Rudy Fails Miserably On Press The Meet

Tim Russert, I am glad to say was not his pathetic self yesterday while interviewing Rudy Giuliani. He wasn't perfect, but this was definitely a good episode showing the real Rudy to a national audience.

Fresh Evidence For Rudy's "Sex On The City"

It's been more than two weeks since the Rudy bombshell dropped and there has definitely been a toll taken on Giuliani's campaign. His numbers are in the toilet, both in early states and nationally, where he was last tied with Mike Huckabee. In South Carolina, Huckabee is now up seven points on Rudy. All of this is tied to the "Sex on the City" scandal, sixteen days later, we have the Daily News interviewing Nathan's neighbors and finding out even more information.

From The Daily News:

Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News.

"It went on for months before the affair was public," said Lee Degenstein, 52, a retired Smith Barney vice president who formerly lived at 200 E. 94th St., Nathan's old building.

"It was going on longer than anybody thought," added Degenstein, who, along with others in the neighborhood, said they often saw Nathan hopping into unmarked NYPD cars in early 2000, before the affair was revealed that May.

Giuliani's aides wouldn't even fight it, they conceded on that point almost instantly. If I was Anthony Carbonetti, I'd be huddled in a corner, just praying that this all goes away. Maybe now they realize that fighting the charges isn't going to help. Many supporters want an explanation from him or just to fess' up to his actions surrounding his trysts with Nathan.

Yet they still claim she got the "protection" because she received threats in 2000. The story doesn't add up though, as residents say they saw her hop into unmarked cars back in 1999. They took her on errands, as neighbors saw plenty of shopping bags from many of NYC's high end stores. With a beau like Giuliani, I'm sure she got all the perks. The question is however, how many of those were funded by NYC taxpayers?

Blaming Anonymous BookKeepers Won't Cut It

As the story about how Rudy covered up expenses to see his then mistress Judith gets juicier, his defense is getting more and more nasty by the moment. Giuliani and his aides are trashing Politico author Ben Smith for his article (even though they haven't refuted anything in it yet and declined to talk to Smith before the article was published) and even trotted out Bernie Kerik to come to his aid.

Meanwhile, the evidence piling up against the ex-Mayor continues at a furious pace. William Thompson, the City Comptroller gave an interview which decimated Rudy's claims of ignorance. Thompson says the Giuliani's Administration "stonewalled" him when he inquired about the odd numbers in the city agencies' budgets.

When Rudy's aides tried to answer the real question here, that is why those obscure agencies paid for Rudy's security detail to the Hamptons, Anthony Carbonetti said, "It was a bookkeeping exercise, why it was done this way, I don't know."

An exercise? Like jumping jacks and push-ups type of exercise? Maybe it was more along the lines of a criminal exercise, not like robbery or extortion exercises, but definitely a fraudulent exercise.

Judith Nathan's Taxi Service = Rudy Might Have Committed A Felony

Damn, this really is Rudy's day. As the story that is hardly a day old unwinds, more and more legs come out. The latest is actually an old story, but no one really brought it up until last night's bombshell dropped. Ms. Nathan, then Rudy's mistress was able to use the NYPD as her personal taxi service. As Mayor, you are afforded security detail for yourself, spouse and children, but there is no mention of protecting mistresses.

From ABC:

Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.

New York papers reported in 2000 that the city had provided a security detail for Nathan, who became Giuliani's third wife after his divorce from Donna Hanover, who also had her own police security detail at the same time.

Well at least he had the women in his life well taken care of. I doubt that put Donna Hanover's mind at ease though.

Giuliani is now in full defense mode, calling Politico's article a "pre-debate hitjob" and having former aides say Rudy had nothing to do with making those arrangements. He is also going on CNBC at 6pm tonight to do more damage control. Though there may be a slight problem for Rudy, all of this activity is illegal.

You don't have to believe me, just ask another former New York politician, Alan Hevesi.

Rudy's Story Won't Die

It seems like everyone is talking and writing about Rudy today, 259 stories just from searching Google News and there are hundreds more from the blogs. The question came to his face last night at the debate from Anderson Cooper and Rudy was ready to spin. His story was that he had no control over how funds were allocated and that he needs security 24/7. The problem is that he didn't answer why those funds were put into the budgets of obscure city agencies, like those governing lofts and dispensing funds for defense attorneys for those that can't afford them.

Rudy may be hoping that this story dies a quick death, but one refutation to his refutation is quite damning. Ed Koch is no friend to Democrats (even though he technically is one), but having been a Mayor of New York before Rudy, his words carry weight on the situation. Well, those words weren't pretty for the Presidential aspirant.

From The Huffington Post:

"There is something improper about charging costs to a department other than the NYPD," said Koch. "They are the ones who are supposed to pick him up no matter where he is whether or not it's in the city."

Koch, who served as the mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, said that the episode gave off the appearance that Giuliani, who was at the time married to his second wife Donna Hanover, was trying to hide his affair. He also argued that providing Judith Nathan her own personal protection (when she was not a member of the first family) constituted an even more flagrant misuse of taxpayer money.

"I found it strange that his lady friend was given protection," said the long-time New York politico. "That was bizarre. She's not the city's responsibility. Rudy is the city's responsibility. Your wife and his children get protection, and that's understood. But certainly not your lady friend."

Maybe he was trying to impress her, but one thing is for certain. Someone helped Rudy cover his ass, now the question is who is it and is he or she going to come clean about the affair? Rudy acted improperly and quite possibly in an illegal manner. If this story keeps running, it could spell the end for Mr. 9/11.

Giuliani's Perfect Timing

Rudy claims that he has made government more accountable as Mayor in the ad, I wonder if that could have conflictual problems with reality?

Giuliani Used Us

The man running for the nomination from the "moral values" party has a big problem. No we aren't talking about his affair, his three marriages, his toleration (gasp!) of abortion and gay marriage in the past or even his nasty and brutish attitude exhibited while Mayor of New York. This has to deal with his spending New Yorkers' tax dollars to fund his many rendezvous with his now-wife Judith out in the Hamptons before 9/11.

From The Politico:

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.”

Security eh? Those Hamptons, what a dangerous place. Seriously though, it is abhorrent that the Mayor used money for city agencies so that Rudy could go out on the Island and cheat on his second wife. You would think that maybe he could spring for his own soirees.

Anderson Cooper confronted Rudy about the bombshell story last night at the CNN/YouTube debate and guess what....he denied it. Unfortunately for the people of the city and the nation, he won't answer exactly what is untrue. The Giuliani campaign then put the blame on the NYPD (ain't that nice) by saying they handled his security around the clock, so he had no idea what was going on.

Maybe he was clueless about these minor (dare I say, illegal) details. Cheating on your wife could occupy a lot of your head, managing your lies while being the most public person in a city of eight million. Oh wait a second, we are talking about Rudy, and the man could care less about who he hurts, whether it is his wife, his kids or the trust of the nation....so long as he wins in the end.