Rudy and the mistress 2

By Michael J.W. Stickings

In response to the recent revelation in that he billed various New York City municipal agencies for "security" expenses while engaging in an extramarital affair, Rudy Giuliani was quick to defend himself. The billing was "perfectly appropriate," he said, the story as reported by The Politico "totally false". His former chief of staff, now a campaign aide, called it "a bookkeeping exercise".

After the GOP debate Wednesday night, Giuliani called the story "a hit job," as if for some reason The Politico, hardly a left-wing publication, was out to get him. It could be paranoia on his part, but clearly the plan is to attack the messenger. He and his people are evidently hoping that they can get away with not addressing the merits of the story in any serious way, hence this, along with the various efforts at deflection.

Meanwhile, the city comptroller, William Thompson, said that his auditors "were getting stonewalled by City Hall and this is in the previous administration, under the Giuliani administration. They were not giving answers." Indeed, The Politico notes that "neither [Giuliani] nor his aides have questioned any of the facts reported" in the original piece.

They are still not giving answers, it seems, hoping the story goes away, along with all the media attention, if they spin it long enough.

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As Steve Benen has reminded us -- see here and here -- much of this isn't new. For example, it was "reported a few months ago that Giuliani kept his emergency command center in 7 World Trade Center, in part so he could maintain a convenient love nest for his extra-marital affairs". Indeed: "We knew about the trips to the Hamptons. We knew Giuliani ordered a security detail for both women. We knew that taxpayers ended up footing the bill. What we didn’t know was that steps may have been taken to cover up the true costs of Giuliani’s extra-curricular activities."

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And there's more:

Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.

Also a hit job, Rudy?

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In response, Andrew Sullivan asks the right question: "How does any sane person trust the power of the presidency with this money-raking friend of mobbed-up Kerik and accused child-molester Placa?"

Ah, yes, Bernie Kerik. Where exactly does he fit into this corruption scandal? You know he's there somewhere. (Yup, see Josh Marshall's take.)

As for Alan Placa, you can read about him here.

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And there's still more -- on Rudy, if not the mistress -- from Kevin Drum:

And, hell, as long as we're piling on Rudy, ABC also reported today that for the past two years Giuliani Security & Safety has been providing security consulting and advice to the Qatar Interior Ministry, "which is currently run by a member of the royal family who has long been accused of supporting al Qaeda, according to security consultants familiar with the area."

Fantastic.

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Yes, there's the Shag Fund story (Shagfundgate?), but the dirt on Giuliani just keeps piling up from many different sides. Ask yourselves Andrew's question again, but expand it to include everything else we know about this wretched man.

Simply put, he cannot be trusted. At his core, Rudy Giuliani is nothing but a corrupt thug.