Giuliani's firm lobbies for Chavez's Citgo Corp.

Henry Goldman and Jonathan D. Salant of Bloomberg report that Rudolph Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, "lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., a unit of the state-owned oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.'s chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere." The law firm first registered to lobby for Citgo in April of 2005, shortly after Giuliani joined as a named partner. The contract to lobby was renewed for 2006 and 2007, an arrangement that pays the firm $5,000 per month to track legislation. The firm claims Giuliani has no role in the lobbying position. As a Republican presidential hopeful, Giuliani maintains that Chavez is "no friend of the United States."