Kerik withdrew over employing illegal immigrant:

[flowomo]

(snip)WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 - Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's secretary of homeland security late Friday night because of questions related to the immigration status of a former household employee.

Mr. Kerik's swift fall - he was nominated only a week ago by President Bush to replace Tom Ridge as homeland security secretary - came in a letter in which he called the offer "the honor of a lifetime," but said that "moving forward would not be in the best interest of your administration, the Department of Homeland Security or the American people."

In reviewing his personal finances this week as he prepared for confirmation hearings, Mr. Kerik said in a statement issued late Friday, he had determined that a housekeeper and nanny he once employed was not clearly a legal immigrant and that he had not properly paid taxes on her behalf. (end snip)


nanny went home two weeks ago


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/11/politics/11kerik.html?ei=5006&en=3382f8e54eaca480&ex=1103346000&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&position=

[Placebo]

1. This isn't the FIRST time...

that someone bush nominated for his cabinet has had to withdraw their name after it comes out that they were hiring illegal immigrants.

[flowomo]

4. this issue predates Bush....

Clinton nominee for AG, Zoe Baird, was forced to withdraw on the same issue.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Another Zoey Baird and Kimba Wood case!

The sad truth is that the well-to-do use undocumented domestic help and they fail to pay payroll taxes for them. The same thing happened to Michael Huffington, Arianna's husband at the time.

This is a truly bipartisan scandal!

[susu369]

22. Exactly - Linda Chavez

Bush nominated her for Secretary of Labor and she had to withdraw:


http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:WWCTbjcO53wJ:www-cgi.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0101/09/bn.02.html+linda+chavez+%2Bimmigration+%2Bproblem+%2Bwithdraw&hl=en

Current spin is "Clinton plaqued with Nanny Problems" - whenever in trouble bring up CLINTON.

[blondeatlast]

24. Heh, heh, for Secretary of Labor? Even the lazy-ass press

would jump on that one!

Secretary of Labor, how ironic can you get!

[Nikepallas]

2. I can't believe that is the real reason. With the REPUGS ruling they

would have easily over look that. I think it has to be something more.

[flowomo]

5. nope, this is it....

this issue is poison and has knocked off many people before. It was such a radioactive issue that it was a running joke in "Wag the Dog."

[SpiralHawk]

19. No it is not. It's just the handiest escape route

Stun Gun Kerik is a major thug and crook, and some of that would have come out in the hearings.

BushCo is just cutting its losses here, nothing more, nothing less. They do not give a crap about the "illegal immigrant" issue, and could run right over it if they wanted.

[Blue_In_AK]

31. Agreed

The nanny thing is a smokescreen.

[autorank]

3. Yeah, the maid was from f'ing Saudia Arabia...

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Tis is not the reason, this is what they *say* the reason is

The real reason is they saw right away what a lightening rod this asshole would have been. He would quickly become an object of ridicule in a way that would make Asskrofft look like a luvbunny.

Basically ...... they dumped his ass.

[banana republican]

8. so is he going o pay the taxes; penalties & interest???? n/t

[eleny]

9. This is like the old quitting to spend more time with the family deal

There's more to Kerik than some illegal nanny. I bet that in the days ahead even more will come out.

[Catherine Vincent]

10. You know that reason is probably a lie!

But the lazy weekend media will accept that is the reason and run with it.

[hexola]

11. Kerik too stupid for the job...he was not qualified...

The guy didn't even graduate high school...I have to wonder if he was just plain unqualified...not enough education to be effective in the job.

[tngledwebb]

21. Stupider than Ridge? Effective as Ridge? Qualified as Ridge?

And a HS education in this country is no guarantee of intelligence.
But the guy's slime trail is long and smelly.

[roguevalley]

12. I hadn't heard this. Thank God! This man is foul.

[faithnotgreed]

13. yeah right. they had to offer up something because earlier tonight

it was stated he wanted to do the old "spend more time with the family" which even for them was far too transparent.

therefore they were in a position of needing something semi controversial to satisfy the questions of why he would suddenly withdraw. not to say the maid issue wasnt bad news for him but this guy had so many scandals on the horizon they had to choose one that could be passed off more easily to the moral conservatives.

from the other things weve heard, this is the one reason that allows the media to just go on about their regular business of keeping bush propped way up. and they dont even have to break a sweat

[Kahuna]

14. Couldn't happen to a nastier person...

:puke:

[Nordic]

15. Bullfu**ing SHIT. Why does the press fall for this crap?

He "withdrew" (told to take a hike) because he's a goddamn DOUCHEBAG. He's a quitter, he's incompetent, he's unreliable, he's corrupt, and he's a coward.

