Many have wondered whether the White House asked DOI about Kerik
before President Bush's nomination.
DOI officials clarified last night that the agency had not been
contacted before or after Bush's pick bombed.
From The New York Daily News, 12/17/04:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/263014p-225158c.html
City starts probe of Kerik
Dept. of Investigation takes its cue from News revelations
BY MAKI BECKER and RUSS BUETTNER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Dept. of Investigation is probing
Kerik's tenure.
The city Department of Investigation has launched a probe into ethical
breaches committed by Bernard Kerik, the city's former top cop.
The inquiry - one of two confronting Kerik - will explore numerous
ethical lapses revealed in the Daily News this week after Kerik's
nomination to become the nation's homeland security czar collapsed.
In a series of investigative stories, The News disclosed that Kerik
broke rules on accepting gifts, developed close ties with an allegedly
mob-linked city contractor and maintained a secret downtown apartment
for simultaneous extramarital liaisons with two women.
The Department of Investigation released a statement last night saying
it would make no further comments until it could digest "a matter that
began four years ago that involves many people who are no longer in
city government."
DOI is empowered to investigate corrupt city employees and
contractors.
It regularly teams with state or federal prosecutors when its
investigators uncover potential criminal activity.
The DOI statement noted that Kerik failed to file a background form
when he was appointed police commissioner in 2000, though he had filed
one when named correction commissioner two years before that.
DOI added that under current rules, all commissioners and other
high-ranking officials must undergo background checks.
Many have wondered whether the White House asked DOI about Kerik
before President Bush's nomination.
DOI officials clarified last night that the agency had not been
contacted before or after Bush's pick bombed.
The News reported Wednesday that in 1999, when Kerik was having
trouble meeting some of his financial obligations, he bought two
apartments that were combined into one during an extensive renovation.
A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said the office
had begun looking at Kerik's purchase and remodeling of the
apartments, in the Riverdale section of the borough.
"We're gathering information," said the spokesman, Stephen Reed, who
said the matter is not yet a full-blown criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, Kerik's attorney released a few new details about the nanny
Kerik has insisted was at the center of his withdrawn nomination.
The lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said the nanny worked for Kerik for about
18 months before leaving in early November.
Kerik only obtained the required New Jersey forms to register as the
nanny's employer on Nov. 17, Tacopina said.
But Tacopina refused to disclose the nanny's name or nationality.
He dismissed suggestions that the nanny was just a cover for more
embarrassing problems that Kerik feared would come up during the
confirmation process.
"There's a nanny," said Tacopina. "I swear there's a nanny."
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And, of course, phony photo-op "hero" Giuliani don' know nuthin'.
Harry
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