President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, offering him a clean slate 14 years after he pled guilty and went to prison.
Kerik, who served as police commissioner under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani — now Trump's private attorney — from August 2000 to December 2001, served three years of a four-year sentence after pleading guilty to eight felonies, including lying to the White House on his application to become Homeland Security secretary, lying about work done by a mob-connected contractor, and filing false tax returns.
In 2004, Kerik was nominated to serve as secretary of Homeland Security during the Bush administration. But it was that appointment's vetting process that led to the charges.
He was sentenced exactly 10 years ago, on February 18, 2010. He reported to prison in May 2010 and was released in May 2013.
Kerik received the clemency with emotion, thanking Trump.
"With the exception of the birth of my children, today is one of the greatest days in my life -- being made a full and whole American citizen again," Kerik's tweet reads, in part.
Kerik spoke briefly to NY1 on the phone after the pardon:
"I'm happy," he said. "That's all I should say. I can't get into it now. Thank you."
Trump has long been considering issuing the pardon to Kerik.
"Yes, I just pardoned Bernie Kerik, a man who had many recommendations from a lot of good people," Trump said Tuesday. "You know, often times, pretty much all the time, I really rely on the recommendations of people that know them."
Among those people was Long Island Congressman Peter King, who signed a letter speaking to Kerik's character.
"Without getting into his guilt or innocence — and I have feelings about that, I thought he had a bad deal — but even assuming that he was guilty," King told NY1 in a phone interview. "To me, you look at his whole record, his work as commissioner, his work in the military, just his dedication to New York, his heroism — she warranted a pardon."
Kerik began as a driver and bodyguard to Giuliani and rose to be the mayor's commissioner of correction and then police. Kerik and Giuliani led the city in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the city jail in lower Manhattan was even briefly named after him.
"I was there when the second plane hit the building," Kerik said in 2001. "I was right underneath the building. I don't think anybody would have imagined that one of those airliners would have hit building like that."
"The pardon of Bernie Kerik is completely in line with the rationale for a pardon as described in the Code of Federal Regulation," Giuliani tweeted. "Bernie has met and exceeded those standards, paid his debt to society, and has been out of confinement more than the requisite five years."
Kerik was one of several people who were granted clemency by the president Tuesday. Another was former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year prison sentence was commuted by Trump.