The Daily Background

The story in Newsday that’s making the rounds right now about how Rudy Giuliani skipped out on the Iraq Study Group in favor of lavishly-compensaetd speaking gigs is not exactly new- I’d heard mumblings about this a couple of months ago. But it does bring up a couple of issues that are questionable, namely that at the time, instead of doing public service and participating in the Iraq Study Group, he chose to make money, garnering up to $1.7 million dollars a month in speaking fees.

Here’s Newsday:

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 quit the panel about a month later, and went on to do more speaking engagements and make more money in speaking fees. The ISG says he provided no help to the panel, and although his campaign claims that he did, they are unable to show any proof of this, and he is not even listed as one of the people the ISG consulted with.

Looking back, I’m sure Giuliani would have made a different decision now, because it’s painfully obvious that he has exactly zero credibility on the issue of Iraq (he’s never been there and he hardly ever talks about Iraq– the most important issue facing the country– in his speeches). If he had chosen public service instead of profits, and served on the Iraq Study Group, he would have at leasat something to point to and say “Look, I know about Iraq as much as, say, candidates who are senators that go there every few months and get intelligence briefings.”

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