SO DOES RUDY SHOP SEPHORA TOO?
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, RUDY'S KEY MAN
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Michael Chertoff
2nd Secretary of Homeland Security
In office
February 15, 2005 – January 21, 2009
President George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded by Tom Ridge
Succeeded by Janet Napolitano
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
In office
June 10, 2003[1] – February 15, 2005
Preceded by Morton I. Greenberg
Succeeded by Michael Chagares
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey
In office
1990–1994
Preceded by Samuel Alito, Jr.
Succeeded by Faith S. Hochberg
Born November 28, 1953 (age 56)
Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Meryl Chertoff
Children Two
Alma mater Harvard University (B.A., J.D.)
Occupation Attorney
Religion Judaism
From 1979-1980 he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act.
He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, as a federal prosecutor, and as assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded Tom Ridge as United States Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15, 2005.
Since leaving government service, Chertoff has worked as Senior Of Counsel at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling.[2] He also co-founded the Chertoff Group, a risk management and security consulting company, which employs several senior officials from his time as Secretary of Homeland Security as well as Michael Hayden, a former Director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Public service
3 Secretary of Homeland Security
3.1 Construction of border fence
3.2 Actions regarding illegal immigration
4 Views on globalization
5 References
[edit]Early life
Chertoff was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Rabbi Gershon Baruch Chertoff (1915–1996), the former leader of the Congregation B'nai Israel in Elizabeth and Talmud scholar, and Livia Chertoff (née Eisen), El Al flight attendant. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Paul Chertoff (emigrated with his parents from czarist Russia, present day Belarus) was a noted Talmud scholar.[4]
Chertoff went to the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth as well as the Pingry School. He later attended Harvard University, where he was a research assistant on John Hart Ely's book Democracy and Distrust, graduating in 1975. He spent one year of this studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. He then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978, going on to clerk for appellate judge Murray Gurfein for a year before clerking for United States Supreme Court Justice William Brennan from 1979 to 1980. He worked in private practice with Latham & Watkins from 1980 to 1983 before being hired as a prosecutor by Rudolph Giuliani, then the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, working on Mafia and political corruption-related cases. In the mid 1990s, Chertoff returned to Latham & Watkins for a brief period, founding the firm's office in Newark, New Jersey.
[edit]Public service
In September 1986 as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chertoff together with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudolph Giuliani were instrumental in the crackdown on organized crime in the Mafia Commission Trial.
In 1990, Chertoff was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.[5] Among his most important cases, in 1992 Chertoff put second-term Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann in federal prison for over two years on charges of defrauding money from a savings and loan scam. Chertoff was asked to stay in his position when the Clinton administration took office in 1993, at the request of Democratic Senator Bill Bradley.[6] He was the only U.S. attorney not replaced.[6] Chertoff stayed with the U.S. Attorney's office until 1994, when he entered private practice, returning to Latham & Watkins as a partner.
Despite his friendly relationship with some Democrats, Chertoff took an active role in the Whitewater investigation against Bill and Hillary Clinton: he was special counsel for the Senate Whitewater Committee studying allegations against the Clintons.
In 2000, Chertoff worked as special counsel to the New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee, investigating racial profiling in New Jersey. He also did some fundraising for George W. Bush[citation needed] and other Republicans[citation needed] during the 2000 election cycle and advised Bush's presidential campaign on criminal justice issues. From 2001 to 2003, he headed the criminal division of the Department of Justice, leading the prosecution's case against terrorist suspect Zacarias Moussaoui.
Chertoff is the co-author, along with Viet Dinh, of the USA PATRIOT Act, signed into law October 26, 2001[citation needed].
Chertoff also led the prosecution's case against accounting firm Arthur Andersen for destroying documents relating to the Enron collapse. The prosecution of Arthur Andersen was controversial, as the firm was effectively dissolved, resulting in the loss of 26,000 jobs. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction and the case has not been retried. At the DOJ, he also came under fire as one of the chief architects of the Bush administration's legal strategies in the War on Terror[citation needed], particularly regarding the detainment of thousands of Middle Eastern immigrants[citation needed].
When Chertoff faced Senate confirmation in 2003 for nomiation to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia by Bush on March 5, 2003, Hillary Clinton (then a Senator from New York) cast the lone dissenting vote against Chertoff's confirmation. He was confirmed by the Senate 88-1 on June 9. Mrs. Clinton explained that her vote was in protest of the way junior White House staffers were "very badly treated" by Chertoff's staff during the Whitewater investigation.[7].
