NYT - Lapses Feared in 2000 Vetting of Kerik

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Lapses Feared in 2000 Vetting of Kerik
By KEVIN FLYNN and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

Published: December 17, 2004

In the days since Bernard B. Kerik withdrew his nomination as homeland security secretary late last week, the city's Department of Investigation has grown increasingly concerned about possible lapses in the background check it conducted on him before he was appointed New York's 40th police commissioner in 2000.

The agency said in a statement yesterday that it has been unable to find any evidence that Mr. Kerik had filled out a background form, as usually required, before his appointment to the post by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Officials are also interviewing employees and searching for records that might explain why a body of uncomplimentary information the agency had learned about Mr. Kerik was apparently never considered by City Hall before his appointment in August 2000.

...

If Mr. Giuliani's recollection is correct, the department's decision not to inform him raises questions about the management of information in his administration.

"That would be highly unusual," said William B. Eimicke, a professor of public administration at Columbia University. "It's hard to imagine how that would happen, that they wouldn't have passed that information to City Hall. Whether the commissioner would have communicated it directly to the mayor or not is a wholly different question."


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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/nyregion/17kerik.html