Giuliani friend funded GOP's electoral plan - A finance chairman for the presidential hopeful acknowledges he gave the mystery $175,000 to the California proposal.
sacramento -- A confidant of Republican presidential contender Rudolph W. Giuliani, and one of the candidate's biggest donors, was the source of a mystery $175,000 donation to a stalled initiative proposal seen as an attempt to help the GOP win a portion of California's 55 electoral votes.
New York hedge fund billionaire Paul E. Singer issued a statement Friday acknowledging that he gave the six-figure gift, ending speculation over its secrecy and fanning criticism of the Giuliani campaign.
Giuliani said he knew nothing about it, and his spokeswoman, Maria Comella, called the contribution "completely independent from our campaign."
Singer oversees Elliott Associates, a Wall Street investment fund, and is chairman of Giuliani's Northeast fundraising operation. Singer and people who work for Singer-related entities donated at least $182,000 to Giuliani in the first six months of the year, a Times review of Giuliani's campaign finance statements shows. One of his companies leases jets used by the GOP front-runner. Singer also is one of the former New York mayor's advisors and friends.
To the consternation of Democrats, the Singer-backed initiative campaign sought to end California's winner-take-all allocation of electoral votes, dispensing them to candidates who won each of the state's congressional districts -- 19 of which are held by Republicans.
Foes of the proposed initiative threatened legal action over the donation, contending that federal campaign finance law was violated if the Giuliani campaign had any role in it.
In his statement, Singer made no mention of his relationship with Giuliani. Rather, he said he contributed to the California measure because he believed "in proportional voting in the electoral college."
"I made the contribution without any restrictions, including whether or how it would need to be disclosed," said Singer's statement, first disclosed by the New York Daily News and later obtained by The Times. "I left disclosure completely up to the committee."
There are strict caps on the size of direct donations to presidential candidates. But donors can give unlimited sums to initiatives and other campaigns that, though not directly controlled by candidates, could benefit them or harm their foes.
Giuliani, in California to raise money, said Friday that he had no part in the initiative campaign or the donation.
