[Mb-civic] ROBERT SCHEER Kerik's 'Nannygate' Was the Least of It

[Michael Butler]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scheer14dec14.story

ROBERT SCHEER

Kerik's 'Nannygate' Was the Least of It
 Robert Scheer

 December 14, 2004

 How revealing that the nomination of Bernard Kerik as Homeland Security
chief should be derailed not by the former New York City police
commissioner's alleged violations of conflict-of-interest laws, mob
connections and post-9/11 security industry profiteering, but rather by his
rueful admission that he paid no taxes for his "illegal immigrant"
baby-sitter. 

 Since harassing, detaining and deporting productive and otherwise
law-abiding immigrants without proper residency papers has been the main
task of the Homeland Security Department, the tough law-and-order booster of
President Bush at the Republican National Convention could have claimed his
nanny connection as research. Instead of admitting that this "lovely woman,"
entrusted for years with the care of his children, was part of that
essential but exploited mass of "illegal aliens" whose drudgery permits the
powerful to shirk family responsibilities and strut unencumbered on a larger
stage, Kerik could have claimed he was merely infiltrating the ranks of the
enemy. 

 Of course, labor law violations are to Big Business what the
nickel-a-swear-word jar is to adult visitors to Grandma's house ‹ no big
deal. But woe to the political aspirant who doesn't remember the ghosts of
Nannygates Past: The law is the law ‹ as Kerik's chief backer, ex-New York
City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, observed in reluctantly agreeing that Kerik had to
withdraw ‹ or at least it is once the media find out it has been broken.



 So Kerik tried to save a few bucks by hiring an undocumented worker and has
paid a certain cost. However, by bowing out now, he may have saved himself a
passel of future trouble. NYC's media have been raising issues about
potentially far more consequential legal transgressions by Kerik, which
Giuliani should have known about before recommending his protege for the
national security post.

 This rough-around-the-edges high school dropout's profligate ways led to
personal bankruptcy and, ultimately, some very dubious dealings with shady
characters. Yet "America's Mayor" liked what he saw in the undercover cop
with six diamond studs in his ear ‹ a young blood whose wild style earned
him the name "Mayhem Magnet" ‹ and plucked him out to be the Big Apple's top
cop.

 Once his act went national, however, cracks in Kerik's facade started to
look a lot worse. One of the most detailed exposes stressing Kerik's alleged
ties to New York mobsters ran in the New York Daily News on Sunday. Why
didn't those in the administration who vetted Kerik for this job know any of
this? 

 Giuliani told Time magazine after Kerik's withdrawal that although he knew
there were black marks on Kerik's record, "everything seemed pretty normal,
at least by Washington or New York standards." Talk about your moral
relativism! Or family values. On Monday, the N.Y. Daily News reported that
Kerik had juggled two extramarital affairs while police commissioner.

 Bottom line: A smart guy like Giuliani should have suspected something in
1998, when his wife and his deputy mayor attended Kerik's lavish wedding,
which was dotted with mob-connected characters. This was two years before he
appointed Kerik to head the New York City Police Department.

 To be fair, it would be only later that the Daily News reported the wedding
was paid for with money from folks with city contracts and mob connections,
some of whom were later indicted. But anyone knowledgeable about Kerik
should have known that he could not afford his sumptuous lifestyle, given
his bankruptcy and, according to Newsweek magazine, a contempt citation for
failing to pay a debt in a business dealing.

 Kerik soon learned to play the game with the big boys, though. After
gaining celebrity for his prominent role during 9/11, he shot through that
infamous government/private sector revolving door into a key position
working for Giuliani's firm. Kerik also lent his prestige to stun-gun
manufacturer Taser International, which ‹ surprise! ‹ has a contract with
Homeland Security.

 Never mind, though, as Kerik cleared out his Taser stock options last month
with a $6.2-million windfall, ready to be flipped by kingmaker Giuliani
right back onto the taxpayer payroll. Giuliani, of course, was trading his
own crucial support for Bush's campaign to give Giuliani Partners what would
have been some Halliburton-grade access to the White House.

 Why wouldn't Giuliani push his onetime chauffeur and now a senior vice
president in his firm to be Homeland Security czar, overseeing 22 federal
agencies with a combined budget of $37.7 billion? The war on terror is a
mother lode to be mined by those who are connected. Come to think of it,
Kerik shouldn't have been rejected by the Bushies. If they were honest, they
would celebrate him as the prototypical GOP operator, playing the people for
a profit.


If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
latimes.com/archives.

Article licensing and reprint options




 Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times