrode those objections. The command center later collapsed from damage in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

“Seven World Trade Center is a poor choice for the site of a crucial command center for the top leadership of the City of New York,” a panel of police experts, which was aided by the Secret Service, concluded in a confidential Police Department memorandum.

Mr. Giuliani’s campaign declined on Friday to answer questions about the memo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/us/politics/26emergency.html


Who can forget Bush failing to heed the memo that read BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN UNITED STATES? (He was on vacation the summer of 2001; he couldn't be bothered.)

Giuliani and Bush have so much in common. They ignore important memos. They're for occupying other nations that pose no threat.

And they are turning America into a police state.

There is something to be said for the idea that an emergency command center should be outside or at least on the edge of an the area to be controlled. This is rather like the rationale for storing off-site computer backups: If there is a disaster in the area in question, then the command center will probably remain intact and functional. If instead the disaster occurs right around the command center, then the normal means of control will probably be undamaged.

The stupidest move you could make would place the emergency command center right in the middle of the highest profile target in the city, in fact a location that was already attacked by terrorists for its symbolic value!