DNC Calls on Giuliani to Stop Hiding the Truth

Rudy Should Explain His Questionable Business Ties And Disclose Client
List

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 -- In the same week he told
the Associated Press he did not need to disclose his business dealings
because they were "totally legal, totally ethical," The Wall Street Journal
revealed today that Giuliani's consulting firm Giuliani Partners has
recently -- and may still have -- a contract with the government of Qatar.
Giuliani's decision to maintain a role in the firm has been criticized for
possible conflicts-of-interest, but he has continued to have a role there
and has refused to comment or release his client list. (Associated Press,
11/5/07; The Wall Street Journal, 11/7/07)

This isn't the first time that Giuliani's business dealings have gotten
him into trouble. Reporters earlier this year discovered that Rudy's law
firm netted hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying for Citgo, the giant
oil company which is controlled by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. In
his 1989 campaign, Giuliani's law firm's ties to Manuel Noriega and work
for a company with possible connections to Libyan chemical weapons became
controversial.

"Given Rudy's chronic habit of over-exaggerating his record on
everything else, why is he all of the sudden clamming up?" said DNC
Communications Director Karen Finney. "As the list of shady alliances
grows, from the government of Qatar, to the pharmaceutical industry, to
Hugo Chavez, so do the questions about what he might be hiding. Rudy should
stop hiding the truth and release his client list, his failure to come
clean reads like the latest chapter in the Bush Republican culture of
corruption."

GIULANI BUSINESS TIES KEEP GETTING HIM INTO TROUBLE

Giuliani Partners Contract With Qatar Government. The Wall Street
Journal uncovered that an arm of Giuliani Partners, Giuliani Safety and
Security has recently - and may still have - a contract with the Qatar
government, to provide "security advice" for a natural gas processing
facility, a tie not disclosed by Giuliani or his firm. (The Wall Street
Journal, 11/7/07)

Qatar "Has Drawn Scrutiny" For Terrorism Ties, Including Possible Help
To 9/11 Mastermind. Qatar "has drawn scrutiny for its involvement in the
U.S. effort to combat terrorism. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation went to Qatar to arrest al-Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh
Mohammad, then under indictment in New York for a plot to blow up
U.S.-bound jetliners. But Mr. Mohammad slipped away, apparently tipped off
by an al-Qaeda sympathizer in the Qatari government, U.S. officials told
the bipartisan 9/11 commission. Mr. Mohammad went on to mastermind the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks." (The Wall Street Journal, 11/7/07)

Giuliani Has Refused To Comment. "Mr. Giuliani so far has fended off
all queries. Giuliani campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said the campaign
wouldn't comment on any matters to do with the candidate's business, and
said such questions should be answered by Giuliani Partners. A spokeswoman
for Giuliani Partners, Sunny Mindel, said in an email: 'We do not discuss
our clients.'" (Wall Street Journal, 11/7/07)

Giuliani Personally Approves Clients, All Carefully Selected. In May of
2007, Michael D. Hess, Giuliani Partner's senior managing partner and the
"one official authorized to speak for the firm," said, "'No client is ever
approved or worked on without a full discussion with Rudy...We're cautious
in the right sense of that term, in terms of who we work for. We always
want to make sure it is a company that is doing the right thing, that we're
proud to represent." In 2005, Hess said, "We're looking to make sure that
projects we represent are good for the people and good for the economy."

-- Most Clients Meet Giuliani. According to a Giuliani Partners
official, "Invariably, a new client will want to meet with Rudy, and this
was frequent a while ago, and it has become less frequent as he is going
around on his campaigning.'" (Washington Post, 10/30/2007)

Earlier This Year, Giuliani Business Ties To Hugo Chavez Revealed.
Bloomberg reported that Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani netted
$125,000 to $250,000 lobbying for Citgo, starting only weeks after Giuliani
joined the firm. Citgo is controlled by Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president
and a "strident" critic of the US. This income was part of the 40-fold
increase of the firm's lobbying income after Giuliani joined, jumping from
$150,000 in 2004 to more than $6 million in 2005. (Bloomberg, 3/14/07;
Boston Globe, 3/15/07; AP, 1/10/07)

Flashback: 1989 Giuliani Campaign Troubled By His Business Ties To
Noriega, Libya. During Giuliani's unsuccessful 1989 mayoral bid,
controversy emerged from evidence that his law firm, White & Case, did work
for "the government of Panamanian Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega," as well as
personally doing work for a company thought to be "involved in the
construction of an Libyan chemical-weapons plant." (Newsday, 10/29/89)


http://www.democrats.org