Paul_D's Blog

Bernard Kerik, (born 1955) the former head of the New York City Police Department, who was briefly a nominee to head the US Homeland Security Department, was arraigned last november in US federal court in White Plains, New York on a 16-count indictment that includes felony charges of fraud and conspiracy.

Among the principal charges against Kerik is that he took some $255,000 worth of goods and services from a New Jersey construction and waste haulage company linked by investigators to the Gambino crime family. In return, he is said to have helped the mob-connected firm by lobbying city officials to approve it for contracts.

Kerik is also charged with accepting—shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks—a rent-free luxury apartment worth $9,000 a month on Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side from a real estate management firm that was also seeking city business. The firm ended up covering some $236,000 in free rent for the then police commissioner.

The indictment further charges Kerik with taking and failing to report a $250,000 loan that originated with an Israeli industrialist seeking business deals with the federal government. This was in 2003, a period in which Kerik was sitting on several government boards and had been appointed as a senior police advisor under the US colonial administration in Iraq.

Other charges include tax evasion on his elicit income, falsely claiming $80,000 in charitable contributions on his tax returns and lying to US officials during the vetting process for his nomination to the Homeland Security post.

The principal charges related to the mob-linked firm were already well known. Kerik pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges covering basically the same offense in a state case in 2006, receiving no jail time and merely a $221,000 fine.

Earlier this year the former police commissioner rejected a plea deal with the US government because he would not, as in the state case, escape jail time. The charges he now faces carry a maximum sentence of 142 years in jail.

The focus of media reaction to the Kerik indictment has been on how it—not to mention a trial that could play out in the midst of the 2008 election campaign—will affect the political fortunes of Republican presidential frontrunner and former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. It was Giuliani who tapped Kerik, first to head the city’s sprawling jail system and then to become head of its nearly 40,000-member police department. Then, after leaving office, he recommended Kerik to Bush for the post of Homeland Security secretary.

Campaigning in Iowa, Giuliani told reporters: “I made a mistake in not clearing him effectively enough. I take responsibility for that.” He dodged further questions on whether he would stand by Kerik, affirming that it was inappropriate to discuss a matter before the courts.

Giuliani’s evasion won’t wash. During the state case against Kerik, Giuliani was compelled to acknowledge under oath that he had been briefed on the ties of his nominee for police commissioner to the mob-connected businessman, but that he had no recollection of it. This represented a fallback position from his earlier claims that he had known nothing about the matter.

One would think that being told that the man he wanted to head the country’s largest police department was accepting money from people linked to the mafia would be something the mayor, a former federal prosecutor, would have picked up on. The only credible explanation is that Giuliani knew and appointed him anyway.

Moreover, Kerik was not just some job applicant whom the mayor failed to thoroughly investigate. Rather, he was handpicked by Giuliani and installed in senior positions for which he was manifestly unqualified.

The relation between Kerik and Giuliani began when the latter was running for mayor against incumbent Democrat David Dinkins in 1993. A junior-ranking NYPD detective, Kerik was attracted to Giuliani’s law-and-order program and became the Republican candidate’s bodyguard and chauffeur.

In gratitude for Kerik’s personal services and unquestioning loyalty, Giuliani appointed him to a sinecure in the city’s jail system and then made him correction commissioner. In 2000, he appointed him police commissioner. The choice of a high school dropout to head the NYPD, the largest US police department, sparked significant controversy, given that mid-level police supervisors are required to hold a college degree.

That Giuliani did not know about his protégé’s corrupt practices is simply not credible. The city’s Department of Investigations had uncovered his ties to the mob-linked firm during its investigations of the company and they were aired again in the routine probe of Kerik when he was nominated to head the police department. And one of the principal officials Kerik was lobbying on the company’s behalf was the head of the city’s Trade Waste Commission, who just happened to be Giuliani’s cousin.



