Kerik, raising concerns that his documents could be released selectively or without context, indicated that he planned to post them on a public website.
Bernie Kerik, the former New York City police chief who aided Rudy Giuliani’s effort to discredit the results of the 2020 election, is inching closer to compliance with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee for his testimony and documents.
In a Thursday letter to Chair Bennie Thompson, obtained by POLITICO, Kerik’s attorney Timothy Parlatore indicated that Kerik intends to share documents he believes are “not privileged” with the panel by the end of next week and produce a log of other documents he believes should be withheld due to various privileges.
Kerik, raising concerns that his documents could be released selectively or without context, indicated that he planned to post them on a public website. Parlatore also indicated that Kerik would appear for a Jan. 13 deposition, as the panel has demanded, but intended to raise objections to the validity of the committee’s subpoena.
“As I have stated from the beginning, Mr. Kerik is happy to provide all of the responsive documents, as well as to sit and answer all appropriate questions regarding these matters,” Parlatore said in the letter.
The committee subpoenaed Kerik on Nov. 8, seeking information about his work with Giuliani, as well as his involvement in the so-called “war room” at the Willard Hotel, where Trump allies met to strategize about preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. The letter that accompanied the subpoena incorrectly suggested Kerik was present in the war room on Jan. 5, leading to an apology demand from Kerik.
Kerik had previously agreed to testify to the Jan. 6 committee if it permitted him to do so in public. His offer drew a positive statement from former President Donald Trump, who said he was willing to waive attorney-client privilege to permit Kerik to testify.
Citing that statement, Thompson pressed Kerik in a Dec. 10 letter, also obtained by POLITICO, to appear for a deposition on Jan. 13 — several weeks later than the panel initially planned — or face a potential criminal contempt citation.
“[T]he Select Committee would view Mr. Kerik’s failure to appear at the deposition and to produce responsive documents or a privilege log … as willful non-compliance,” Thompson wrote. “Such willful noncompliance with the subpoena would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures.”
Thompson also rejected Kerik’s request for a public hearing in lieu of a deposition. But he did say the committee would take the request “under advisement” and consider for a future hearing after Kerik appeared for his deposition.
In his reply to Thompson, Parlatore rejected the notion that Trump had waived attorney-client privilege altogether, but rather emphasized that he did it only on the condition that Kerik be permitted to testify publicly.
“[T]o the extent that you do not understand the conditional nature of this privilege waiver, I would suggest that you have committee counsel obtain a clarification from the attorneys for former President Trump,” Parlatore wrote.
Parlatore also criticized Thompson for making a contempt threat when Kerik had repeatedly proposed options for full cooperation.
“To be clear, Mr. Kerik wants very much to cooperate with the Committee and to comply with the subpoena,” he said. “He is being hampered by the Committee’s refusal thus far to accept the conditions of the privilege waiver.”
also encouraged the committee to seek resolution via a civil lawsuit, which he said Kerik would welcome and agree to expedite.
The bulk of Parlatore’s letter focuses on disputed claims that the Jan. 6 committee is structurally invalid because it includes no members appointed by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy. This claim has become a feature of multiple lawsuits lodged by targets of the committee investigation resisting subpoenas for testimony or phone records.
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Bernie Kerik, who was subpoenaed from the Jan. 6 select committee for his testimony and documents, indicated Thursday that he planned to post the documents on a public website https://t.co/9oX0rGV81z
— POLITICO (@politico) December 24, 2021
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