Wash Post: Giuliani parlayed 9/11 fame into riches

[Poiuyt]

Just months after the terrorist attacks on New York City in September of 2001, "America's mayor" Rudolph Giuliani "took the first official step toward making himself rich," writes the Washington Post.

It was on December 7, 2001, three weeks before leaving office as mayor of New York City, that Giuliani sent a letter to the city's Conflicts of Interest Board asking permission to form a consulting firm.

The broadly defined company, Giuliani Parters, would bring in more than $100 million providing "management consulting service to governments and business" over the next 5 years, according to a Washington Post source.

snip -

Clients of Giuliani Partners are required to sign confidentiality agreements, so they do not comment about the work they receive or how much they are paying for it. Though now running for president, Giuliani refuses to identify his clients, disclose his compensation or reveal any details about Giuliani Partners. He also declined to be interviewed about the firm.

Because of this secrecy -- a request to visit his wood-paneled offices overlooking Times Square was turned down -- a complete picture of the firm and its business is difficult to obtain. This report is based on a review of corporate, government and court records, along with scores of interviews with clients and government officials who have interacted with Giuliani Partners.

more -

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Giuliani_parlayed_911_fame_into_riches_0513.html

[aquart]

1. Ooooh, Vote for MORE Secrecy, America.

That should go down well.

All our choices are good. All their choices suck.

[pretzel4gore]

2. child porn the biggest client of Guiliani Partners?

it's disgraceful (though the little bird who told me this might not be a good source, she was better then foxnews, which says 2 plus 2 equals alciada(!) or....whatever the busheviks said(?))

[no_hypocrisy]

3. All this makes sense from a Giuliani standpoint.

1. Secrecy
2. Raise as much money as possible for a future campaign so he will not beholden to interest groups or to sectors as a the religious right for funds.
3. Use facade of Giuliani as being calm and collected during a "crisis" as a selling point as opposed to a proven track record.
4. Start a business to gain access to corporations who in turn will donate to Giuliani's future campaign.

It's very Karl Rove.

[otohara]

4. Join The Crowd

of 911 and war profiteers. Does his consulting advice include putting terror offices in most vulnerable buildings?

[moodforaday]

8. If he only profited

I could live with it if he was only profiting, but check out the whole article - he has surrounded himself with criminals and his company works FOR criminals, openly.

[AlCzervik]

5. print worthy, here is the link to the whole article from Wapo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201270_pf.html

[moodforaday]

6. The real meat is further down

Forget the Rudy-in-drag pictures. This is the stuff that needs to be spread far and wide. Further down in the WaPo article:

In December 2002, Giuliani Partners agreed to a lucrative contract to represent Florida-based security startup Seisint Inc., created by a close friend, Hank Asher. Seisint's data-mining product -- code-named Matrix -- caught the attention of federal and state authorities after Sept. 11 because the firm said that by searching through billions of public records, it could identify potential terrorists.

But Asher harbored a secret: In the early 1980s, he had smuggled kilos of cocaine from Colombia into Florida aboard his private jet. Asher was never charged with a crime but disclosed his past to federal agents later in life when he helped an effort to rid a Florida community of drug smugglers.
(...)
The Bush administration committed $12 million in grants for Matrix, and more than half a dozen states joined.
(...)
Giuliani would later give a public defense of Asher, without mentioning he had been paid by Asher's company.
"I have a great admiration for what he's doing," Giuliani told a Florida newspaper in January 2004. "People do a lot of things in life. It's a question of what you can do to make up for it, and Hank has done a lot."


So what would I get for smoking weed in NYC under mayor Giuliani? What would I get for dealing? Would I also be eligible for admiration from Mr Mayor?

The full WaPo article is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201270_pf.html

ed: link

[moodforaday]

7. And check out his "partners" in crime:

WaPo: Famously loyal, Giuliani chose as his partners longtime associates, including a former police commissioner later convicted of corruption, a former FBI executive who admitted taking artifacts from Ground Zero and a former Roman Catholic priest accused of covering up sexual abuse in the church.

Interesting they don't name names. The "former police commissioner" is Bernie Kerik, ever the pal of the Mob, but who are the other two?

ed: tags

[moodforaday]

9. kick

shouldn't let this one fall through too fast

[Bluebear]

10. kick

[jazzjunkysue]

11. I demand you re-post this so I can recommend it.

This is absolutely disgusting. I live near NYC and I never heard of this until Randi brought it up today.

New Yorkers are not, I repeat, not goingt o like this. We all know people who died, and others who were supposed to, and others who still will.

This is absolutely disgusting, to use his office as mayor to start his own firm, and use his contacts as mayor to profit from a tragety that the Bush admin allowed to happen.

I'm starting to think I'm the only person who hasn't found a way to profit from killing. What's wrong with me?