Giuliani quit Iraq panel after missed meetings - but he had time for fundraising

Newsday ^ | June 19, 2007 | CRAIG GORDON

[2ndDivisionVet]

Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

He cited "previous time commitments" in a letter explaining his decision to quit, and a look at his schedule suggests why - the sessions at times conflicted with Giuliani's lucrative speaking tour that garnered him $11.4 million in 14 months.

Giuliani failed to show up for a pair of two-day sessions that occurred during his tenure, the sources said - and both times, they conflicted with paid public appearances shown on his recent financial disclosure. Giuliani quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.

On one day the panel gathered in Washington - May 18, 2006 - Giuliani delivered a $100,000 speech on leadership at an Atlanta business awards breakfast. Later that day, he attended a $100-a-ticket Atlanta political fundraiser for conservative ally Ralph Reed, whom Giuliani hoped would provide a major boost to his presidential campaign.

The month before, Giuliani skipped the session to give the April 12 keynote speech at an economic conference in South Korea for $200,000, his financial disclosure shows.

Giuliani's campaign said that the former New York mayor did participate in Iraq Study Group activities but refused Newsday's repeated requests to explain how.

[mazza]

Ghouliani is such a farse thats its amazing ANYONE can’t see through him.

[bybybill]

The 9/11 commission wasn`t much either

[Huck]

This is an interesting story, but didn’t I read about this at least a month ago? Rudy parlayed his happenstance hero status into a career as a keynote speaker for corporate suits in need of a big name for their lame conventions. I wonder how many times he’s been to Lauderdale since 9-11. Probably knows all the housekeepers at the Westin by name.

[roses of sharon]

ISG, an arm of some “institute of peace”, good thing Rudy blew them off, their "report" was a wet kiss to Islamic cultists.

[inkling]

Of course if Rudy participated in the ISG, he would be bashed for that as well. If you don’t like Rudy, that’s fine, but let’s not pretend that the Iraq Study Group is the deal-breaker. That group was a waste of time, effort and money.

[elli1]

Giuliani quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.

So Rudy chose to go out & make some money (and pay taxes on that income) vs going to Stupid Do Nothing meetings that waste taxpayers money.

[Fred]

"On one day the panel gathered in Washington - May 18, 2006 - Giuliani delivered a $100,000 speech on leadership at an Atlanta business awards breakfast. Later that day, he attended a $100-a-ticket Atlanta political fundraiser for conservative ally Ralph Reed, whom Giuliani hoped would provide a major boost to his presidential campaign."

RG has done intense fundraising for many republicans, including many, many conservatives. This is a good thing.

RG does have a job, and part of it is giving speeches. He is well rewarded for giving speeches. This is another good thing. RG would be very foolish to turn down this opportunities.

[hinckley buzzard]

Think what you want about Giuliani, but the Iraq Study Panel was a farce and no one with any integrity or self-respect would have been a part of it. "Flip Syria." Right.