City Probing Kerik Records
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The city’s Department of Investigation announced late yesterday that it has been investigating city records related to a former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, just days after the executive of Giuliani Partners had to withdraw his name from consideration for the post of secretary of Homeland Security.
The DOI said yesterday, in its first public confirmation, that it had started an initial investigation that indicated Mr. Kerik did not fill out the appropriate background papers required by all city employees vying for top-level positions.
“The DOI’s findings thus far indicate that Bernard Kerik did not fill out a background form when he was appointed Police Commissioner,” the agency said in a written statement. Apparently Mr. Kerik filled out the required paperwork in 1998 when he became commissioner of the Department of Correction but failed to do so for his subsequent appointment.
Mr. Kerik has been under fire since last week when he abruptly announced that he would step down as President Bush’s nominee for the Cabinet job. At the time, he told reporters that he was withdrawing because he had unknowingly employed a nanny who may have been in America illegally and had failed to file the appropriate tax forms.
That set off a rat-a-tat of revelations, including allegations that he conducted two extramarital affairs in an apartment overlooking ground zero that was supposed to be reserved for rescue workers, broke city rules on accepting gifts, and had engaged a contractor with alleged ties to organized crime.
Now, the city agency, which looks into and refers for prosecution city employees and contractors thought to have engaged in corruption or unethical conduct, has added more weight to the questions surrounding the former Giuliani administration police commissioner.
“DOI is absolutely seeking facts and doing interviews and is looking for answers,” the agency’s statement said, indicating that the probe could go farther than just a look into the paperwork related to background checks. “We’re not going to give piecemeal information because things are fluid.”
This isn’t the first time Mr. Kerik has been under investigation by the city’s DOI. In June 2000, two months before he landed the top job in the Police Department, the city’s investigators had looked into his relations with the owner of a New Jersey construction company suspected of having ties to organized crime. The DOI went so far as to take two days of testimony from the owner of the company, Interstate Industrial Corporation, the New York Times reported this week. It also formally interviewed Mr. Kerik. There was no indication then that Mr. Kerik had done anything improper, and it is un clear from the DOI statement whether the agency has decided to revisit this episode in its latest probe.
Mr. Giuliani, who has been supportive of Mr. Kerik, said this week that if he had known of Mr. Kerik’s ties to Interstate he would not have made him police commissioner.
The DOI said it would not release any more information until “we know the facts and circumstances of a matter that began four years ago that involves many people who are no longer in City government and involves archived records,” it said.
Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, did not return repeated phone calls from The New York Sun for comment.
In general, background checks are required for many new hires, promotions, or transfers. The individuals who must undergo background investigations include city agency commissioners, board members, commission members, people in all managerial positions, and individuals earning more than $80,000 a year. Individuals involved in city contracts and individuals who work on the city’s sensitive computer programs also have to go through the check.
As to whether the Bush administration, which has been criticized for not properly vetting Mr. Kerik before putting his name forward, had called the DOI for information on Mr. Kerik, the agency said: “the White House did not contact DOI before or after Mr. Kerik’s nomination to Secretary of Homeland Security.”