Ex-NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik meets with special counsel investigators in 2020 election probe
Washington — Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik met with special counsel Jack Smith's team for about five hours on Monday as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, his lawyer Tim Parlatore confirmed.
The interview focused on efforts by Rudy Giuliani, who was previously an attorney for former President Donald Trump, to prove allegations of election fraud in seven states, Parlatore said.
CNN was first to report Kerik's meeting with special counsel investigators.
Kerik, a Trump ally, was police commissioner under Giuliani when he was mayor of New York City and the two worked together on an effort to identify widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Despite the allegations pushed by Trump and his allies, state and federal judges dismissed dozens of lawsuits challenging the election outcome, and every state certified its election results.
Kerik turned over thousands of pages of records to the special counsel before Trump was indicted last week for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The indictment also described the actions of six unnamed co-conspirators who allegedly schemed with Trump to block the transfer of power to President Biden.
Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, said it "appears" co-conspirator 1 in the indictment is Giuliani. The indictment describes the person as "an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant's 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not" and is someone Trump appointed to "spearhead his efforts going forward to challenge the election results."
None of the co-conspirators have been charged with any crimes.
During Monday's interview with investigators, Kerik discussed the scope of Giuliani's investigation into alleged election fraud and how Giuliani's team was composed, according to Parlatore. Investigators' questions had a significant emphasis on the role of Trump's political action committee and the apparent lack of funding it provided for Giuliani's efforts, Parlatore said. Kerik told investigators that more funding might have allowed them to run the fraud allegations to ground to determine credibility, the lawyer said.
Parlatore described the interview as friendly and productive.
- In:
- Rudy Giuliani
- Donald Trump
- Jack Smith
Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.
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