Rudy Giuliani and the bad guys at Purdue Pharma
I enjoy listening to Rudy Giuliani, the most, out of all the candidates. He is direct, plain spoken and seems accessible. I think that this is what made him a great prosecutor. Not long ago Rudy helped put away the bad guys. Mr. Giuliani’s reputation was that of a hard-core prosecutor. A punisher of criminal behavior. As a candidate for the Presidency, his employment history encourages me about what Mr. Giuliani will do for America. I venture to say, it makes me feel like I understand him because I understand his passion.
Since he is now running for President, I expected him to continue on this path. But that does not seem like it will happen. Presidential campaigns cost enormous amounts of money and requires candidates to have several friends with money, to run for President. Keeping those "monied" friends out of jail would help gather the funds necessary to run for the President's Office.
There is no doubt that the drug OxyContin has ruined many lives. There is no question that the owner and executives at Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, was guilty of fraud in how they marketed the drug. Their flagrant behavior caused the government to prosecute both the individuals and the company itself. The Judge fined the company $634.5 million dollars after the company's chief executives (Michael Friedman, the company’s president; Howard R. Udell, its top lawyer; and Dr. Paul D. Goldenheim, its former medical director) plead GUILTY to criminal charges of misleading doctors and patients about the drug.
Fortunately, the company could ask their good friend and counsel, Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, to negotiate a plea deal for these poor executives. Purdue Pharma is a client of Bracewell & Giuliani, which is Mr. Giuliani's law firm based in Houston. The lead government attorney, John L. Brownlee, the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia, described Mr. Giuliani's role as a central role in the talks with federal prosecutors. "...He was the lead counsel and the lead spokesman for the company,” Mr. Brownlee said.
Rudy Giuliani, the man who was hard on criminals, made a plea deal for his clients, which did not include any jail time. It only included some fines and penalties.
As a former government attorney, I understand representing both sides of a case. Don't get me wrong. I understand why an attorney can be a prosecutor one day and be a defense attorney the next. In this fine profession we all understand the dichotomy of our job. It exists for every litigation attorney. One day you represent the Seller and then next day the Buyer. One day you rep the company and then next day you rep the worker. That is what we do. But there is something different about representing the Government then the next day representing the Criminals. There is something wrong with flipping sides to defend criminals and at the same time be in the midst of a campaign to be President of the USA.
Rudy Giuliani, who forever has stood up for the little guy, has turned his back on Justice for the sake of representing rich folks who can donate more money to his political aspirations.
In Presidential politics money can make a principled prosecutor change his spots.
Sad, Indeed.
Brian
Stepping off my soapbox.
Click Here to read more from an article in the New York Times
DEAD on. Rudy sold out for bucks and thousands have suffered for it.
He will lose because of this.