A web of scandals and abuses of power

Moreover, the actions summarized in the federal indictment constitute only a part of the web of scandals surrounding the police commissioner. In the aftermath of September 11, for example, it emerged that Kerik had taken over an apartment overlooking the rubble of ground zero meant to serve as a rest area for rescue and recovery workers. Instead, he appropriated it to carry on two simultaneous extramarital affairs, one with a female jail guard and the other with his millionaire publisher.

In both cases, the commissioner’s messy personal life spilled over into official abuses of power. In the case of the jail guard, the city was confronted with lawsuits brought by jail supervisors who said that they were retaliated against by Kerik for attempting to impose discipline on his girlfriend. And in the case of the publisher, Judith Regan, the police commissioner dragooned homicide detectives into police-state-style visits to the homes of junior level employees at Fox Television to interrogate them after Regan reported that her cell phone had gone missing during an appearance on the network.

In his autobiography, The Lost Son, Kerik includes a revealing account of a meeting in which Giuliani told him he was going to name him first deputy correction commissioner, a post for which the street cop felt himself woefully unprepared. After convincing him he could do the job, Giuliani led him downstairs to a dimly lit room where senior administration aides waited. Each embraced Kerik and kissed him on the cheek.

“I wonder if he [Giuliani] noticed how much becoming part of his team resembled becoming part of a mafia family,” Mr. Kerik wrote. “I was being made.”

There is no doubt that Giuliani not only noticed the resemblance, but reveled in it. Throughout his tenure at City Hall, one of the mayor’s less than endearing quirks was a constant recitation of lines from his favorite movie, “The Godfather,” which would send his aides into titters.

Behind this ritual was a mindset that intermingled arrogance, criminality and authoritarianism, producing atrocities like the stationhouse torture of Abner Louima and the police killings of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond, as well as a series of corruption scandals.

Once Giuliani was forced from office by term limits—though not before trying to cancel the 2001 election on the grounds that only he was fit to lead the city after 9/11—he and Kerik both cashed in on their September 11 fame.

Giuliani proclaimed Kerik a “hero” of the terrorist attacks, though the police commissioner’s function on that day was not that different than when the two first met—trailing the mayor north from ground zero as a kind of glorified bodyguard. Meanwhile, he left behind an emergency response that was in chaos, in which lack of coordination and failure of communication between the NYPD and the Fire Department has been singled out as a factor in the horrendous death toll among firefighters that day.

Kerik became a “security expert” in Giuliani’s new consulting firm, while raking in millions of dollars serving on the board of Taser Inc., manufacturer of the electric stun gun, and acting as a spokesman for US drug companies trying to use a supposed security threat as a pretext for blocking cheap imports from Canada.

It was not just Giuliani who knew what Kerik was up to, but the Bush administration as well. While some aides had uncovered information about Kerik’s links to mob-connected individuals, Alberto Gonzales, then the president’s counsel and later US attorney general, overrode their concerns and recommended his appointment to the Homeland Security post.

COVINGTON, KY– Longtime politician and business leader Jeff Wolnitzek was sentenced today to eight months in prison for using illegal immigrant labor at his commercial interior contracting company.

He also will forfeit $2 million.   U.S. District Judge David Bunning called Wolnitzek’s business practices “cheating” and said unscrupulous businessmen like him were contributing to the nation’s illegal immigrant problem.

When the conviction forced Wolnitzek from his council seat in Fort Wright, city leaders passed a resolution recognizing the many achievements of their former colleague.

The public knew Wolnitzek as a hard-working man dedicated to public service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBride said, but behind closed doors he was a cutthroat businessman who had no regard for the law.

Wolnitzek pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain. Wolnitzek subcontracted with illegal immigrant Louis Garcia for as much as half of its labor force from August 2002 through November 2006, according to the plea agreement.
The scheme fell apart in November 2005 when Garcia pleaded guilty to tax evasion and agreed to become an undercover informant for federal agents investigating Wolnitzek. He wore a wire during meeting where Wolnitzek agreed to continue to use Garcia’s illegal immigrant labor even after Garcia was jailed on the tax evasion charges. Wolnitzek even insinuated that Garcia should flee to Mexico where he could continue to run the subcontracting business through his wife or brother-in-law. Wolnitzek did gain an economic advantage because he didn’t pay workers compensation and withhold taxes on the illegals employed.  The carpenter’s union, and at least three of Spectrum’s competitors wrote letters to Bunning urging a harsh sentence.

