Former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik agreed to testify before the Jan. 6 Congressional Committee, but demanded an apology for false statements made about him.
Kerik is among the more than two dozen aides and allies of former President Donald Trump that have been subpoenaed by the committee in their investigation of the rioting at the U.S. Capitol.
While he says that he is willing to testify, he is demanding the panel retract a claim that he attended an alleged meeting on Jan. 5 where Trump and the other participants plotted to decertify the official results of the presidential election.
Kerik says he did not attend the meeting in Washington because he was attending to a family matter in New York.
“For these reasons, Mr. Kerik demands that both the letter and press release be withdrawn or corrected and an apology issued. Whether intentional or negligent, allowing these false statements to stand on the website of this committee is improper and should be corrected,” wrote Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Kerik.
Parlatore said that Kerik would testify but that he requested a 30 day extension to attend to the question of executive privilege and to collect the documents they demanded.
“Notwithstanding the significant issues outlined above, Mr. Kerik still intends to comply with the subpoena. However, we will need additional time to comply due to the volume of documents and privilege issues,” Parlatore said.
Former Trump campaign official Stephen Bannon refused the subpoena from the committee on the basis of a similar claim of executive privilege. That argument was rejected by the House of Representatives, who voted for him to be held in contempt of Congress.
Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury and he was arrested over the charges. He has warned that the incident would become the “misdemeanor from hell” for the Democrats.
Kerik was pardoned by Trump in 2020 over felony charges that included tax fraud and lying to White House officials. He had served a four year prison sentence for the convictions.
Here’s more about the Jan. 6 Committee:
Jan. 6 Committee Issues Subpoenas To Proud Boys, Oath Keepers www.youtube.com