[edit]Secretary of Homeland Security
File:Chertoffinaug.JPG
Michael Chertoff with George W. Bush
In late 2004, the controversial Bernard Kerik was forced to decline President Bush's offer to replace Tom Ridge, the outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security. After a lengthy search to find a suitable replacement, Bush nominated Chertoff to the post in January 2005 citing his experience with post-9/11 terror legislation. He was unanimously approved for the position by the United States Senate on February 15, 2005.[8]
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina most of the criticism was directed toward the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but DHS was criticized as well for its lack of preparation.[9]
Chertoff was the Bush administration's point man for pushing the comprehensive immigration reform bill, a measure that stalled in the Senate in June 2007.[10]
Chertoff was asked by the Obama administration to stay in his post until 9 a.m. January 21, 2009 (one day after President Obama's inauguration), "to ensure a smooth transition".[11]
[edit]Construction of border fence
In April 2008 Chertoff was criticized in a New York Times editorial for waiving the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental protection legislation to construct a 700-mile (1,100 km) fence along the Mexico–United States border. The Times wrote: "To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border."[12]
According to New York Times columnist Adam Liptak, Chertoff had excluded the Department of Homeland Security "included laws protecting the environment, endangered species, migratory birds, the bald eagle, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom."[13]
"Securing the nation's borders is so important, Congress says, that Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, must have the power to ignore any laws that stand in the way of building a border fence. Any laws at all," Liptak wrote.[13]
A report issued by the Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan research division of the Library of Congress, said that the unchecked delegation of powers to Chertoff was unprecedented: "After a review of federal law, primarily through electronic database searches and consultations with various CRS experts, we were unable to locate a waiver provision identical to that of §102 of H.R. 418—i.e., a provision that contains 'notwithstanding language,' provides a secretary of an executive agency the authority to waive all laws such secretary determines necessary, and directs the secretary to waive such laws."[14]
[edit]Actions regarding illegal immigration
In September 2007, Chertoff told a House committee that the DHS would not tolerate interference by sanctuary cities that would block the "Basic Pilot Program", which requires some types of employers to validate the legal status of their workers.[15] He said that the DHS is exploring its legal options and intends to take action to prevent any interference with the law.[16]
In 2008 it became public that the housekeeping company Chertoff had hired to clean his house employed illegal immigrants.[17][18][19]
[edit]Views on globalization
At the Global Creative Leadership Summit in 2009, Chertoff described globalization as a double-edged sword. Although globalization may help raise the standard of living for people around the world, Chertoff claims that it can also enable terrorists and transnational criminals. “The ocean is no longer a protective device,” Chertoff said.[20]
[edit]References
^ Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
^ Covington & Burling (2009). Michael Chertoff. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
^ Chertoff Group (2009). Team. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
^ Marek, Angie C."A New Sheriff in Town", U.S. News & World Report, July 10, 2005. Accessed May 16, 2008. "A rabbi's son, he was born in blue-collar Elizabeth, N.J. Worshipers from Elizabeth's former Congregation Bnai Israel remember Chertoff's father, Gershon Chertoff, as a man with a vast collection of books and a keen interest in current events. Michael's grandfather Paul Chertoff, also a rabbi, was a professor of the Talmud, the collected writings that constitute Jewish civil and religious law."
^ U.S. Attorney's Office District of New Jersey, A Rich History of Service
^ a b "Chertoff called 'consummate professional'". MSNBC via Associated Press. 2005-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
^ Ratner, Lizzy (2005-01-16). "Hillary's Nemesis, Mean Mike Chertoff, Is Up for Homeland". The New York Obserever. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
^ "Bush names new US security chief". BBC. 2005-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
^ Executive Summary, Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, 2006-2-15, Retrieved 2007-6-11
^ Chertoff, Bush Look for Next Move on Immigration June 8, 2007
^ "Bush Homeland Security Officials to Stay on Till Weds.", Washington Post, 2009-01-19 (accessed 2009-01-21).
^ anonymous (2008-04-03). "Michael Chertoff’s Insult". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
^ a b Liptak, Adam (2008-04-08). "wer to Build Border Fence Is Above U.S. Law". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
^ The New York Times. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/20080408_CRS_report.pdf. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
^ DHS - EVerify "DHS website" December 1, 2007
^ Chertoff Warns Sanctuary Cities on Illegals "NewsMax" September 6, 2007
^ "Chertoff Used Cleaning Company That Hired Illegal Immigrants". Fox News. December 11, 2008.
^ http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/11/Illegal-immigrants-cleaned-Chertoffs-home/UPI-55761229009653/
^ Hsu, Spencer S. (December 11, 2008). "Cleaning Service Used by Chertoff Calls Immigration Laws Unfair". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
^ Global Futures, Global Risks 2009 Global Creative Leadership Summit.
Political offices
Preceded by
Tom Ridge United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Served under: George W. Bush
2005 – 2009 Succeeded by
Janet Napolitano
Legal offices
Preceded by
Samuel Alito, Jr. United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
1990 – 1994 Succeeded by
Faith S. Hochberg
Preceded by
Morton I. Greenberg Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
2003 – 2005 Succeeded by
Michael Chagares
[show]
v • d • e
United States Secretaries of Homeland Security
[show]
v • d • e
Cabinet of President George W. Bush (2001–2009)
[show]
v • d • e
United States Attorneys for the District of New Jersey
Categories: Assistant Attorneys General of the United States | George W. Bush Administration cabinet members | Harvard Law School alumni | Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States | American Jews | New Jersey lawyers | New York lawyers | People from Potomac, Maryland | People from Elizabeth, New Jersey | American people of Russian descent | American people of Romanian descent | United States Attorneys for the District of New Jersey | Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush | United States Secretaries of Homeland Security | Jewish American politicians | 1953 births | Living people
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BERNIE KERIK
Rudy Giuliani and Bernie Kerik: The Final Chapter
After Kerik's guilty plea, more secrets slip out
A A AComments (0) By Tom Robbins Tuesday, Jan 19 2010
The main events in the always fascinating saga of Rudy Giuliani and his once-beloved lawman, Bernie Kerik, came to a close late last year. Kerik copped a plea in November in federal court to fraud and tax charges stemming from favors he collected from a mob-tied contractor.
