Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign in the Iowa Caucus. Some political observers have opined that the Straw Poll results are bought by campaigns. Giuliani had emerged as the frontrunner after overtaking John McCain in the polls. With the exposure and eventual entrance of Fred Thompson into the field, Giuliani's poll numbers began to drop. But he held on to his status as frontrunner. According to the CBS News Poll taken June 26–28, Giuliani held the lead over Thompson 34% to 21%. In the second quarter, Giuliani revealed that he raised $17 million, first among Republicans and third overall behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. On
Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign stated that "These are perilous times for Rudy Giuliani." In a lengthy interview on the nationally televised "Meet the Press", Giuliani defended the security detail decisions, saying they were warranted by threat assessments at the time, and defended his refusal to release a full Giuliani Partners client list, saying every client of significance had already been pointed out in the press. Within a month after the original Nathan report, an investigation of city records by "The New York Times" revealed that the billing of mayoral travel-related expenses to obscure city agencies had started two years before the Nathan visits began,