Oxycontin, Rudy Giuliani And Jail Time
8 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // June 19th, 2007 // 9:57 am
Last month, we learned that Rudy, presidential wannabe and former New York City mayor, reportedly slowed a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into the painkiller while working for as a consultant to Purdue Pharma. Now, it turns out he was also Purdue’s main man last year in talks with prosecutors, who squeezed $634.5 million in penalties and fines from Purdue and some execs over a false marketing charge.
“When we had meetings, he was the lead counsel and the lead spokesman for the company,†John Brownlee, the US Attorney in Virginia’s western district, tells The New York Times. Rudy apparently got involved early last summer, when Brownlee told Purdue execs about a possible indictment, until October, when the basic terms of the company’s guilty plea were reached, the paper writes.
A Guiliani spokeswoman says Rudy hasn’t done any legal work for Purdue for “several months.†Rudy didn’t announce his bid for the presidency until this year. But the Times notes during the same four-month period that he talked to prosecutors about Purdue, he was apparently gearing up by giving policy speeches and appearing at fundraisers for Republican Party candidates.
Beyond the usual client confidentiality issues, it wouldn’t have looked good just then to be publicly tied to a company reviled for promoting Hillbilly Heroin. Nonetheless, Rudy did a good job for his clients in so far as no Purdue exec is going to jail. Yet when Rudy was a US Attorney in Manhattan, he didn’t hesitate to send insider traders and junk bond peddlers to jail because they preyed on the system.
So we see that Rudy can be effective at whatever job he holds, but what about his judgment? Yes, he was acting as a private citizen while advocating for his client and he was entitled to make a buck, but he could have declined to negotiate the Purdue deal. After all, he keeps saying that he wants to serve society, but maybe only when it suits him?
What do you think? Should Giuliani have passed on representing Purdue?
- Yes (53%, 28 Votes)
- No (47%, 25 Votes)
Total Voters: 53
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Lisa Van Syckel
Is this a trick question?….
oaul robertson
Yes, …trick question or…
simply a poorly worded question because it goes both ways.
I suspect you have an agenda on Giuliani and probably prefer another candidate like Obama or Hillary…Hmmmm !
jason
agreed. Interesting site at times, but as it goes on the slant is more prominent.
Lisa Van Syckel
I dont believe Ed has an agenda,here.
Its probably a poor worded question,or just a senior moment,like I thought I was having,when I first read it.
Ed, please resubmit another question.
Thank You…
Lisa Van Syckel
Oaul,
Obama or Hillary..What a frightening thought!!…….
Ed Silverman
Okay folks.
I was in a rush. A kid thing came up and I should’ve paid closer attention to what I was doing. My apologies.
I’ve submitted a new question.
As to the comment about slant. I was trying to raise an issue, Jason. I remember attending one of Giuliani’s press conferences in lower Manhattan when he was US Attorney and talked about Ivan Boesky and the like, and how that was unfair to the system. I’m wondering if there isn’t a parallel now, and how his position and view is any different, depending upon who pays him or how he really feels. If that’s a slant, then so be it.
And finally, no. I’m not discussing my own views on the presidential race. I was just looking at this one issue involving this one person.
Thanks everyone for stopping by,
ed
Lisa Van Syckel
Ed,
Kids will do that to you…
As far as I am concerned,an apology wasnt needed.And thanks for the new question.
And,as for Rudy…He had to have known that someday this would come back and nip him on his butt…. Rudy is not STUPID…..
Laurie
Since when is reporting FACT an agenda???? This information is widely reported and documented. Guiliani knows very well that he is going to have to deal with this.