New York Times reporting:
Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, is close to reaching an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to having accepted improper gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars while he was a city official in the late 1990’s, two people with information on the plea negotiations said yesterday. . . .
Under the proposed agreement, Mr. Kerik would plead guilty to failing to report accepting roughly $200,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment â a violation of the city’s administrative code. The work, officials have said, was paid for by a New Jersey construction company that the city had long accused of having ties to organized crime.
Mr. Kerik nearly rose. . . to the rank of cabinet secretary, when President Bush nominated him to head the Department of Homeland Security in December 2004. But he was forced to withdraw a week later, citing possible tax problems involving his family’s nanny.
Too bad he never snagged the DHS gig. He would have been a great addition to this town! Think about Bernie Kerik testifying before Congress about Shirlington Limo. Or defending Katrina contracting scams. . . What scandal gestalt we could have had.
