Bushs Superbulle floppt: Kerik steigt aus

--- Als "ungemein qualifiziert" hatte Bush seinen Wunschkandidaten für das Heimatministerium, den Ex-Polizisten Bernard Kerik, angepriesen. Doch wirklich geeignet schien der Superbulle nicht für den Job. Jetzt hat Kerik von selbst Bush seinen Rücktritt von der Kabinettsliste erklärt. Zu Fall gebracht haben ihn aber nicht die gegen ihn bereits vorgebrachten prinzipielle Bedenken -- sondern ein Steuervergehen: Das illegal beschäftigte Kindermädchen ist schuld. Kerik, 49, elaborated in a written statement, saying that in filling out forms required for Senate confirmation he "uncovered information that now leads me to question the immigration status of a person who had been in my employ as a housekeeper and nanny." "It has also been brought to my attention that for a period of time during such employment required tax payments and related filings had not been made," he wrote. Doch auch einige andere gegen ihn sprechende Punkte werden von der US-Presse noch mit erwähnt: Even before the nanny issue arose, Democrats had targeted Kerik as the most vulnerable of Bush's second-term nominations. White House officials realized he was becoming a lightning rod, although they had thought he would survive. Democrats were focusing on the quick riches Kerik had accumulated since resigning in 2002 as police commissioner, a post he held during the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Since leaving his city office, he had received $6.2 million by exercising stock options he received as a consultant and director for Taser International, a maker of stun guns that did business with the Department of Homeland Security.