MINDING HIS BUSINESS; RUDY FIRM'S TIES CASTING SHADOW OVER CAMPAIGN (tainted ties. shady, murky biz)
EXCERPT By BRENDAN SCOTT, NY POST November 11, 2007
When Rudy Giuliani walked out of City Hall six years ago, he had $2 million in the bank and the moniker "America's mayor" on his résumé. Then came the book deals, the speaking tours and the partnership at a powerful Washington lobbying house. None, however, would prove more lucrative than the small consulting firm Giuliani and a dozen of his most trusted aides founded in 2002 in an angular glass tower at 5 Times Square. Most of the firm's top executives were in the mayor's "kitchen cabinet," including Bernard Kerik, his former police chief; Michael Hess, who served as the city's top lawyer; Anthony Carbonetti, chief of staff from '99-'01; Daniel Connolly, special counsel to the city's Law Department from '97-'01; Thomas Von Essen, former FDNY commissioner; and Dennison Young Jr., chief counsel during Giuliani's eight years as mayor.
Since its startup in 2002, Giuliani Partners has formed several subsidiaries, including an investment bank called Giuliani Capital Advisors - since sold - Giuliani Compliance Japan and security companies called Giuliani-Kerik and Giuliani Security & Safety, which replaced Giuliani-Kerik and Giuliani Security & Safety Asia. By the time Giuliani declared his run for president last spring, his namesake firm had grossed an estimated $100 million. The ex-mayor himself was worth of as much as $66 million.
But on the campaign trail he has been fending off questions about the shady clients, disgraced employees and murky business decisions. Nobody has been more problematic than Kerik, who rose from a job as Giuliani's driver during his 1993 mayoral campaign to head of the city's Correction Department and finally police commissioner. At Giuliani Partners, Kerik headed an affiliated security-consulting company. Controversy erupted after Giuliani recommended Kerik to President Bush, who nominated him be Homeland Security chief in 2004. Kerik abruptly withdrew his name, blaming tax issues involving a nanny, but reports soon surfaced about stock-option windfalls, connections with people suspected of dealing with the mob and extramarital affairs.
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