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Former prosecutors slam Giuliani's claims

BY MARK HARRINGTON | mark.harrington@newsday.com

8:55 PM EST, January 24, 2008

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Twenty-five former federal prosecutors from the New York area Thursday blasted GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani's claim to have "turned around" the Southern District office as U.S. attorney, accusing him of exploiting the position for personal publicity.

Giuliani's performance "simply does not match his claims," the prosecutors said in a statement. "In fact, we believe that the pattern of improper leaks to the media, excessive use of publicity, and other inappropriate conduct that he engaged in while serving as United States attorney, together with the disingenuous way in which he now describes his service, casts doubt, generally, on Giuliani's credibility and judgment."

A Guiliani aide, former deputy mayor Randy Mastro, responded: "I don't think the biased perspective of a group of longtime criminal defense attorneys, many of whose clients were successfully prosecuted by Rudy Giuliani's office, is newsworthy. Rudy took over a great office and led it to even greater heights."

But Michael Armstrong, a former unit chief in the Southern District, said, "He's said he turned around the office. The feeling is there was nothing to turn around."