Guliani’s ex-business partner’s troubles sticking like a coat of dead fish
Once upon a time, Bernard Kerik, fondly known to intimates as “Bernie” was a bona fide, 911 hero, former NYC police commissioner, best selling author, close friend of former NYC mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and Homeland Security Secretary nominee. But then, the snakes came out of the woodwork and Kerik’s nomination blew up like a fat lady’s gut at an all you can eat buffet and now he’s surrounded by enough legal bills and money problems to send his political enemies into fits of glee.
Kerik just plead not guilty to a 16 count federal indictment. The feds accuse him of receiving ''money and other things of value'' in return for lobbying city regulators on behalf of an unidentified New Jersey construction and waste-management company." (Bloomberg)
Kerik landed on his feet after getting a bloody nose as a Homeland Security-nominee, landing a position with former NYC mayor Rudy Guliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners. But, sad to say, Kerik would soon become one more piece of smelly road kill on the Giuliani Road to the White House. His legal problems continue to the Giuliani campaign, hanging over Giuliani like a coat of dead fish.
Quoting the Washington Post, USA Today says:
Fulbright & Jaworski accuses Kerik, a longtime associate of Rudy Giuliani, of failing to pay more than $200,000 in legal bills associated with state and federal criminal investigations .
Several of Giuliani’s current and former business bedfellows and friends are under investigation, or targets of lawsuits, according to the Wall Street Journal:
Msgr. Alan Placa, a childhood friend of Mr. Giuliani who is now a consultant to Giuliani Partners LLC, the candidate's consulting firm, went on administrative leave from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in 2003 after allegations surfaced that he had conspired to protect priests accused of improper sexual contact with boys.
Ken Caruso, a partner in the candidate's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, is accused in a lawsuit pending in a New York state court of professional misconduct toward a client….Also named in the suit is the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm, where Mr. Caruso is a partner in the New York office headed by Mr. Giuliani.
The Journal goes on to say that, “J. Virgil Waggoner, a wealthy Texan who lost $10 million in the 1990s investing with a now-defunct offshore bank that a Senate investigative report identified as fraudulent, described Mr. Caruso in the suit as being in league with the people who defrauded him. Mr. Waggoner accused Mr. Caruso of helping the people who defrauded him escape liability, even as he charged Mr. Waggoner for legal advice that went against his interests.”