Nanny my ASS

[proudbluestater]

16. Baloney! Nannygate is for small timers like Clinton

appointees who are unable and unwilling, due to MORAL VALUES, to commit real crimes.

Here's what happened to Kerik:

Questions Raised Over Bernard Kerik's Sale of Taser Stock
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal has raised questions over the recent sale of $4.4 million in Taser stock by Bernard Kerik, Bush's pick to head the Department of Homeland security. Kerik who serves on the board of the stun gun manufacturer sold off his stock in the company on Nov. 11 - more than three weeks before he was nominated for the homeland security post. But the sale also came just two weeks before a Nov. 26th article in the New York Times that questioned whether recent government reports had actually proven the safety of the stun guns. In the weeks before the article was published the entire Taser board, including Kerik, as well as several executives, sold off more than $90 million in the company's stock. The Journal estimates Kerik made a profit of $4.4 million on his stock sale. After the Times article was published, the company's stock plunged 7 percent.


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/10/1449244

[blondeatlast]

25. I KNEW there was far more to it. Now that he's withdrawn, this HUGE

story dies a quiet death.

These are slimebuckets of the first order.

Grrrrrrr...

:mad:

[DistressedAmerican]

17. Hopefully, He'll be the first of many...

A graphic to celebrate.

Suck on it Bernie Kerik. You were a jackbooted thug in NYC. I'm glad you won't be able to become one on a federal level!

Take that Rudy! Your boy went down over the oldest, lamest gaff in the book.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. Yeah Right.

I think the real reason had to do with good old fashioned corruption.

Also, does the administration really want hearings poking into what really happened in NYC on 9/11. There's that little thing about the police and firefighters not being able to communicate so when the cops pulled out the firemen were trapped.

[tngledwebb]

20. Tip of the iceberg, there's much more than that, esp re: 9/11 cover-up,

as you probably know. Something big got this guy pulled- he's closely linked with many who know too much about 9/11. That's why he was picked- to keep the cover-up going.
The nanny thing is probably true, but just a cover story for his long dirty trail- which would lead to others longer and dirtier trails.

It IS strange that the Govt couldn't forsee all of this.

[snippy]

23. He wasn't asked to withdraw. He was ordered to.

No nominee for any position tells any president to forget about it after having accepted a nomination. No nominee for any position blindsinds any president by withdrawing out of the blue. If a nominee discovers or remembers something in his or her background which may be a problem for the administration, the nominee contacts someone in the White House to discuss it and make a decision on how to proceed. If withdrawal is the decision, the White House determines the timing. Rove pulled the plug on Kerik.

And there are more reasons than just what Kerik claimed for why Rove ordered Kerik to withdraw his name. The democratic party needs a concise list of Kerik's legal, ethical and moral disabilities. Just off the top of my head I can think of these:

Disappearance of $1 million while running New York prison.

Outstanding warrant on condo dispute.

Unlawful use of public employees for personal purposes on at least two occasions.

Mysterious early departure from Iraq after training Iraqi police force.

Questionable purchases of weapons and ammunition while in Iraq.

Questionable investigations of personal lives of employees while doing security work in Saudi Arabia.

Possible bankruptcy fraud.

Failure to inquire about Bush administration failure in August 2001 to advise New York City about warnings of impending terrorist attacks.

Questionable stock option activity.

Nannygate problem.

Every democrat commenting on the White House having ordered Kerik to withdraw his name needs to have a list like this. The democratic party needs talking points on this.

[erpowers]

26. He Knew

I think he knew that his maid/nanny was an illegal immigrant. In addition, I do not think he just happened to find this out while filling out the application. I think someone in the media probably found out that he had employed an illegal immigrant. In order to get out before the story he (Kerik) withdrew his nomination and claimed he did not know the worker was illegal. However, I think he knew the maid/nanny was illegal.

[Catherine Vincent]

27. kick

[Cuban_Liberal]

28. This crap happens with dems, too n/t

[robbedvoter]

29. I am sure the real reason will come out soon - a power struggle of sorts

Someone else had dibs on this job and a horse head appeared on this guy's pillow. In this bunch, corruption is a plus, nannygate is a joke!

[dflprincess]

30. It is probably a cover but I still enjoy the irony

The proposed secretary of homeland security had a nanny who "was not clearly a legal immigrant". So the guy that was going to be in charge of the nation's security couldn't even check out the immigration status of one person. Not, of course, that that is the problem. The problem is said to be that he didn't pay her taxes.

I feel safer already.