Former NYPD commisioner lied to Bush White House

by smkovalinsky | November 5, 2009 at 11:45 am

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New York Police Commissioner lied to Bush White house during vetting process for a Department of Homeland Security position

Bernard Kerik, who served as police commissioner in New York City from 1998-2002 has admitted lying to the Bush White House while be vetted for a Homeland Security position and he was in this leadership position during the events of September 11. He was in Iraq doing police training during the 2003 invasion and and was nominated by President George W. Bush for the post of homeland security secretary in 2004.

Allegations about his employment of a nanny under suspicious circumstances led to his withdrawl.

In 2006 he was charged with accepting gifts of tens of thousands of dollars while at this post. He pled guilty and avoided a jail term through payment of a large fine, over 200 thousand us dollars.

He appealed for clemency to Bush in late 2008, according to court papers released in October; but the plea was not accepted by Bush and he was granted no clemency.

White Plains, New York (CNN) -- Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik on Thursday pleaded guilty to charges of lying to Bush administration officials who vetted his unsuccessful 2004 nomination to be homeland security secretary.
Kerik admitted to eight counts as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, who are recommending a 27- to 33-month prison term. U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson set Kerik's sentencing for February 18.

Kerik, 54, had been scheduled to go to trial next week on a variety of corruption charges, including allegations that he received and concealed benefits of about $255,000 in renovations to his Riverdale, New York, apartment from a company seeking to do business with the city of New York. That and several tax-related counts were among the charges to which Kerik pleaded guilty Thursday morning.

In December 2008, prosecutors charged him with making several false statements to White House officials and other federal officials when he applied for positions in the Bush administration, including his nomination to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Kerik has spent the past two weeks in jail after a judge revoked his bail. According to court papers released in late October, he violated the terms of his bail by leaking confidential evidence about his case to a lawyer who published the material online.