Under oath, Bloomberg dodges White House run query

By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It's the question Michael Bloomberg has been answering, or not, for months: are you running for U.S. president? Under oath, the New York mayor refused to respond.

Bloomberg's non-answer in testimony released on Monday may further fuel speculation about his White House ambitions.

The mayor recently denied that he intends to run in the November election, and his refusal to comment this time followed the advice of his lawyer in a lawsuit against him for cracking down on illegal gun sales.

Bloomberg was asked: "Are you intending to run for president today as we sit here?" while giving testimony on Thursday. His lawyer, Kenneth Taber, told him not to answer.

According to a transcript of the testimony made public by lawyers on Monday, the question was then rephrased as: "Were you intending to run for president at the time you formed the 'Mayors Against Illegal Guns' (group in early 2006)?"

"I was not planning to run for president then," Bloomberg answered. When questioned again, he said that "prior to May of 2006 I certainly was not considering running for President."

"Every once in a while somebody would suggest it, and it was a very flattering thing, but I never was at that period of time, in the period I was instructed to be able to answer, considering running for president," he said.

Bloomberg's lawyer told him not to answer the follow-up question: "After May 15, 2006, have you taken any steps to prepare for a potential run or campaign for the Presidency or allowed anyone to take those steps on your behalf?"

On that date, New York City filed a lawsuit charging 15 gun dealers in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia were selling firearms illegally and that those guns were ending up in the hands of criminals in New York City.

One of those gun dealers, Mickalis Pawn Shop, in South Carolina, filed the lawsuit.

Carl Pierce, a lawyer for the pawn shop, suggested Bloomberg was using the gun issue to boost his national profile and cultivate ties with elected officials across the country.

Some political analysts believe the multibillionaire is considering running as an independent.

Bloomberg, who was a longtime Democrat, switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor in 2001. He won twice, spending more than $150 million of his own money, then dropped his party affiliation in June last year.

(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Eric Walsh)