Hillary Fan Trashes Giuliani – Again

An upcoming book seeks to tear apart the heroic legacy of New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his actions surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks.

Is there a Hillary Clinton connection here?

"The Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11" will be published by HarperCollins in September to mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks.

It’s written by Wayne Barrett, a longtime Village Voice writer, and Dan Collins, a senior producer for CBSNews.com.

Barrett, you may recall, was the author of a muckraking book about Giuliani, “Rudy: An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,” which Barrett wrote as Giuliani was seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000 – with Hillary his likely Democratic foe.

The mudslinging book was mentioned as a possible motive behind Giuliani’s decision to drop out of the Senate race in May 2000, before the primary he was expected to win.

The Smoking Gun (TSG) Web site noted at the time that Giuliani “was recently running for U.S. Senate against Hillary Clinton, but withdrew from that race following a prostate cancer diagnosis and some serious girl troubles.” (He admitted having an “adult relationship” with a woman other than his wife.) “But TSG thinks poor Rudy was also dreading the July 11 release of Barrett’s detailed examination of the controversial Republican.”

There were whispers that Hillary, who trailed Giuliani by 11 points in an early 2000 poll, might have had something to do with the work by Barrett – who praised Clinton during an appearance on CNN’s “Crossfire.”

Now comes Barrett’s new book – as both Clinton and Giuliani are said to be likely candidates for the White House in 2008.

And once again, Barrett is hardly complimentary about his subject. Contrary to most published accounts that have praised Giuliani’s handling of the World Trade Center attacks, Barrett says then Mayor Giuliani mishandled the city’s terrorism response efforts.

It might be noted that if Clinton and Giuliani were to square off in the 2008 general election, the ex-mayor could pose a serious challenge to Hillary in a blue state considered vital to any Democrat’s White House hopes.