“This illegal activity puts honest contractors at a competitive disadvantage in the bidding process,” wrote Rank Reynolds, the director of the union. “This means a loss in revenue for legitimate contractors that can’t compete against unscrupulous parties.”

i hear these caps are worth $5 a piece.  i hope tv news will encourage the thieves to turn the caps in without punishment.  stealing a cap from a fire hydrant is awful.  what is with the thieves of today.  they seem to have no honor even among themselves.  and i blame all of society's ill manners on tv programing.   tv programing has failed to demonstrate moral values and wholesomeness.  fart jokes on sit-coms... just awful writing.  where is the self-censorship by the producers? seems to me producers have no honor.  we need gov't police to keep the programs from the crappy writing.  yep, gov't censors are a good thing.

looks like mark thompson. 

hey mom, you didn't cook the spaghetti sauce long enough. You can help prevent this infection by handling and cooking meat in a safe way. For your protection, follow these rules:

• Wash your hands carefully with soap before you start cooking.
• Cook ground beef until you see no pink anywhere.
• Don't taste small bites of raw ground beef while you're cooking.
• Don't put cooked hamburgers on a plate that had raw ground beef on it before.
• Cook all hamburgers to at least 155°F. A meat thermometer can help you test your hamburgers.
• Defrost meats in the refrigerator or the microwave. Don't let meat sit on the counter to defrost.
• Keep raw meat and poultry separate from other foods. Use hot water and soap to wash cutting boards and dishes if raw meat and poultry have touched them.
• Don't drink raw milk.
• Keep food refrigerated or frozen.
• Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
• Refrigerate leftovers right away or throw them away.
• People with diarrhea should wash their hands carefully and often, using hot water and soap, and washing for at least 30 seconds. People who work in day care centers and homes for the elderly should wash their hands often, too.
• In restaurants, always order hamburgers that are cooked well done so that no pink shows.

How is the infection treated? There is no special treatment, except drinking a lot of water and watching for complications. Don't take medicine to stop diarrhea unless your doctor tells you to. This medicine would keep your intestines from getting rid of the E. coli germ. If you are seriously dehydrated, you might need to go to the hospital to have fluids put into your veins with an IV.

(Good morning Steve!  G' Morning Will.  Hey Lisa!)  I am impressed with the cool comfortable description of today's failure to stop.   Everyone thought the bad gal might start driving again after she was initially halted. LAPD neglects to place a car in front of the bad gal's car and she drives off!   Cops are dimwits.  What good is being the mayor of a big city if you can't have affairs with news people?  I saw the morning report several months ago in front of Getty House when Elizabeth attempted to chat up the mayor with a spanish greeting.  It struck me as odd because the mayor ignored her and because english is our language, yet Liz's relying on an ethnic connection with the mayor seemed a pathetic effort to have rapport with a subject.  It was similar when she attempted to engage a child with spanish chat last week.  I guess that kid had some vital information which Liz wanted to broadcast.  Now the world knows that the mayor is a philandering fella, does the news community feel he would reveal city secrets to his lover?  Maybe his lover is a KGB spy (or deep pocket constituent attempting to influence legislation!)  or maybe she is a Liz Espinosa--meaning a very smart, talented news person!  She would look nice on the ch 11 news set!

watching Good Day.  Jillian is not there.  

 

Alright!  I always liked Steve Kmetko.  I recall the first time I saw him on KNXT ch 2.  Handsome, cool hair style, nice demeanor, presentation and voice!  and his last name reminded me of the rock 'n roll radio station KMET.  Nice to see him on ch 11.  He's gained a few pounds and speaks with a slight affected blue blood rhythm.  I like it!

as spanish missions were planted in california, the indians were attacking.  it was no cake walk to settle california.  san gabriel, san diego, santa barbara, monterrey had presidios (forts)-- the british and the french had navy ships in the pacific. 

a trail from santa fe to san gabriel through Mojave and Cajon pass was dangerous because of Mojave indians.

california was sparsely populated with spanish emigrants.  Mexican governing was weak.

