Not good news for Rudy Giuliani
From Prosecutors expected to file charges against Bernard Kerik.
Once again, character…IT MATTERS AMERICA!
Highlights…
Bernard Kerik’s legal nightmare is about to get worse, with federal prosecutors expected to file charges against the former police commissioner that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice, the Daily News has learned.
The indictment, expected next month, could prove to be an embarrassing obstacle for Kerik’s former mentor Rudy Giuliani, who is cruising at the top of the polls heading into the presidential primary gauntlet.
The bribery allegations against Kerik stem from a secret meeting at a bar in Tribeca, according to two sources familiar with the federal probe.
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Last spring, Kerik turned down a deal to plead guilty to tax charges. Since then, the probe has expanded to include other charges, the sources said.
The indictment will have direct implications for Giuliani, the sources said.
For one, another Giuliani commissioner and a top inspector general during Giuliani’s years as mayor will be called as witnesses to describe the secret meeting in Tribeca.
The Giuliani officials are Raymond Casey, former head of the Trade Waste Commission, a city agency set up to keep the mob out of the carting industry, and Michael Caruso, former inspector general with the city Department of Investigation.
In July 1999, Casey and Caruso met with Kerik, then the city Correction Department commissioner, at Walker’s bar on North Moore St., court papers reveal.
Giuliani has extensive ties to Kerik, promoting him to correction commissioner, then to police commissioner. Giuliani later also hired him at his firm, Giuliani Partners, and recommended him to President Bush for the job of Homeland Security secretary.
The relationship soured in December 2004 when Kerik withdrew from consideration for the Homeland Security job and a torrent of accusations of wrongdoing poured forth.
Giuliani has since admitted he had erred in pushing Kerik for the Homeland Security job.
“It was a mistake,” Giuliani told CNN’s Larry King in February. “I think the answer is I made a mistake and I took responsibility for it.”
