Sunday, April 01, 2007

Rudy Guiliani's Achilles Heel: A Short History of Sleaze

In 2005, while engaging in a spirited but respectful debate with a conservative friend, I said that the Bush administration was easily the most corrupt in U.S. history. I believe I used the word “Kleptocracy” to describe the Bush regime and subsequent events have proven my point beyond all doubt. For a good summary, see, Salon.com.

Which brings us to the amazing adventures of Bernie Kerik. To put it simply, he was Rudy Guiliani’s muscle. His biography is typical of many who either choose, or find themselves doing police work. Like his fictional equivalent, Tony Soprano, he was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1955. As my ex-father-in-law used to say, “Kids growing up in that neighborhood only go one of two ways. Either they become legitimate successes, or they go to jail.” The difference between the jailer and the jailed, well described in Les Miserable, is often minute and circumstances can cause the balance to tip later in life. Although, young Bernie dropped out of high school, he subsequently joined the army where he became a Military Police officer (MP). This line of work apparently agreed with him. Kerik is a tough guy who has a real “touch” with women. He is on his third wife, despite two well-publicized affairs at the same time during his infamous supervision of 9/11 “recovery” efforts. Yes, and he conducted these trysts from his “command post” a private apartment paid for by the NYPD. His biography is incredible. See, Wikipedia.

While he has won many awards for his police work, controversy and scandal has followed him throughout his career. In 1984, he was fired from his job as head of security at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and deported from Saudi Arabia after an investigation by the Saudi Secret Police (something about kickbacks and favoritism). After awhile, he was chosen to be the warden at the Passaic County (Paterson), New Jersey Correctional Facility for several months in 1986. Kerik joined the NYPD in July of 1986 and served until May of 1994. While assigned to the U.S. Justice Department’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (where he met Rudy Guiliani), he was one of two case agents responsible for overseeing one of the most substantial narcotic investigations in the history of the department, resulting in the conviction of more than 60 members of the Cali Cartel. He earned thirty (30) medals for meritorious and heroic service, including the department’s Medal for Valor for his involvement in a gun battle in which his partner was shot and wounded. In December 1997. Space does not allow a discussion of his service as Iraq’s interim Minister of the Interior Secretary and Senior Policy Advisor to Paul Bremer. Really, this boy has been busy! He does do the warden job well, and Commissioner of Corrections is as high as he should have risen.

No one is shocked that federal prosecutors have told Kerik’s lawyer that he is likely to be indicted on several felonies, including tax evasion, conspiracy to commit wiretapping and filing false information to the government when Bush nominated him to the Cabinet. The FBI has been investigating him for years. Apparently, his tax evasion goes back to the period in which he was New York corrections commissioner, when he received gifts and extensive renovations to his apartment without reporting them as gifts on his tax return.  The renovation was done by a Mob connected construction firm. Kerik “took the 5th” in the fall of 2005 in refusing to answer questions before a New Jersey gaming regulatory body about his relationship with the company that renovated his apartment There’s a name for people like Kerik, “scumbag.” That’s why he is Guiliani’s achilles heel.  Guiliani’s close relationship with his enforcer has the potential to undermine the image of “America’s Mayor” as a competent leader and the best choice for the ongoing fight against terrorism.  In the end, either Guiliani had bad information about Kerik, or he was reckless in not knowing the facts about his closest associate.  Either way, Guiliani is disqualified to serve as the chief executive of this nation.

Voting Democratic, I remain

Savant