The expenses were discovered in 2001, at the end of Giuliani’s term, when a city auditor noticed $34,000 worth of travel expenses buried in the accounts of the New York City Loft Board.  Another $10,054 was billed to the Office for People With Disabilities, $29,757 to the Procurement Policy Board and about $400,000 to the Assigned Counsel Administrative Office.

Did you catch that last one, the one that was charged $400,000?  That’s right, Assigned Counsel, meaning the good folks who administer the funding for payment of lawyers who take assignments (called 18b assignments in New York) to represent the indigent when the Legal Aid Society is conflicted out.  And you wondered why there was a shortfall in their budget, or why Rudy was so vehement in his opposition to increasing the 18b rates.

Here’s a copy of the New York City Comptroller’s letter to Michael Bloomberg obtained by  Politico via the Freedom of Information Law.  And here are Rudy’s AmEx bills.  Note that items 28-31 and 41 all were incurred before I realized that Rudy was a Republican. (Oops, never mind.  I just realized that they referred to Greenfield, WI, and not any covert representation for unlawful conduct that I had anything to do with).

Now it’s not like Rudy’s marriage to Judy, widely admired amongst New Yorkers her firm hand in guiding Rudy to morally just positions, means that he’s altered his views on the representation of the poor.  No, he still believes they should get a fair trial before their life sentence is imposed. 

My thought is that he’ll be strong supporter for increased funding for assigned counsel, because you never know when Rudy’s going to meet someone even hotter than Judy, and need a little funding for his next daliance. 

And you thought his being pals with Bernie Kerik was a problem.