Trump Pardons Former NYPD Commissioner Kerik

Washington – He was once on top of the world, before crashing to what he called “like dying with your eyes open.” And on Tuesday, he had his reputation restored.

Bernard Kerik, who received such high marks for his leadership of the NYPD during the 9/11 terrorist attacks that President George W. Bush nominated him as ther secretary of homeland security, was issued a full pardon by President Trump. It comes years after his release from a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion.

“There are no words to express my appreciation and gratitude to President Trump,” Kerik tweeted in a statement.

The president said that Kerik is “a man who had many recommendations from a lot of very good people.”

Kerik was a former business partner of Rudy Giuliani, becoming his police chief when the latter was elected to a second term as mayor in 1997. Both men became national heroes in the attack’s aftermath.

In 2004, Bush nominated Kerik to lead the fledgling department of homeland security. But the media started digging into his past and uncovered tax evasion charges. Kerik withdrew his nomination, and was convicted shortly afterward.

(Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)