There’s no shortage of reporters willing to lavish praise on Rudy Giuliani, whether for singlehandedly cleaning up New York, saving the children from 9/11, or making politics safe for bald guys again. But Rudy’s problem is that when you ask the people who were actually around him during his mayoralty, things get a lot murkier. A couple months ago his campaign was forced to go trolling for compliments — any compliments — from ex-City Hall staffers. Now, as NYC firefighters prepare to Swift Boat him but good, it seems Rudy may have been reduced to paying firefighters to say nice things about him.
So reports HuffPo’s Sam Stein, who reveals that John Orlando, who sat for a photo and gave prominent pro-Giuliani comments in a June New York Times article about Rudy’s relationship with firefighters, is now on Giuliani’s payroll for “political strategy consulting.” Why is the campaign paying someone who was supposedly providing an independent testimonial? They’re not saying:
When asked about the arrangement — after repeated attempts for comment — Giuliani spokesperson Matt McKeon questioned the question.
“Are you suggesting that firefighters aren’t capable of political strategy?”
Pressed to describe what strategy, exactly, Orlando provided, McKeon replied: “I’ll get back to you.”
He never did.
Orlando, who is still with the FDNY, was also reached via phone. He was asked for comment about both his consulting for Giuliani and his thoughts on why the former mayor has been poorly received among his fellow firefighters. Like McKeon, he too said he would reply at a later time and never did.
How many more of Rudy’s “supporters” are on the payroll — or, at least, hoping to be?
5 Responses to “Rudy Paying Firefighters to Compliment Him?”
Howard Safir, who headed the city’s fire and police departments, said in a statement: “It’s unconscionable that a front group for the highly partisan IAFF is now turning the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 into a political football.”
a union that has backed ever democrat the last half-century is attacking the republican frontrunner, surprise surrrrrrprise. the blatant political motivations are a joke, hillary should pop up at the end and say ‘i approved this message’.
[...] bad Giuliani has to pay firefighters to speak well of [...]
Oh my God. matt used capital letters!
Something to say?
you’re kidding right? boy you guys will troll for anything huh. the joke here is the ‘group’ trying to swift-boat him is made up of about 5 firefighters, and the whole thing is backed up by union bosses in the pockets of democrats. running out of time libs, guess your smear campaign is going to ratchet up to save your pathetic top tier!!!
Left by matt
November 21, 2007 at 9:14pm