Giuliani speaking fees, businesses draw scrutiny (major Chicago Trib story)

[DeepModem Mom]

Giuliani speaking fees draw scrutiny
Firm headed by `America's mayor' challenged in court
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published February 7, 2007

WASHINGTON -- As Rudolph Giuliani prepares to run for the nation's highest public office based on his image as the heroic take-charge mayor of New York in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it may be his highly lucrative time in the private sector that invites the most scrutiny.

Since he left office, Giuliani has leveraged his image as "America's mayor" to his decided financial advantage and in ways that belie his man-of-the-people persona.

He commands $100,000 for a speech, not including expenses, which his star-struck clients are happily willing to pay. In one speech last year at Oklahoma State University, Giuliani requested and received travel on a private Gulfstream jet that cost the school $47,000 to operate. His visit essentially wiped out the student speakers annual fund.

Like other high-priced speakers in the private sector, Giuliani routinely travels in style. Besides the Gulfstream, which is a standard perk on the big-time speakers circuit, his contract calls for up to five hotel rooms for his entourage, including his own two-bedroom suite with a preferred balcony view and king-size bed, in the event of an overnight stay.

The Oklahoma contract also required a sedan and an SUV, restrictions on news coverage and control over whom Giuliani would meet, how he would be photographed and what questions he might be asked....

***

Beyond his speaking engagements, Giuliani, 62, has built a network of businesses that has earned millions of dollars in fees....Giuliani's investment bank, Giuliani Capital Advisors, has reaped seven-figure fees for providing advice in bankruptcy cases, but it has seen payment requests trimmed by courts following complaints that the firm was seeking excessive compensation. Giuliani also has collected more than $1 million in consulting fees from firms tied to criminal or regulatory missteps.

His spokeswoman side-stepped a question about whether Giuliani would fully disclose his clients if he formally enters the race....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0702070063feb07,1,7692936.story

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Before 9/11. Prince Rudy's star was fading...

in NYC as people started to learn what a prick he really was.

Me, I couldn't stand him as US Attorney, Mayor, or ex-Mayor. An arrogant little tyrant who took personal credit for everything his people did and destroyed the closest person available when something went wrong. Don't think for a minute that he called off his Senate run, a race he could have easily won, for any reason other than he couldn't abide just being one of a hundred-- he must be The Boss, not the Junior Senator from NY.

The more he gets out in public and has to answer real questions, he will eventually blow his stack, as he always does, and the resulting bloodletting will make us all forget about the "Dean Scream" and every other fatal soundbite.

As much as I hate the anti-NYC bigotry that still pops up around the country, Rudy's doom will be Mississippi, Wisconsin, Texas, and a whole bunch of other places where they just won't put up with a wiseass know-it-all from Brooklyn.

He's Eye-talian, too. Amazingly enough, there's still people who don't trust people with a vowel at the end of their names.

Residual bigotry and his own rotten personality will kill him off.