New Homeland Chief "couldn't run a commissary without getting greedy"

[JHB]

A pair of items from today's Newsday -- an article and Ellis Henican's column -- that illustrate that Bernard Kerik is just the man you'd expect to rise high in a Bush (mal)Administration:

Ellis Henican
Kerik nomination is a ticking time bomb
December 3, 2004

Let this be a warning from someone who's followed the man's ladder-climbing career: He's a personal and professional time bomb the Bushies will learn to regret. Don't say I didn't warn you, guys!

That's certainly the message that smart law-enforcement professionals in New York were exchanging yesterday, as they shook their heads in disbelief at Kerik's latest career goal.

"He couldn't run the Rikers commissary without getting greedy and making a mess, in a jam," one correction veteran said. "Now he's gonna be in charge of the Department of Homeland Security? Let's just hope the terrorists don't decide to come back."

This former subordinate was referring to just one of many petty scandals that have hung over Kerik's career. When he ran Correction, nearly $1 million of tobacco-company rebates were diverted into an obscure foundation Kerik was president of. This was for cigarettes bought with taxpayer money and then sold at inflated prices to jail inmates. But this rebate money - would kickbacks be a better word? - got spent entirely outside the normal rules for public funds.

No one was criminally charged. But a whole rash of IRS rules were seemingly violated. One board member quit in protest when the foundation treasurer refused to provide him with financial reports. And no one has ever explained where all the money went.

It was a typical Kerik deal. He behaved from start to finish like normal rules didn't apply to him.
---------
full column at http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/columnists/ny-nyhen034063947dec03,0,6577987,print.column?coll=ny-opinion-columnists
---------

Kerik critics speak out
BY DAN JANISON
Staff Writer
December 2, 2004, 8:58 PM EST

One non-fan, a Correction Department veteran, sarcastically asked if former three-star chief Anthony Serra, who rose up the ranks during Kerik's tenure but is now under indictment for misusing public resources, would become commerce secretary.

"He replaced the merit system with his own favoritism system," said another. Kerik has been lauded for the plunge in both inmate violence and staff overtime during his tenure. But subsequent investigations have turned up several situations that happened under the combined watch of Kerik and his hand-picked successor, William Fraser, that rank-and-file naysayers consider stains on his legacy.

For example, Serra's role as a chief became a kind of agency within an agency, according to federal prosecutors, in which he could manipulate the payroll to use dozens of underlings on Republican campaigns and to fix up his house. His trial has been continually postponed and now is scheduled for January in the Bronx.

Comptroller's audits indicated that throughout the tenure of Fraser and Kerik, there was little accountability for the purchase of goods from jail equipment to concession items.
------
Full article at http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/nyc-corr1203,0,4186683,print.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines
-------

[JHB]

1. .

I edited the main Subject line for better recognition

[JHB]

4. ..

[bryant69]

2. Well as for behaiving like the rules don't apply to him

It's not like he'd be the only person in this adminsitration with that perception.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[SmokingJacket]

3. He sounds perfect for this crew.

Plays fast and loose with the rules, and has a nose for a good scam. What could be better?