Rudy Giuliani’s partnership in Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Giuliani earned him $1.2 million last year alone—and lots of Texas donations for his campaign coffers, too. But is its web of business connections going to undermine his reputation as Mr. Security? Dan Connolly, a former Giuliani-administration lawyer and now managing partner at B&G, calls the ex-mayor “jet fuel” for the firm, which is expanding in New York, and poaching partners like Mark Palmer (formerly of the London firm Linklaters; his clients include Goldman Sachs and D.E. Shaw) and top bankruptcy lawyer Evan Flaschen. The secretive firm also reps scandal-plagued Tom DeLay, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., and Citgo, the oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Barely a year after the Dubai Port World’s deal to take over U.S. ports was scotched over security fears, the firm is also planning to open an office in Dubai. Ed Koch, no friend of Giuliani’s, is quick to predict it’s a problem. “You’re vulnerable when you are receiving income from a firm that’s lobbying for a company that’s perceived as damaging our civilization. You can get rich or you can get elected.”
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