A week after President Bush nominated him to be the new
director of the Department of Homeland Security, Bernard
Kerik withdrew his name from consideration. The former New
York City police commissioner cited potential problems with
taxes he hadn’t paid for domestic help, as well as the fact
she may have been an illegal immigrant. The DHS director
oversees that Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS).
Kerik, who was the
keynote speaker at March’s ISC West in Las Vegas,
announced he would not be seeking the DHS post on Dec. 10.
Bush had announced Dec.
3 that Kerik was his choice to be the nation’s homeland
security czar.
The New York Times reports ties to a construction
company connected to the New York mafia also brought into
question Kerik’s credentials to be DHS chief.
Kerik was police commissioner during the 9/11 attacks on
New York.
