by David Edwards
Friday March 30, 2007

Former New York City Mayor Rudolf Giuliani is leading the Republican pack in some Election '08 polls. But the same polls seem to suggest that Giuliani is starting to lose some of his momentum.

The drop may continue as allegations rise that his longtime associate Bernard Kerik, onetime nominee to head Homeland Security, has ties to organized crime, as Newsweek's Jonathan Alter comments on in the video below.

NBC's Tim Russert also suspects that people have begun to look deeper into the former mayor's own past. "There are some bumps ahead for all of the candidates, including Rudy Giuliani," Russert says.

One particular issue that Giuliani is trying to clarify is the role of his wife in his campaign and how she might participate in a Giuliani administration. In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, Giuliani freely admits that his current wife, Judith, may participate in policy decisions and cabinet meetings "if she wanted to."



[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17863023/]Giuliani’s ex-partner may face felony charges

Kerik counts said to include deception during Cabinet bid
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WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies, including tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wiretapping.

Kerik's indictment could set the stage for a courtroom battle that would draw attention to Kerik's extensive business and political dealings with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who personally recommended him to President Bush for the Cabinet. Giuliani, the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination according to most polls, later called the recommendation a mistake.

Kerik rose from being a warden and police detective to become Giuliani's campaign security adviser, corrections chief, police commissioner and eventual partner in Giuliani-Kerik, a security arm of Giuliani Partners, which Giuliani established after leaving office in 2001. Kerik resigned his positions in Giuliani's firm after he was nominated to the homeland security job.






TALE OF THE THREE THUGS...STORY CONTINUED AFTER FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS!

Giuliani poll highs could fall with recent revelations about longtime associate Kerik, remarks about wife