Bernard Kerik

Bernard B. Kerik was nominated December 3, 2004, by President George W. Bush as his first pick to be Secretary of Homeland Security, in the Department of Homeland Security, to replace DHS Director Tom Ridge during Bush's second term.

Kerik withdrew his name from consideration after various concerns were raised. On June 30, 2006, Kerik "plead guilty to minor corruption charges" as "part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid felony indictments and possible jail time." Kerik admitted "he took $165,000 in gifts from a company attempting to do business" with the City of New York.

Mission to Iraq
Former New York City police commissioner Kerik, who was sent to Iraq in 2003 to "lead" the mission to train Iraq's police, said "Pentagon officials gave him just 10 days notice and little guidance," Michael Moss and David Rohde reported in the May 21, 2006, New York Times.

"'Looking back, I really don't know what their plan was,' Mr. Kerik said. With no experience in Iraq, and little time to get ready, he said he prepared for his job in part by watching A&E Network documentaries on Saddam Hussein."

Profiles
Kerik "served as Police Commissioner of the City of New York, during the rescue, recovery, and investigation of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Prior to that, he served as Commissioner of the Department of Correction for New York City.

"Earlier in his law enforcement career, Commissioner Kerik worked for the New York Police Department, as a uniformed and plain clothes officer. He also served in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps in Korea and was assigned to the 18th Airborne Corps, at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. In addition, Commissioner Kerik served as Interim Minister of Interior and Senior Policy Advisor for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq." 

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration cronyism and incompetence
 * Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq
 * Republican 'culture of corruption'
 * Rudy Giuliani