WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Federal prosecutors have ruined Bernard Kerik's chances for a fair trial by making public some of his conversations with his lawyers, according to his attorney.
Kerik defense counsel Kenneth Breen, in a letter to the judge filed late yesterday in federal court, said prosecutors are "tainting the jury pool and irreparably harming Mr. Kerik's ability to obtain a fair trial."
Kerik was indicted last month on allegations including lying to the White House, filing false income taxes and avoiding the nanny tax. He has pleaded not guilty.
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, then New York's mayor, appointed Kerik police commissioner in 2000. He endorsed President Bush's 2004 nomination of Kerik to head the Department of Homeland Security. Kerik withdrew, saying he had tax issues involving his former nanny.
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