NEW YORK — Bernard Kerik, who served as New York City’s police commissioner on 9/11 and later pleaded guilty to tax fraud before being pardoned, has died. He was 69.
The New York Police Department confirmed his death Thursday on social media.
FBI Director Kash Patel said his death came “after a private battle with illness.”
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reflected on his long history with his former police commissioner on his show Thursday.
“We’ve been together since the beginning. He’s like my brother,” Giuliani said through tears. “I was a better man for having known Bernie. I certainly was a braver and stronger man.”
Kerik, an Army veteran, rose to the pinnacle of law enforcement before a fall so steep that even a city jail named after him was renamed.
In 2010, he pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and false statement charges, partially stemming from over $250,000 in apartment renovations he received from a construction firm that authorities say counted on Kerik to convince New York officials it had no organized crime links. He served three years in prison before his release in 2013.
President Donald Trump pardoned Kerik during a 2020 clemency blitz. Kerik was among the guests feting Trump after his first appearance in federal court in Florida in a case related to his handling of classified documents, attending the former president’s remarks at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club.
Kerik was appointed by Giuliani to serve as police commissioner in 2000 and was in the position during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Kerik caught the Bush administration off guard when he abruptly withdrew his nomination to run the Department of Homeland Security in 2004.
At the time he said he had uncovered information that led him to question the immigration status of a person he employed as a housekeeper and nanny.
The sprawling homeland security bureaucracy, created by Bush in the aftermath of 9/11, oversees the federal agencies responsible for enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws, among many others.
In 2005, Kerik founded the Kerik Group, a crisis and risk management consulting firm.
He later worked for the former mayor of New York City surrounding the efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss.
Patel described Kerik in a post on social media as “a warrior, a patriot, and one of the most courageous public servants this country has ever known.”
“He was decorated more than 100 times for bravery, valor, and service, having rescued victims from burning buildings, survived assassination attempts, and brought some of the world’s most dangerous criminals to justice,” he said. “His legacy is not just in the medals or the titles, but in the lives he saved, the city he helped rebuild, and the country he served with honor.”
