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Kerik's Nanny Just the Tip of the Iceberg: Reports Emerge
of Links to Mafia, Misuse of Police Power, Affair with Subordinate,
Taser Stock Profits and More
U.S. Army War Resister Jeremy Hinzman: "I Have a Duty
to Disobey"
Veterans Return From Iraq Disabled and Homeless
Investigative Reporter Gary Webb Who Linked CIA to Crack
Sales Found Dead of Apparent Suicide
Kerik's Nanny Just the Tip of the Iceberg: Reports
Emerge of Links to Mafia, Misuse of Police Power, Affair with
Subordinate, Taser Stock Profits and More
Homeland Security chief nominee, Bernard Kerik officially
claimed he was withdrawing his name after he learned that
he had employed an undocumented worker as a nanny and that
he refused to pay income taxes. But an array of other charges
and questions about Kerik's controversial past dominated news
headlines over the weekend.
The White House is in search of a new homeland security director
following Friday's surprise announcement from former New York
Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik that he was withdrawing
his name. Kerik officially claimed he was not seeking the
post after he learned that he had employed an undocumented
worker as a nanny and that he refused to pay income taxes.
But an array of other charges and questions about Kerik's
controversial past have dominated news headlines over the
weekend.
Newsweek uncovered that an arrest warrant was issued for
Kerik as recently as six years ago over a dispute involving
unpaid bills. The 1998 warrant was issued as part of a series
of lawsuits relating to unpaid bills on his condominium in
New Jersey.
The New York Daily News reports that Kerik had illegally
accepted thousands of dollars in cash and gifts while a public
official. A Daily News probe revealed that for many years,
one of Kerik's main benefactors was Lawrence Ray. Ray was
later indicted on unrelated federal charges tied to what the
Daily News called a "$40 million, mob-run, pump-and-dump
stock swindle."
The Washington Post reports that nine employees of the hospital
Kerik worked at providing security in Saudi Arabia accused
him of using his policing powers to pursue the personal agenda
of his immediate boss.
Questions have also been raised about Kerik's misuse of police
power while the head of the New York police department. In
one example, he was fined for using the services of three
police officers to help research his autobiography "The
Lost Son." He was also accused of sending homicide police
officers to question Fox News journalists after the book's
publisher, Judith Regan, lost a mobile phone after an interview
at the Fox studios. It turned out to have just been misplaced.
Kerik has also coming under close scrutiny for his windfall
profit from stock options in stun-gun manufacturer, Taser
International. He netted over $5.5 million on the options,
without ever having invested any of his own money.
Questions have also raised about his failure in Iraq to train
a new Iraqi police force. Kerik went to Iraq for a six month
tour of duty to help rebuild the Iraqi police force but he
abruptly left after just three months.
On Thursday, the day before he withdrew his name from contention,
Kerik was forced to testify in a civil lawsuit about an alleged
affair with a subordinate.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a close friend of
Kerik who reportedly pressed hard for his nomination, apologized
to the President Bush Sunday for the problems with his nomination.
U.S. Army War Resister Jeremy Hinzman: "I Have
a Duty to Disobey"
U.S. Army war resister Jeremy Hinzman made his case Monday
for Canada to give him refugee status. Hinzman fled there
in January after his application for Conscientious Objector
status was rejected by the U.S. military. Jeremy Hinzman joins
us from his home in Canada.
U.S. Army war resister Jeremy Hinzman made his case Monday
for Canada to give him refugee status. Hinzman fled to Canada
in January after his application for Conscientious Objector
status was rejected by the military. He is believed to be
the first U.S. soldier to file for refugee status in Canada
for refusing to fight in Iraq.
His lawyer and the Solicitor General's office are expected
to file written submissions by Jan. 24. After that, the judge
has said a decision would be made as soon as possible. If
the board denies his request he could be sent back to the
U.S. to face a military tribunal.
Hinzman is currently living in Toronto with his wife and
son. He joins on the phone from his home.
- Jeremy Hinzman, a US Army conscientious objector. He
is currently in Canada where he is seeking asylum.
Veterans Return From Iraq Disabled and Homeless
Studies find a high percentage of Iraq veterans are returning
home with mental problems and homeless shelters around the
country are reporting they are already seeing some recently
returned Iraq veterans showing up in need of shelter. We speak
with UPI Investigations editor Mark Benjamin.
A suicide bomber killed at least seven Iraqis at an entrance
to the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Monday.
The U.S. military said no U.S. soldiers were hurt in the bombing
that comes a day after seven U.S. Marines were killed in two
separate incidents west of Baghdad.
The attack comes a year to the day since U.S. forces captured
Saddam Hussein. At that time, President Bush and U.S. military
commanders hoped the former president's arrest would weaken
the Iraqi resistance. But, violence has continued unabated
and the death rate among U.S. troops has risen dramatically.
Nearly 1,300 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the war
began. Many thousands more have been wounded. Last week the
New England Journal of Medicine reported that the US is facing
a "severe shortage of surgeons in Iraq" to treat
wounded soldiers. It is now estimated that more soldiers have
been injured in Iraq than during the Revolutionary War, the
War of 1812, or the first five years of the Vietnam conflict.
And in what appears to be a chilling echo of the Vietnam
war, UPI found that homeless shelters around the country are
reporting they are already seeing some recently returned Iraq
veterans showing up in need of shelter. The Homeless Veterans
coalition estimates that nearly 500,000 veterans are homeless
at some point in a given year. Almost half served during the
Vietnam era.
- Mark Benjamin, UPI Investigations editor. He has been
closely following the hidden U.S. casualties from the Iraq
war. He was awarded the American Legion's top journalism
award for 2004 for his reporting on the plight of hundreds
of sick, wounded and injured soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga.
Investigative Reporter Gary Webb Who Linked CIA to
Crack Sales Found Dead of Apparent Suicide
Gary Webb, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter
who wrote a series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine
trafficking in Los Angeles, is dead at age 49. We hear an
1998 interview with Gary Webb on Democracy Now! and we speak
with his colleague, veteran investigative journalist Robert
Parry.
Gary Webb, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter
who wrote a series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine
trafficking in Los Angeles, is dead at age 49.
Webb was found Friday morning at his home in Sacramento County,
dead of an apparent suicide. Moving-company workers called
authorities after discovering a note posted on his front door
that read, "Please do not enter. Call 911 and ask for
an ambulance." Webb died of a gunshot wound to the head,
according to the Sacramento County coroner's office. He is
survived by two sons and a daughter.
Gary Webb's 1996 series in the San Jose Mercury News titled
"Dark Alliance" revealed that for the better part
of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to
Los Angeles street gangs and funneled millions in drug profits
to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras.
It provoked a fierce reaction from the media establishment,
which denounced the series. Following the controversy, San
Jose Mercury News executive editor demoted Webb within the
paper. He resigned and pushed his investigation even further
in his book "Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and
the Crack Cocaine Explosion."
- Robert Parry, veteran investigative journalist and author
of the new book "Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the
Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." For years he
worked as an investigative reporter for both the Associated
Press and Newsweek magazine. His reporting led to the exposure
of what is now known as the "Iran-Contra" scandal.
Past Democracy Now Coverage:
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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