Age, Biography, and Wiki
Bernard Bailey Kerik was born on September 4, 1955, in Newark, New Jersey. He passed away on May 29, 2025, at the age of 69. Kerik gained prominence as a police officer and later served as the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department from 2000 to 2001. During his tenure, he played a significant role in the response to the September 11 attacks.
| Occupation | Republicans |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 4 September 1955 |
| Age | 69 Years |
| Birth Place | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | Jersey |
| Date of death | 29 May, 2025 |
| Died Place | New York City, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is limited public information available about Bernard Kerik's height, weight, or body measurements.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Kerik was married, but he also conducted two extramarital affairs simultaneously, using an apartment set aside for first responders at Ground Zero. However, detailed information about his current or past relationship status is not widely available.
His mother was Irish American. His paternal grandfather was an ethnic Slovak who emigrated from Western Ukraine (then the Russian Empire) to a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania and changed his surname from Kapurik to Kerik.
As police commissioner, Kerik had a tense relationship with the FBI, in part because he criticized federal agencies for not sharing enough intelligence with local police. Although crime in New York dropped during Kerik's tenure, he was sometimes criticized for abuse of power. The New York Times reported that: "Behind the scenes Mr. Kerik ruled like a feudal lord. Moreover, many former employees have said. He had taken up with a woman who was a correction officer; he was accused of directing officers to staff his wedding. He befriended the agency's inspector general, whose watchdog responsibilities require keeping an arms-length relationship, and the investigator attended his wedding."
In February 1976, Kerik completed his tour of duty in South Korea and abandoned his daughter and her mother. Her mother emigrated to the U.S. and married an American. She learned of Kerik's life decades later when she saw him on television and notified their daughter of his location. Kerik wrote in his autobiography that the episode was "a mistake I will always regret, and I pray to God that one day I can make it right."
Kerik was married three times. His first marriage was in August 1978; he and his wife were divorced in 1983. Kerik's second marriage lasted from September 1983 to July 1992; the marriage produced a son. Kerik's third marriage took place in 1998, and the couple had two daughters.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Linda Hales (m. 1978-1983) Jaqueline Llerena (m. 1983-1992) Hala Matli (m. 1998) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of May 2025, Bernard Kerik's net worth was estimated to be around $6.9 million, according to reports related to his shares in TASER International Inc. However, other sources suggested his net worth might have been as low as $1 million at the time of his death, due to significant financial losses following his legal troubles. Kerik earned approximately $12 million over six years following the 9/11 attacks but lost much of it after being convicted of tax fraud.
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush appointed Kerik as the interior minister of the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority. In 2004, Bush nominated Kerik to lead the Department of Homeland Security. However, Kerik soon withdrew his candidacy, explaining that he had employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny. His admission sparked state and federal investigations. In 2006, Kerik pleaded guilty in Bronx Supreme Court to two unrelated misdemeanor ethics violations and was ordered to pay $221,000 in fines.
Kerik was close friends starting in 1995 with Larry Ray, who was later accused of running a sex cult at Sarah Lawrence College. Ray donated $7,000 to help pay for Kerik's November 1998 wedding and reception, and was the best man at Kerik's wedding. Shortly after, Kerik helped Ray obtain a job as security director with a construction company run by Frank DiTommaso and his brother known as Interstate Industrial Corporation, where a portion of Ray's responsibility was to assist the business in obtaining a license from city regulators, as the business faced allegations that it was tied to organized crime. In 2000, Ray and Kerik had a falling out, around the time that Ray was indicted for racketeering, and Ray began to cooperate as a cooperating witness with prosecutors who were investigating Kerik, and whose investigation ultimately led to Kerik being convicted and imprisoned. In 2019 Kerik said: "Larry Ray is a psychotic con man who has victimized every friend he's ever had. It's been close to 20 years since I last heard from him, yet his reign of terror continues." In 2022, Ray was convicted of extortion, forced prostitution, and forced labor, and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Career, Business, and Investments
Kerik's career began in 1986 when he joined the New York City Police Department. He served as the Commissioner of Corrections from 1998 to 2000 and then as the NYPD Commissioner from 2000 to 2001. After leaving the NYPD, he was appointed as the interior minister of the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority by President George W. Bush in 2003. However, his nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was withdrawn due to legal issues.
