The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has ordered former New York City Police Chief Bernie Kerik to testify at his first trial in Georgia scheduled for later this month in connection with allegations of election interference by former President Trump and more than a dozen of his allies. issued a subpoena. In 2020, Fox News Digital confirmed.
Kerik was subpoenaed to testify before the trial of two of the 19 defendants (attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell) is scheduled to begin in Atlanta on October 23. CNN first reported that he plans to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights. It was reported on Monday. Trump and 16 others will be tried separately.
Kerik’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, told Fox News Digital that he asked prosecutors whether Kerik would be offered immunity if he is expected to testify as part of the conspiracy case. However, Parlatore stressed to Fox News Digital that he was not seeking immunity for his client.
“And when they said no, I said I didn’t care either way, but to expect my client to testify under oath without immunity…Mr. Wade goes back to law school. I think there is a need,” Parlatore said, referring to the special law. Prosecutor Nathan Wade has been leading the election interference investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis for nearly two years.
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Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik attends a memorial service marking the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2023 in New York City. Mr. Kerik was subpoenaed to testify in the Georgia election case. (Brian R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
“No competent criminal lawyer would allow Mr. Kerik to testify without immunity,” Parlatore said in a letter to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on Monday.
“To be clear, Mr. Kerik did nothing wrong and rejects your contention that he is an accomplice in any criminal activity,” Parlatore wrote. “Now that you have made the accusation publicly, you must now accept the consequences of Mr. Kerik (and presumably all of his unindicted co-conspirators) exercising their Fifth Amendment rights and refusing to testify. not.”
Kerik is not named as a co-conspirator in the court documents, which also allege unnamed individuals.
The letter states that Kerik will refuse to answer questions under oath unless he receives written assurances from the District Attorney’s Office not to prosecute.
Excerpts of an email from Bernard Kerik to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were made public at the 7th January 6 Committee Hearing on July 12, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Mr. Parlatore claimed that prosecutors had already told him that “if they wanted to indict Mr. Kerik, they would have done so already,” but that they have so far refused to give them any written commitments.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Fulton County DA’s Office for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Parlatore previously told Fox News Digital in July that Kerik had worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith on thousands of cases related to the Justice Department’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. He admitted that he had entered into a contract to hand over the documents.
At the time, Mr. Kerik’s lawyers pointed out that the documents could contain evidence of Mr. Trump’s exculpation and suggest that the former president’s investigators acted in good faith.
New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik stand at the scene of the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Rockaway, Queens. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Kerik’s lawyers initially refused to provide documents to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. They argued that there was attorney-client privilege, given that Mr. Kerik had worked with Mr. Trump’s lawyer, a former New York City attorney. Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the probe. Parlatore agreed to meet with Smith’s office to answer questions about the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill meeting after Kerik received a “standard offer letter.” CNN reported that he said that.
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Mr. Kerik, who served as New York City police commissioner from 2000 to 2001, pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony charges of tax evasion and making false statements to the government. He spent about three years in prison, then transitioned to house arrest and was eventually released on supervised release. President Trump pardoned Kerik’s past convictions in early 2020.
FOX News’ Andrew Murray contributed to this report.
