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Kojak bites the dust! ;D
Posted on Sat, Dec. 11, 2004
Kerik steps down
Cabinet hopeful is out of consideration
WASHINGTON - Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik
abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's
secretary of homeland security late Friday night.
Kerik issued a statement saying he learned that a former housekeeper
may not have been in the United States legally.
"In the course of completing documents required for Senate
confirmation, I uncovered information that now leads me to question the
immigration status of a person who had been in my employ as a housekeeper
and nanny," he said. "It has also been brought to my attention that for a
period of time during such employment required tax payments and related
filings had not been made."
In a letter to Bush, Kerik said that although the nomination was the
honor of a lifetime, "I am convinced that, for personal reasons, moving
forward would not be in the best interests of your administration, the
Department of Homeland Security, or the American people."
Kerik said he would begin to fulfill the tax obligations for the
employee, who was not identified.
Kerik had faced increasingly stiff questions in recent days about
some of his ventures since leaving his post as police commissioner. Since
leaving city government, Kerik, 49, had made millions of dollars, mainly
through his partnership in a security consulting firm headed by former
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Most recently, he sold $5.8 million of stock in a company that makes
stun guns used by many police departments around the world.
Nonetheless, Senate staff aides had predicted that he would be able
to overcome any conflict-of-interest obstacles to his confirmation and be
confirmed to the job, which buys $7 billion annually in homeland security
goods and security services.
Joseph Tacopina, Kerik's attorney, said the decision to step down
was not made because of any outside information gathered by news
organizations or federal background checks, but by Kerik himself as he
filled out application papers.
- The New York Times
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