skippy the bush kangaroo: america's mayor defrauded new york's tax payers to visit cupid's love nest

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

america's mayor defrauded new york's tax payers to visit cupid's love nest

ben smith at politico is reporting that while mayor, rudy giuliani played fast and loose with the city's accounting to finance his tryst trips out to his hampton sugar pie:

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 expenses first surfaced as giuliani's two terms as mayor of new york drew to a close in 2001, when a city auditor stumbled across something unusual: $34,000 worth of travel expenses buried in the accounts of the new york city loft board.

when the city's fiscal monitor asked for an explanation, giuliani's aides refused, citing "security," said jeff simmons, a spokesman for the city comptroller.

but american express bills and travel documents obtained by politico suggest another reason city hall may have considered the documents sensitive: they detail three summers of visits to southampton, the long island town where nathan had an apartment.

auditors "were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes," city comptroller william thompson wrote of the expenses from fiscal year 2000, which covers parts of 1999 and 2000.

some bloggers are predicting that this is the end of the giuliani campaign. we wouldn't go that far, but rudy has been struggling against romney and huckabee hound to keep the mantle of front-runner all to himself, and this won't help any.

Labels: gop, prez campaign, right hypocrisy, rudy, scandals