NY POST: ILLEGAL NANNY KOS KERIK AT HOMELAND

ILLEGAL NANNY KOS KERIK AT HOMELAND

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/32657.htm

By DEBORAH ORIN and ZACH HABERMAN

December 11, 2004 — Former city top cop Bernard Kerik, who was set to take over the reigns as secretary of homeland security, shocked the nation last night when he withdrew his name from consideration because of a problem with an apparently illegal nanny.

Two lawyers working with Kerik on his upcoming confirmation as secretary uncovered that at one point last year he employed a nanny whose legal status in the country “didn’t pass the smell test,” according to a source close to Kerik.

In the bombshell phone call made to President Bush yesterday, Kerik cited “matters personal to me” as the reason for his withdrawal. But in a statement released last night, Kerik said “I uncovered information that now leads me to question the immigration status of a person who had been in my employ as a housekeeper and nanny.

“It has also been brought to my attention that for a period of time during such employment, required tax payments and related filings had not been made.” The nanny, a Mexican native, was hired to help his family living in New Jersey while Kerik was stationed in Iraq last year to train Iraqi policemen.

But she handed over immigration papers that were not hers, sources said. The unnamed nanny stopped working for the Keriks about two months ago and was said to have headed back to Mexico.

“When he was going over the Senate confirmation forms with two lawyers, they discovered that all the information that she gave didn’t pass the smell test,” said a source close to the 49-year-old former NYPD commissioner. “She claimed to him that she was legal. She claimed she had papers, but we can’t verify that she did. “He had to withdraw his nomination, because you can’t head INS [the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which falls under the umbrella of homeland security] if you can’t be sure of the papers of someone you employed.”

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani said Kerik first realized the blunder Wednesday night and then informed him. Kerik then spent the next day going over papers with his accountants and came to the conclusion that the nanny’s status was at best uncertain and at worst undocumented.

“He called White House and he said, ‘I think I should withdraw,’ ” Giuliani told The Post. “They were very gracious and very, very generous.” Kerik has taken several broadsides in the media since his nomination was announced Dec. 3 and was unable to withstand the intense media scrutiny.

Financial questions were raised after it was revealed the former cop, who declared bankruptcy in 1988, sold $6.2 million worth of stock in Taser International, which manufactures stun devices for police and military use - and is pitching its wares to the Department of Homeland Security for use by border agents. Other embarrassing or questionable incidents involving Kerik were re-examined: .The assignment of several NYPD homicide detectives to retrieve a cellphone lost by his book publisher, Judith Regan. .The assignment of a city detective to Ohio to find out information about his mother, whom he branded a prostitute. .Questions about $1 million in tobacco rebates for cigarettes sold to prisoners while Kerik was correction commissioner. .His hasty and early exit from Iraq after a huge explosion in Baghdad.

The Los Angeles Times blasted Kerik’s nomination, calling the ex-detective a “Giuliani acolyte who was a relentless attack dog for Bush,” and said his inexperience in federal government could be a major handicap. And Newsday columnist Ellis Henican presciently summed up the nomination: “He’s a personal and professional timebomb the Bushies will learn to regret.” The surprise announcement sent shock waves through state political circles, since many people - including New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton - felt a homeland secretary chief with personal ties to New York would make a huge difference in the city’s ability to get money from the federal government. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Bush administration “will move as quickly as we can to name someone else to fill the position.”