Russell Harding - another Giuliani "mistake"

Another individual Giuliani plucked out of obscurity and appointed to a high management post in New York City is Russell Harding.

Russell Harding? Who's he? Just the college drop-out son of the New York Liberal Party who Rudy chose to lead the Housing Development Corporation, who several years later was convicted of living high on funds he looted from that agency. As you read this, remember that Harding was a city employee. Contrary to the clear directives in the City Charter, Rudy Guiliani had directed "the Independent Budget Office of the City of New York to route all requests for records through City Hall." (according to Rachel Morris' article Rudy Awakening. This was the only agency which might have reined in Russel Hardy's misuse of taxpayer funds.

Here is the story from the Village Voice:

In a series of articles that led to the investigation, the Voice reported ("Lush Life of a Rudy Appointee," April 10-16, 2002) that Harding spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at posh resorts from San Diego to Hong Kong, and that he used an agency credit card to buy expensive presents for friends. [Snip]

Last week, [The article is dated March 22, 2005] three years after his extravagant spending on the taxpayer's dime was exposed in the Voice, former Rudy Giuliani aide Russell Harding pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court. Harding admitted to stealing more than $400,000 from the housing agency he once headed, as well as to possessing a disc, imported from Belgium, filled with pornographic images of children. In his deal with prosecutors, he agreed to serve up to 63 months in prison.

So what skimming of funds did Harding do? In an earlier article dated June 10th, 2002 the village Voice described a few things:

In one instance, Harding said in a Web chat that close ties between his father, Liberal Party leader Raymond Harding, and former mayor Rudy Giuliani, had helped his father win legal representation of a firm seeking to manage the city's airports.

On another occasion, Harding allegedly said that he "made a few extra dollars" from contractors he had helped on a Bronx renovation project funded by the housing corporation. [Snip]

Making money was par for the course, Harding revealed in his chats with Sawyers. In a June 2001 exchange, Harding spoke about his father's working relationship with the mayor.

"My dad is always helping the mayor with projects for money making," typed Harding. Writing in his characteristic three-dot style, he added, "And the mayor is always helping my dad as well . . . he had my dad go over some contracts a while back about a company taking over the airports here . . . so not only in the long run will the mayor profit from it . . . but my dad already has with doing the contract . . . they both have a wash each other's back thing going."

The confusing language may just have been Russell Harding's bragging to someone who says he knew nothing about the issues.

"I really must admit I don't understand half of what you just said," responded Sawyers, "but I guess it makes sense."

"LOL," typed Harding, using the cyber-ese for "laugh out loud." "Trust me Fred . . . it makes perfect sense for the line of work my dad is in . . . as well as with my job . . . we all help the mayor and he helps us."

This second Voice article goes extensively into Harding's on-line efforts to find young boys to have sex with, but that does not directly involve Rudy Giuliani. It merely goes to demonstrate the character of the people that Rudy surrounds himself with and chooses for high management positions. Then, from a Village Voice article dated April 10 - 16, 2002 there is another description of Ray Harding's expenditures on the City dime:

On January 16, with just two weeks to go until his last day on the job, Russell Harding, president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation—a small but powerful city agency—picked up the phone and called the corporation's travel agent.

He booked a $10,700 trip that would take him to Singapore, Thailand, and Bali. Through the agent, Altours International, he also ordered a pre-paid, open ticket for $7500, destination unnamed.

Unlike other departing aides to the administration of former mayor Rudy Giuliani who may have been planning post-employment vacations, Harding ordered the bill sent to his agency for payment. That same day, the travel agent faxed an invoice for the trips to HDC, where an official vendor-payment request was immediately prepared. Six days later, on January 22, Senior Vice President Luke Cusack, a close friend who was hired for his job by Harding, signed off on it. A check for the full amount was promptly issued and the invoice stamped "Paid."

Harding, the son of one of the state's most powerful political figures, Liberal Party boss Ray Harding, resigned as scheduled on February 1. But records released in the wake of his departure show the planned Southeast Asia trip was just the cap on a virtual nonstop, three-and-a-half-year spending spree during which Harding and Cusack traveled literally around the world at city expense.

Records show that after Harding was appointed by Giuliani in 1998, he and Cusack racked up more than $250,000 in travel, dining, and entertainment expenses—ranging from $1000 dinners at the Four Seasons to a Hong Kong junket. Even Harding's morning bagels, purchased for $1.25 each, were charged to the agency.

The records also show that Harding dipped into the agency's pocket to shower presents on at least one friend who hadn't the remotest connection to city affairs, at the same time bragging about his ability to file personal expenses—including gambling debts—with the agency as business costs.

A trip to Singapore, Thailand, and Bali is very probably a sex tour of Southeast Asia.

So Russell Harding's appointment was a payoff by Rudy Giuliani to Harding's father, powerful Liberal Party leader Ray Harding. Ray Harding had placed Rudy Giuliani on the Liberal Party ticket for mayor, a move which allowed Rudy to win the job. As described above, Ray Harding and Rudy Giuliani worked together to steer city contracts to favored contractors and Rudy let Ray's son run hog-wild spending taxpayer money in exchange for the favors.

Berine Kerek was not Rudy's only failure in judgment. So was Russell Harding. In both cases competent people (including members of the Press in the case of Russell Harding) warned Rudy in advance against making the appointment, and in both cases Rudy told those who warned him that in his judgment they were wrong and he, Rudy, was right. So what we have in Rudy is a many with poor personal judgment who refuses to listen to people who warn him that he is going to make a mistake.

Rudy is not a man we want for President.