Presidents Jackson, Taylor wanted to buy the SF bay area from Mexico.  Polk offered to buy all California  but his rep was turned down.

Polk encouraged an uprising of californians rather than a war with mexico to annex california.

the spanish settlers who were in calif after Mexico declared independence from spain had no allegiance to mexico and wanted to be joined to the US.

She has a fountain of behind-the-scenes knowledge thanks to her marriage to Oscar-winning producer Richard Zanuck.  Born in Maryland, she was the first runner-up in the 1965 Miss USA pageant. In November of that year, she signed a seven year deal with 20th Century Fox. Her television debut came in back-to-back episodes of Batman in 1966. Linda Harrison


Now divorced from Zanuck,  can talk about lots of interesting stuff. she was originally slated to play the role of the police chief's wife in Jaws. was offered the role. but Universal Studios president Sid Shienberg had offered the part to his wife, actress Lorraine Gary. According to Dick Zanuck, to smooth things out, Shienberg picked up the telephone and called the producer of the upcoming film Airport 1975, William Frye. "Bill," Shienberg said, "you've got another passenger on your airplane."

While she didn't get the part in Jaws, she was on location during the shoot, and although Sid Shienberg is often credited with championing Steven Spielberg, it was Zanuck and his co-producer, David Brown, who kept Spielberg working on Jaws despite the myriad of problems that arose. Prior to Jaws, Spielberg had directed the Zanuck/Brown produced Sugarland Express.

why does the guest attendance book seem to be so thin?  one would suppose LA has more potential guests than any other market and yet all we see are a Hollywood Squares collection.  Does anyone other than Suzanne Somers want to be on Good Day?

I feel the movie Billy Bathgate in  which Dustin Hoffman was cast as  gangster Dutch Schultz sucked because Dustin was not believeable as a mobster.

December 7, 1941.    let's call it samurai day.  Midway... US fighter airplanes could not do shjt against those Mitsubishi Zeros.    But the US dive bombers took out four japanese aircraft carriers.   Those Japanese were a tough enemy.  Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb.  We don't have trouble with Japanese do we?  Islamists...  did you hear about the new American Vaccine?  seems some kind of biologic infection is going to be circling the globe in about ten years.  Americans were innoculated, as were the British, the French, and the Russians. 

What do you think?  Was an American President allowing some muslim group to develop such a biological weapon? We dominate because we have the muscle and because we are smarter.

 

dear doctor, please tell me. I am watching Oprah.  why do i dislike Brooke Shields and Maria Shriver and Katie Couric?  I like Dorothy, Lisa, Jean, Nischelle, Elizabeth,  and Jillian. Demi Moore does nothing for me.  Why do I dislike Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Debbie Matenapoulus, yet I adore Rosie and Joy.  what do you feel it is about those I like and those I do not like?

without great effort he befriended or was befriended  by the most influential columnists of the time: Winchell, Jimmy Cannon, Grantland Rice, Bill Corum, Earl Wilson, and Red Smith.  Acquiring a new sense of leadership, he also showed a decent respect for beat writers, less renowned journalists who wrote each day.

Entering Toots Shor's in the West Fifties, one passed a large, round bar packed at appropriate hours by characters from sports, theater, advertising, and public relations.  Drink prices were stiff. The place was called a gymnasium with room service, different from a candlelit French restaurant.

An ethic of puritanism prevailed. One did not sit in that joint and recount sexual conquests. Did not even tell dirty jokes.  Journalists from the city’s 11 dailies also hung out there. They could duck in for a quick drink and pick up copy for a column by noting who was present that night. During the 1940s and 50s when New York became the capitol of the world, Toots Shor’s restaurant was the capitol of the city’s pop social scene. Toots described himself as a mere saloon keeper. Yet his restaurant was the center of urban glamour and money.