Kerik was involved in several business ventures and wrote a bestselling book. His career was marred by legal troubles, including convictions for tax fraud and making false statements, which led to a prison sentence. He was later pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.
Following his departure from the New York City Police Department, he was employed by Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm formed by Giuliani. He was the senior vice president at Giuliani Partners and chief executive officer of Giuliani–Kerik LLC, an affiliate of Giuliani Partners. Kerik resigned from these positions in December 2004. In March 2005 he created The Kerik Group LLC, where he served as chairman until June 2009, consulting in crisis management and risk mitigation, counterterrorism and law enforcement, and jail/prison management strategies.
On November 8, 2007, Kerik was indicted by a federal grand jury in White Plains, New York on charges of tax fraud and making false statements to the federal government about the $250,000 he received from Wertheimer. Prosecutors further accused Kerik of receiving about $236,000 from New York real estate mogul Steven C. Witkoff between 2001 and 2003. Some of the New York charges were dropped in December 2008, but Kerik was then re-indicted on the same charges in Washington, D.C.
On December 31, 2021, Kerik forwarded a letter to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack holding hearings regarding the 2021 Capitol riot indicating his conditional willingness to testify as to his knowledge of that event. He provided documents that included the outline of a strategy to overturn the election, and his involvement in securing space at the Willard Hotel, nearby the Capitol, for the Trump team's "war room" and the Kerrick firm's billing of over $55,000 for rooms there for legal personnel, plus $10,000 in travel expenses.
Social Network
Bernard Kerik maintained an official presence on social media platforms, including Instagram (@bernardkerik), where he shared updates about his life and work.
However, in 2004, after his nomination as Secretary of Homeland Security, nine former employees of the hospital told The Washington Post that Kerik worked with a hospital administrator (Nizar Feteih) to surveil people's private affairs, leading to a scandal partly based on Feteih's use of "the institution's security staff to track the private lives of several women with whom he was romantically involved, and men who came in contact with them." Kerik and Feteih (among others) were fired and Kerik deported.
He was credited with reducing violence among the city's jail inmates. Giuliani appointed Kerik commissioner of the city Department of Corrections, a post he served in from 1998 to 2000.
Kerik was serving as police commissioner during the September 11 attacks. He was in his office when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower. He arrived at the base of the North Tower three minutes before United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower, showering him and his staff with debris as Giuliani, Kerik, and their top aides were trapped inside a building at 75 Barclay Street. The September 11 attacks gave Kerik a national profile. Kerik served 16 months as commissioner, leaving office on December 31, 2001, at the end of Giuliani's term.
Prior to Kerik's departure from Iraq on September 2, 2003, more than 35,000 Iraqi police were reinstated, 35 police stations were placed in Baghdad, with several more around the country, senior deputy interior ministers were appointed, and the newly established governing council appointed the first Iraqi minister of interior, post–Saddam Hussein, Nuri Badran. A United Nations UNODC fact-finding mission report dated May 18, 2003, at the beginning of his term, noted that Kerik's team made "positive interventions in a number of areas."
Ryan forwarded to Ron Watkins the Kerik offer to help overturn the election. The Watkins plan for Trump to remain in office incorporated what was termed an "astroturfing cult". The instruments for effectuating the plan were to utilize an army of social media MAGA posters and gathering protests outside the homes of lawmakers as a means of intimidation.
Education
Details about Bernard Kerik's educational background are not extensively documented in available sources.
In July 1974, he enlisted in the United States Army and received a General Educational Development (GED) certificate from the State of North Carolina while assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After leaving the New York City Police Department, he received a B.S. in social theory, social structure and change, from Empire State College of the State University of New York in 2002.
Giuliani appointed Kerik the 40th Police Commissioner of New York City on August 21, 2000. Giuliani made the appointment against the advice of the outgoing police commissioner Howard Safir and many members of his own cabinet. Kerik's critics noted that he did not have a college degree, which at the time was a requirement for police officers to advance to the rank of captain and above.
Kerik received honorary doctorates from Michigan State University, New York Institute of Technology, Manhattanville College, College of New Rochelle, and Iona College, and he received the President's Medal from Hunter College.
