Former New York City police commissioner intends to comply with January 6 committee subpoena but wants an apology

By Paula Reid, CNN

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is demanding an apology from the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, but does intend to comply with a subpoena he has received from the panel, according to his lawyer.

Kerik worked alongside his longtime friend Rudy Giuliani, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump, in the weeks after the presidential election to find any evidence of voter fraud that would swing it for Trump. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

In a Tuesday letter to select committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Kerik’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore asked for additional time to comply with the panel’s requests so that they can go through requested materials and sort out any potential privilege claims with attorneys for the former President.

The committee subpoenaed Kerik earlier this month, in part, because it alleged he had attended a meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, on January 5 in which Giuliani; former Trump adviser Steve Bannon; John Eastman, an attorney who worked with Trump’s legal team; and others discussed options for overturning the election results — such as pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the Electoral College results, among other things.

Parlatore wrote to Thompson that “Mr. Kerik never attended any such meeting.”

“If you were not personally responsible for this fabrication and false statements, then someone on your staff was and should be held accountable,” he wrote.

Kerik previously confirmed to CNN that he paid for rooms and suites in Washington, DC, hotels that “served as election-related command centers,” according to the committee.

In February, Make America Great Again PAC, the successor organization to the Trump presidential campaign, made two large disbursements for “recount travel expenses,” according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. The PAC paid Kerik’s company and Giuliani’s company $66,251.54 and $76,566.95, respectively.

The Tuesday letter also outlined Kerik’s complaints about a press release issued by the committee along with the subpoena, insisting the committee should not have claimed that Kerik worked with Giuliani to “promote baseless litigation” without reviewing the evidence Kerik had gathered.

The former police commissioner is demanding that the press release and subpoena cover letter be withdrawn or corrected and an apology be issued, according to his lawyer.

But “notwithstanding the significant issues” with the committee’s public statements, “Mr. Kerik still intends to comply with the subpoena,” the Tuesday letter stated.

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