Giuliani Secrecy

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has long described his City Hall as an open book. But at least one First Amendment authority is finding reason to disagree.

Attorney Floyd Abrams says Giuliani “ran a government as closed as he could make it.”

An Associated Press review of public record suggests Giuliani’s City Hall had a reputation of resistance toward open government.

In his time in office, advocacy and oversight groups were required to file freedom of information requests for documents — a process that could take months and rack up legal costs. A judge in one such case wrote, “The law provides for maximum access, not maximum withholding.”

More than two dozen lawsuits were filed during Giuliani’s reign accusing his administration of stifling free speech or blocking access to public records.

A former deputy mayor disagrees with the characterization, saying Giuliani “ran an open and transparent administration.”

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