Tales From the Rabbit Hole

Aside from their common residence in New York and both being in the public eye, I always wondered what the connection was between Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump. I happened to watch an old Law and Order rerun today from 1997. In one scene the DA, Jack McCoy, is relaxing on a couch in his office and is holding a copy of a newspaper with the headline, Red Light Rudy. Always one to dive headfirst into the proverbial rabbit hole, I thought I would try to find that story.

I typed Red Light Rudy, 1997, and Daily News into my Google rabbit hole finder and got several hits. One story from 1997 seemed most likely. It appears that, in August of 1997, a chauffeur, James Schillaci from the Bronx, dialed Mayor Giuliani’s radio program to complain about a red-light sting being run by the police near the Bronx Zoo. When Giuliani failed to take any action, the chauffeur contacted the Daily News, and they ran a front-page headline exposing the red-light sting. Giuliani was not amused.

Rudy

The morning after the news article the police showed up on Schillaci’s doorstep. He asked the police, “What are you going to do, arrest me?” They did. They dug up a 13-year-old traffic warrant. The judge rightly threw out the charge. The Daily News called the police for clarification of the charge, and the police falsely announced that the chauffeur had been convicted of sodomy.

Then Giuliani took to the media and claimed that Mr. Schillaci was “posing as an altruistic whistle-blower.” He went on to charge that the chauffeur was “dishonest enough to lie about the police.”

Mr. Schillaci had an emotional breakdown and was hospitalized. He later sued the city and received a $290,000 settlement. In an article published years later about the incident, the NY Times said, “Rudolph W. Giuliani likens himself to a boxer who never takes a punch without swinging back.” It went on to describe how the mayor used his office to “clip anyone who crossed him.” Rudy’s pugnacious behavior saw the taxpayers forced to pay over $7 million settling civil rights lawsuits and paying retaliatory damages during his term as mayor.

I think I now see that the Giuliani-Trump relationship was a marriage made in vindictive Hell where power corrupts, and impotent cowards become bullies. I could also draw parallels in vindictiveness with the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis whose acrimonious vengeful demeanor has also cost the state and taxpayers dearly.

Perhaps Rudy’s story will be told by Hollywood. You must admit that his rise and fall from grace is a story worth retelling. He peaked in fame during the aftermath of 9/11 before jumping onto the bedbug-infested mattress of Donald Trump. Giuliani’s bedroom antics perhaps peaked during his film debut in Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat 2 comedy when an actress playing Borat’s 15-year-old daughter seduces Rudy after a fake interview. Rudy reclines on the bed and reaches into his pants just before Borat runs in and yells, “She’s 15. She’s too old for you.”

If you take that embarrassment and add some dripping hair dye, the Pennsylvania parking lot “election fraud” press conference with a witness who turns out to be a convicted sex offender, the loss of his law license, his association with Soviets Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman who were convicted of wire fraud and campaign finance violations, and you have the making of a true Hollywood rom-com.

Rudy’s star, that shown brightest after 9/11, was also tarnished after his Giuliani Partners worked for the government of Qatar which provided a safe haven for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of 9/11.

Rudy claimed during his 2002 post-mayoral divorce from his third wife, that his net worth was $7,000. Later in 2002, he made $8M in speaking fees. In 2004, his Giuliani Capital Advisors made $84.7M and Rudy was now worth $30M with six homes and eleven country-club memberships. But his legal work for Trump has left him almost bankrupt because, as many have found out, Donald likes to play but Donald doesn’t like to pay. Rudy is now promoting collectible coins, cigars, and health products on a podcast.

Postscript: I made another right turn in the labyrinth that is my rabbit-hole maze and found that the Giuliani headline that prompted my initial comparison was based on another story of Rudy where he was merely prioritizing red light distribution based on neighborhoods that voted for him. It would seem that Rudy had more than one story about red lights in 1997. I think I just spotted another rabbit with a pocket watch who is late for his job with the Duchess.