‘Do You Know How Your Daughter Died?’When Gloria Huang was declared dead in a Doha emergency room, her parents had no time to grieve before they were caught up in a legal nightmare.
Giuliani’s Terror Shame, Our Blog ShameSo we’ve been feeling guilty all week because we missed picking up on Wayne Barrett’s super-duper Village Voice report about Rudy Giuliani’s ties to Qatar, which in turn tie him to terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It was a big story that we even read but then got caught up in other things and didn’t end up covering it. And then today, Joe Conason at Salon.com totally called us out on it.
Occasionally, as in the case of Rudolph Giuliani during this past week, the sudden appearance of not one but two juicy investigations overwhelms the system’s capacity to absorb and regurgitate. But when the nation’s news executives decided which of two highly embarrassing Giuliani stories to feature, nearly all of them made the wrong choice. While they lavished enormous attention upon a Politico story dealing with adultery and bureaucracy, they should be devoting at least as much time to yet another in the long series of Wayne Barrett scoops in the Village Voice, because this one involves business and terrorism.
Conason is right. Barrett is a little obsessed and maybe does push pins into dolls of Giuliani every night, but his reporting is accurate, smart, and in this case, important. Conason even comes up with ten questions that reporters can ask Giuliani about his Qatar connections so they don’t have to read the whole Voice story. So readers, go read the article. And Conason, thanks for giving us a bloggily self-referential way to assuage our own guilt.
Giuliani’s Terrorist Ties [Salon]
Rudy’s Ties to a Terror Sheikh [VV]
in other news
‘Journal’ Uncovers First Hidden Client of Giuliani Partners
Today’s Wall Street Journal includes a well-researched story about the hush-hush client list of Giuliani Partners. So that’s what Giuliani was so tense about yesterday when reporters asked him who he’s been working with in the private sector. “All of the sudden, you are going to start jumping to conclusions about them when there are absolutely no suggestion they have done anything wrong?!” he shrieked at reporters in New Hampshire. Could it be he knew the Journal was asking questions about Giuliani Partners’ contracts with the government of Qatar, a U.S. ally that has a questionable track record in dealing with Al Qaeda? As the paper explains, that’s “a potential political pitfall for a candidate pitching himself as an uncompromising foe of Islamic terrorism.” In addition to his security firm’s government contract (which is with the state-owned Qatar Petroleum), his law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, opened an office in Qatar’s capital, Doha, in June. So far that’s nothing too damning, but it’s certainly a visible dent in his hard line against Islamist militants. And more important, it’s sure to make Giuliani just that much shriller when he’s asked about his firm’s client lists in the future. We’re hoping we can get him up an entire octave!
Qatar Contract Offers Glimpse Into Giuliani Firm [WSJ]
Earlier: Giuliani Gets Prickly Over Client List Questions
gossipmonger
Danny Meyer Reviews His Critics, InhospitablyDanny Meyer doesn’t much appreciate the (mostly laudatory) reviews given to his restaurants by Frank Bruni et al, and lets them know it in his new book. Sean Lennon isn’t exactly a hit with the critics, either. Kevin Federline is trying to sell some amateur video footage to make some extra dough. (No, it’s not that kind of footage.) City Council speaker Christine Quinn cut the check-in line at JFK, and it angered her fellow passengers. Netscape founder James Clark’s divorce cost him $125 million; his new girlfriend won’t be nearly as fortunate. Media prankster Joey Skaggs is getting into the watch business. Katie Holmes couldn’t stick to Victoria Beckham’s recommended post-pregnancy diet of edamame, pretzels, sushi, and Diet Coke. John Krasinski loves David Foster Wallace. Dustin Hoffman makes sure that the hired help get to watch a screening of his movie. Leonardo DiCaprio is GQ’s Man of the Year. (GQ likes Lindsay Lohan, too). Arab royalty laughs at President Bush in Qatar, raises a lot of money for Asia. Former Hell’s Angel Chuck Zito — a.k.a. the guy who beat up Jean-Claude Van Damme — is launching his own radio talk show for men. You know, unlike all the other radio talk shows. A wealthy businessman was turned down by the co-op board at the Carlyle because he’s too much of a playboy. Know any unemployed grandmothers? The New Jersey Nets are hiring.
