Giuliani's security detail used a mayor's office American Express card to pay expenses, which were then apportioned among numerous agencies under the mayor's office, Lhota said. Later, the New York Police Department reimbursed the mayor's office, and "these divisions were never deprived of any monies," he said.

"No one was trying to do anything here but make sure there were timely payments off this credit card," said Lhota, who is an adviser to the Giuliani presidential campaign. "If we had made NYPD pay directly, there would be nontransparency because they would argue this is a security issue."

Here's the line that jumps out:

The expenses were flagged in early 2002 by city Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., whose auditors "were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes," according to a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Giuliani's successor. The letter also noted that "non-local travel expenditures" for mayoral agencies on the account soared 151 percent in one year.

In a prepared statement, Stu Loeser, Bloomberg's press secretary, said: "During the Giuliani Administration, we believe that security expenses that were originally paid by the mayor's office were ultimately reimbursed by the Police Department."

In an interview, however, he said Bloomberg's policy is to have the police department pay those departments directly.

If Bloomberg or his office had wanted to twist the knife in Giuliani, and issue a statement that insinuated wrongdoing, they could have. They didn't.