Former New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Bernard Kerik has turned over a batch of documents to the Democrat-led House of Representatives’ January 6 Select Committee, Politico has reported.
However, Kerik's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said the erstwhile commissioner provided a “privilege log” describing materials he declined to provide under Trump’s executive privilege. Among these documents is one titled “Draft Letter From POTUS to Seize Evidence in the Interest of National Security for the 2020 Elections". The letter was privileged because of its classification as “attorney work product".
Bernard Kerik had received a subpoena in November 2021, after it was claimed he attended a meeting on 5 January at the Willard Hotel - a luxury hotel near the White House - where Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former adviser, Steve Bannon, John Eastman, an attorney who worked with Trump's legal team, and others reportedly mulled options for overturning the election results, such as putting pressure on Trump's vice-president Mike Pence not to certify the Electoral College results.
The Capitol riot probe, slammed by Trump as a political witch hunt against him, has been seeking records and testimony from witnesses connected with the Willard Hotel-based “war room” in the days leading up to the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Capitol riot on 6 January.
“In the days before the 6 January attack, the former president’s closest allies and advisers drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of Electoral College votes,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) had stated.
The attorney for Kerik said he was hoping to obtain a waiver from Trump to release the withheld documents.
Parlatore also published on Twitter the letter he had sent to the House Select Committee members on 23 December saying that Kerik never determined conclusively there was widespread voter fraud. According to Parlatore, further investigations should have taken place, as “a large segment of the population believes there was fraud in the 2020 election.”
In the same letter addressed to the panel, Parlatore said the former police commissioner would agree to a voluntary interview on 13 January 2022, rather than a formal deposition. However, stated Parlatore, the panel insisted on a deposition after he sent his letter.
“They seem more interested in creating an appearance of non-compliance than conducting an actual investigation,” he was cited as saying.
No clarification was offered whether Kerik would appear for a deposition.
Capitol Mayhem
On 6 January 2021, Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the November 2020 presidential election.
Five people died during the riots, and dozens more were injured.
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. U.S.
© AP Photo / John Minchillo
Trump had held a “Stop the Steal” rally on 6 January outside the White House. Using his now-suspended Twitter account, the 45th president later urged his supporters "to stay peaceful" and "go home", recording a video address on 7 January condemning the Capitol violence. Trump was impeached for an unprecedented second time over accusations of "incitement to insurrection", but was then acquitted in the Senate.