America’s Mayor?

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has emerged as a key operator in the White House campaign to smear Democratic party front runner Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race and exculpate Russia which has been accused of meddling in the 2016 US election to secure victory for Donald Trump.

Two weeks of testimony of US foreign service officers before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee has made it clear that Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were kept informed of Giuliani’s efforts to secure Ukrainian investigations into bogus claims by the White House. Biden and his son were accused of involvement with a corrupt Ukrainian firm while Kiev was charged of attempting to influence the election in favour of Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton. Ukrainian probes have already shown the Bidens to be blameless while US intelligence agencies have cleared Ukraine of election tampering and cited Russia as the culprit.

At Giuliani’s instigation, two dual US-Ukrainian citizens under indictment in New York state attempted to secure proof of Biden’s corruption and Ukrainian election tampering. Until Kiev provided the dirt demanded, it was made clear Trump would suspend $400 million (Dhs1.5 billion) in military aid and refuse to meet its new president. Such an encounter would give him a boost soon after he took office and at a time his country is under attack from Russian-backed separatists.

Giuliani’s murky dealings on behalf of Trump have degraded his tenure as Mayor of New York City. During 1994-2001, Giuliani was credited with lowering the crime rate, enhancing the quality of life in the city, improving schools and providing protection for immigrants. Following the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Giuliani took a prominent role in managing the situation and constantly reassured the public, earning the title of “America’s Mayor” and an honourary knighthood from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Born into a working class Italian-origin family in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, his father struggled to hold jobs and took to crime. After serving prison time, he became an “enforcer” for a relative involved in illegal gambling and providing loans at extortionate rates of interest. His father’s activities may have made the young Rudy take up the law who, as an attorney in southern New York state, litigated cases against organised crime, drug dealers and corrupt officials. In 1985-86, as head of the national anti-mafia campaign, he indicted 11 members of the five main Mafia families and secured convictions of three. Giuliani also prosecuted corporate raiders and fraudsters, earning a reputation as a moral crusader.

However, he was not a saint. During his time as mayor his judgement of people was seen to be poor when appointees to key jobs were convicted of corruption and sent to prison. In the wake of the 2001 attacks, Giuliani said he visited the site of the devastated World Trade Center as often as workers clearing the rubble — a claim which they refuted. This grandstanding took place as he tried and failed to change the law limiting service of elected city officials to two terms. Success would have given Giuliani a third term and, perhaps, a fourth.

He also dismissed the dangers to the health of those living and employed in lower Manhattan and workers clearing the World Trade Center site. He blocked the provision of respirators for workers, causing some to suffer lung disease and cancer. Giuliani also limited the city’s liability for payouts to them to a total of $350m (Dhs1.3b). He conferred management of the disaster on the city’s Department of Design and Construction rather than more qualified federal agencies and ended the search for remains before all body parts had been recovered.

Giuliani might have initiated an important shift in US policy on this region if he had pressed Washington to take the advice of billionaire Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal. He said that the strikes on New York and Washington signified that the US “should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.” Giuliani dismissed the idea and refused the prince’s $10m (Dhs37b) donation to humanitarian relief after the attack.

Although Giuliani, a liberal, began his career as a Democrat, he is a political chameleon who became an independent and eventually signed up with the increasingly right-wing Republicans. He supported the 2003 US war on Iraq, campaigned for Republican candidates in New York contests and endorsed George W Bush in 2008 when he stood for re-election. Giuliani promoted the removal of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran from the US list of terrorist organisations and calls for stiff sanctions on Iran and the overthrow of the country’s government. Nevertheless, in contradictory mode, he has represented a Turkish gold trader jailed in the US for his involvement in violating its sanctions on Iran.

Giuliani took a harsh line against Democratic hopeful Barack Obama who won the 2008 and 2012 elections. Giuliani backed Trump in the 2016 election and defended him against racism, tax dodging and sexual misconduct. Ahead of taking office, Trump named him an advisor and in 2018 Giuliani joined his personal legal team.

Since then, he has repeatedly stated that a sitting president cannot be indicted for crimes committed while serving, echoing a line adopted by the US attorney general.

By supporting Trump unconditionally, Giuliani has put himself at risk. He could face prosecution for involvement in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election on behalf of Trump as well as the Ukraine affair which has generated the Congressional impeachment hearings. Of course, Giuliani could be dumped by Trump. Asked if he feared Trump could “throw him under a bus” as he has other confidants who have gone to prison for their service, Giuliani replied no because he has “insurance.” This has been seen by some commentators as a threat to provide evidence of wrong-doing against Trump. He and his supporters consider the comment to be a joke.