Stan Shaw
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More About
Rudolph GiulianiBernard KerikEdward KurianskyPoliticsLocal Politics
Giuliani finally ended his own tease just before Christmas, taking himself out of the running as a candidate for statewide office, at least for the immediate future.
All of which tended to lower the often-feverish temperatures of those of us who have closely followed the career paths of the volatile ex-mayor who tried to become president, and his one-time sidekick, the former police commissioner who nearly became the nation's Homeland Security secretary. But buried in court legal papers that were not released until weeks after Kerik's guilty plea are some strong hints of the lumps that the reputation of New York's legendary former chief executive might have taken had the Kerik case gone to trial.
Giuliani, who started out as a rackets-busting prosecutor, has always been fuzzy about his own knowledge of Kerik's ties to Interstate Industrial Corp. The contractors were desperately trying to convince city regulators that their business dealings with organized-crime figures were incidental, and that they should not be denied lucrative city contracts worth some $30 million. The city's concerns had been sparked after Interstate bought a large waste-transfer station on Staten Island from a Gambino crime family soldier named Edward "Cousin Eddie" Garafola, and then kept the gangster's wife and sons on the payroll as mob-owned trucks rolled through the gates.
Kerik helped contractors Frank and Peter DiTommaso relay their side of the story to city officials. The grateful builders in turn secretly funded a quarter-million-dollar renovation of Kerik's new Bronx apartment. All of this happened even as Giuliani was promoting his former driver and bodyguard from head of the city's Corrections Department to police commissioner.
When Kerik's Homeland Security nomination blew up in a tempest of scandal in 2004, the ex-mayor insisted that he knew nothing about his top cop ever going to bat for the mob-tainted contractors. But back in 2007, the Times' William Rashbaum got hold of a transcript of Giuliani's April 2006 testimony before a Bronx grand jury that was the first to probe the episode. Giuliani, the transcript showed, admitted that he was briefed more than once by his own top investigations chief—but then forgot all about it.
It took a lot of forgetting. Among the exhibits that prosecutors were prepared to introduce as evidence in the federal case were three pages of never-released notes that Kerik typed out in March 2000 regarding his involvement with Interstate. The memo—in detective-style jargon of initials and free-form punctuation—was written, prosecutors explained, for then city investigations commissioner Edward Kuriansky, who was regularly briefing Giuliani about his agency's activities.
The notes show someone who, as the government said in its motion, was "peculiarly well-informed about the nuances" of the investigation that city officials were then conducting:
"FD [Frank DiTommaso]," typed Kerik, "believes that perception about [the transfer station] emanates because of acquisition from EG [Edward Garafola] he was EG's primary customer when NYCTWC [the city's Trade Waste Commission] cancelled EG's license. EG contacted him, explained that his license was pulled and that he needed to sell the company. FD's analysis reveals that it's beneficial to acquire based on their needs and structures deals within 30 days to avoid losing license. Part of agreement is that EG's wife and two sons stay on for 4 weeks to familiarize incoming team with business. NYCTWC makes request to interview EG's relative, they walk out. $2M to $1,750,000 w/ 5 year payout."
City officials had good reasons to be concerned that a top law-enforcement officer was involving himself with a contractor doing business with a gangland figure like Garafola. At the time, Garafola was in charge of the construction division of John Gotti's crime family, overseeing union shakedowns and contractor extortion. He later pled guilty to racketeering in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme aimed at the MTA and to having helped murder one of his cousins. Garafola was also indicted in a mob stock fraud case in Brooklyn in 2000; among his co-defendants was Lawrence Ray, Kerik's then best friend who had been hired by Frank DiTommaso as a consultant on Kerik's recommendation. It was that indictment, prosecutors stated in court papers, that prompted investigations chief Kuriansky to quiz Kerik about his complicated relationships with Interstate and its associates.
In his discussions with Kuriansky, prosecutors noted, Kerik also told the investigator about a controversial 1999 lunch at Walker's Restaurant in Tribeca with the head of the city's Trade Waste Commission, which was overseeing Interstate, and a Corrections Department investigator. Everyone present agreed that the subject was Interstate's ongoing licensing problems, although just how heavily Kerik advocated for the company later became a matter of dispute.
The important issue for city investigators, however, had to be just why Kerik—then the city's Corrections Department commissioner—was involved in any of this. Kuriansky, the key figure at the time, has since died. But prosecutors and FBI agents who participated in the federal probe quizzed city investigators closely about how things worked. One of those they questioned was Walter Arsenault, who served as first deputy commissioner for the Department of Investigation (DOI) from 2003 to 2008.
