Leaked book a tell-all about Rudy's run

WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani's camp charged Tuesday that a playbook for the former New York mayor's possible presidential run — with an embarrassing assessment of his roller-coaster romantic life — was filched from an aide, copied and leaked by his enemies.

A spokeswoman for Giuliani said "dirty tricks" were behind a Tuesday report in the New York Daily News detailing a 140-page briefing book that included the statement that "insurmountable" political and personal challenges might force Giuliani to abandon a 2008 presidential bid.

The spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, said the book, which she said had been tucked in an aide's bag, had disappeared mysteriously from a private jet during one of Giuliani's cross-country trips to campaign for GOP candidates last year.

The New York Daily News reported that the document was obtained from a source sympathetic to one of Giuliani's White House rivals. The source was reported as saying the book was left behind by an aide.

Mindel wouldn't identify suspects or the victim of the alleged theft and would not say whether Giuliani, a former prosecutor, would call for a criminal investigation.

"All luggage was removed from a private plane and later put back on. ... One staffer's bag was not returned," Mindel said. "After repeated requests over the course of a few days, the bag was finally returned with the document inside. ... It is clear that the document was removed from the luggage and photocopied."

While Giuliani has not announced his candidacy, he leads most public-opinion polls of Republican primary voters.

The loss of the battle plan is a remarkable breach in the high-stakes game of presidential politics and a potentially disastrous blunder for Giuliani.

"I wonder why such suspicious activity is occurring and can only guess it is because of Rudy's poll numbers in New Hampshire and Iowa," Mindel said.

The remarkably detailed dossier sets out budgets, schedules and fundraising plans that would underpin Giuliani's presidential campaign — as well as aides' worries that personal and political baggage could scuttle his run.

At the center of his efforts: a massive fundraising push to bring in at least $100 million this year, with a scramble for at least $25 million in the next three months.

The detailed fundraising plans depict a campaign scrambling to catch up with the organizational advantage of Giuliani's Republican rivals, particularly Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Some of the leading figures in U.S. business and finance appear as the "prospective leadership" of Giuliani's campaign, and their names appear elsewhere with instructions for Giuliani to call and seek their support. Two of the top figures on Giuliani's list, New Jersey mega-fundraisers Lew Eisenberg and Larry Bathgate, already have signed on with McCain, as has another Giuliani target, FedEx CEO Fred Smith.

The briefing book shows Giuliani began meeting with potential supporters in April; that by October his staff had put in place a detailed plan for a serious bid for the presidency; and that a massive fundraising push aimed to bring in at least $100 million this year. But it also depicts a candidate torn between his prosperous business and a political future full of both promise and risk.

Among the possible problems the briefing book said candidate Giuliani might face: his divorce from his second wife, Donna Hanover; unspecified issues with his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani; conflicts posed by his businesses; and his stances on social issues, including gun control and gay rights, that are more moderate than those of many Republicans.

Mindel played down the strategy paper's importance, saying it is "simply someone's ideas which were committed to paper over three months ago" and not an official campaign plan.

Giuliani never saw the book, according to a source familiar with the situation. It was annotated by Giuliani aide Anthony Carbonetti and fundraiser Anne Dickerson, according to the Daily News.

"It's amazing it wasn't locked up in the headquarters. ... It was sort of naive," said an adviser to one of Giuliani's possible opponents. "If they think this is bad, they better buckle their chinstraps, because as far as a presidential campaign goes, they ain't seen nothing yet."

Compiled from Newsday, the New York Daily News and The Associated Press