Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign in the state) for third place, well behind front-runners McCain and Romney. By a January 24, 2008 poll, Giuliani was in third place in Florida with 20% of the vote, compared to 23% for John McCain and 27% for Mitt Romney. Another blow to Giuliani was the late endorsements for McCain of Florida Senator and former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Mel Martinez on January 25 and the highly popular Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, on January 26. Crist had planned to endorse Giuliani in the early autumn, and had still been expected to do so in early January.
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,