Dirty Donors Throw Rudy A Lavish London Fundraiser

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is in London today for a big-dollar fundraiser at the lavish Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hyde Park, pictured to the right. (See the invitation here.)

But while Rudy is far away from the Big Apple, scandal has followed him across the pond. At least three of the organizers of today's event have controversial pasts.

Rockwell Schnabel, an honorary chair for today's event, paid to settle a federal ethics violation that accused him of greasing the contracting wheels for a company owned by his father-in-law. "In 1993, the Justice Department said that Schnabel, then deputy commerce secretary, had contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs to speed approval of a federal contract for Del Mar Avionics, a medical supply and defense company owned by his father-in-law." Mother Jones reports, "Schnabel admitted no wrongdoing, but paid $5,000 to settle the ethics violation."

Amanda Bowman, a host of the London fundraiser, is also the figure behind a controversial campaign of racist billboard ads that depicted Arab immigrants as terrorists. According to the Associated Press:

Bowman, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, launched a billboard campaign in North Carolina, Wisconsin and New Mexico, depicting 'a photo of a man shrouded in a traditional Arab head scarf clutching a grenade and a North Carolina driver's license.' The caption on the billboard reads, 'Don't license terrorists, North Carolina.'

Bowman herself is an immigrant to the United States. At least one national advertising company, Lamar Advertising, which controls 150,000 billboards refused to run the ad. Their spokesperson said "They're clearly trying to play on racial fears to get their message across."

Finally, Peter Powers, a long-time Giuliani confidante and host of today's event, in known in New York for having used funds meant to fight drugs to lease a luxury SUV for himself. During Giuliaini's term as mayor, Powers used his ties with Giuliani's City Hall to benefit himself and his legal clients. The Daily News reported that "Powers used a luxury Ford Explorer leased for $ 800 a month with federal drug forfeiture funds restricted to crimefighting purposes" and was forced to return the luxury SUV. In a 2000 article, The New York Observer noted that Powers had "quietly re-emerged as the man to hire for several companies seeking a sympathetic ear from City Hall." Powers still advises Giuliani and has "committed to raise between $50,000 and $1 million for his campaign."