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| Kerik resigns from consulting firm he founded with Giuliani |
| By New York Daily News |
| Published: 12/27/2004 |
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Former New York police commissioner and failed homeland security nominee Bernard Kerik last Wednesday quit the consulting firm he founded with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani as scandals continued to swirl around him. In a hastily called news conference, Kerik said he met with Giuliani last Wednesday afternoon to tell him he was resigning. "Though it hasn't been an easy decision, I feel it was the right one," Kerik said, standing in front of a hotel in midtown. "The events surrounding my withdrawal have become an unfair and unnecessary distraction to the firm and, most importantly, to the work that they do at the firm." In a separate news conference, Giuliani insisted he had not urged Kerik to resign. But the split came after days of Giuliani increasingly distancing himself from his former protege. "I feel very bad for Bernie," Giuliani said. "He made the decision to resign, and I agree with him on that. I think he needs the time to focus, and I think he will re-emerge a better man." Kerik, who reportedly earned $500,000 a year in the job, did not take questions from reporters. He said he had no firm plans beyond exploring unspecified business opportunities, finishing his second book and getting back to the gym. "I want to apologize to my family, my friends, to the president and Mayor Giuliani for the difficulties that recent events have caused all of them," Kerik said. It was the latest episode in a stunningly fast fall for the man whose stern presence beside Giuliani in the days after Sept. 11, 2001, came to symbolize a nation's steely resolve in the face of immeasurable grief. On Dec. 3, Kerik reached the apex of his career. He stood beside President Bush in a nomination ceremony at the White House. Both men noted Kerik's moving life story. Born to a prostitute mother, he became a decorated detective, commissioner of the city jails and Police Department, author of a best-selling memoir and a speaker at the Republican National Convention. But a week after the nomination, Kerik withdrew, citing problems with a nanny's paperwork. Within days, the New York Daily News published the results of a six-month investigation finding Kerik failed to report thousands of dollars in gifts, became entangled with a company long suspected of mob ties and had carried on two simultaneous extramarital affairs in a secret apartment near Ground Zero. Last week, The News ran the content of e-mails Kerik sent to a friend in 1999 that suggest he was willing to divulge confidential details of a city investigation to the subject of the probe, Interstate Industrial of Clifton, N.J. The paper's hard look at Kerik flowed from previous News investigations that led to the arrest of two high-ranking officials promoted by Kerik when he headed the city Correction Department. In response, the city Department of Investigation launched a probe. "I'm confident that I will be vindicated from any allegations of wrongdoing," Kerik said. With Giuliani's consulting business relying largely on the reputation the former mayor forged during the aftermath of the terror attacks, many wondered how long the business could endure allegations of misdeeds by Kerik. Giuliani's firm announced last Wednesday that Giuliani-Kerik, an affiliate of Giuliani Partners, had been renamed Giuliani Security & Safety. Daniel Connolly, special counsel to the city Law Department under Giuliani, was named acting chairman and CEO. Giuliani said he is not angry at Kerik, adding that he hopes people will remember that Kerik risked his life as a cop and in starting a police force in Iraq. "He put his life at risk to protect them," Giuliani said. |
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