Rudy Giuliani's ties to foreign clients could mean an unprecedented conflict of interest if he is named secretary of state

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is reportedly the leading candidate for secretary of state under President-elect Donald Trump, although his ties to foreign clients could mean an unprecedented conflict of interest, Politico reports.

After leaving the mayor's office in 2001, Giuliani served as a lawyer and consultant with ties to clients such as an Iranian political party that had formerly been designated a terrorist organization, a Qatar state-run oil company, a Singapore gambling tycoon linked to North Korea and involved in organized crime in the U.S., and an oil company at one point run by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, among others. "When some of those ties surfaced amid Giuliani's own presidential bid in 2007, they were considered to pose an unprecedented number of ethical quandaries for a potential commander in chief," Politico writes.

The links are potentially problematic for Giuliani's pursuit of the nation's highest diplomatic office, as Trump has both vowed to end self-dealing in Washington and heavily criticized the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of money from foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of state under President Obama.

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