WASHINGTON, 12 December 2004 — Bernard Kerik, President Bush’s choice to head Homeland Security, abruptly withdrew his name for nomination late Friday night, following questions concerning recent business dealings and his apparent failure to declare and pay taxes for domestic employees who may have also been illegal immigrants.

Kerik, the tough-talking former New York City police commissioner who was named last week to replace current Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, caught both the White House and the Department off guard with his decision.

“I am convinced that, for personal reasons, moving forward would not be in the best interests of your administration, the Department of Homeland Security or the American people,” Kerik said Friday in a letter to Bush.

Kerik said he could not allow personal matters “distract from the focus and progress of the Department of Homeland Security and its crucial endeavors.”

The surprise move late Friday sends Bush back in search of a Cabinet official to help guard the nation against another terrorist attack. The disclosure also disrupts the quick schedule Bush was using to replace nine of his 15 Cabinet secretaries after winning re-election last month.

It is not yet clear whether Kerik’s lucrative business deals or his nanny are responsible for bringing him down.

Some newspapers had begun investigating the fortune he had amassed since resigning as New York’s police commissioner, a job he held during the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Kerik — the bald, mustachioed former New York City police commissioner — was among a small group of leaders who became the face of the response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, often directing Manhattan’s reaction and recovery with then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

But since leaving his city job, Kerik earned $6.2 million by exercising stock options he received from Taser International, the Arizona-based manufacturer of stun guns, which did lucrative business with both the Homeland Security Department and law enforcement agencies.

As recently as midday Friday, the White House had defended Kerik against questions of conflict of interest involving his relationship with Taser.

Although he had initially garnered support from both Democrats and Republicans when Bush announced his nomination, doubts had also begun to surface on whether Kerik had the management experience to continue the nearly 2-year-long effort to meld the Homeland Security Department’s sprawling bureaucracy, which is made up of more than 180,000 employees from 22 federal agencies.

While assembling paperwork for his Senate confirmation, Kerik said he uncovered embarrassing questions about the immigration status of a housekeeper-nanny that he employed. As Homeland Security Secretary, Kerik would also oversee the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

In a telephone interview Friday night, former mayor Giuliani said he had discussed the immigration issue with Kerik in the last two days and agreed with his decision.

“I’m disappointed that this had to happen, but I think it’s the right decision, the only decision given the kind of issue that’s involved here,” Giuliani said. “I don’t think this would be as major an issue if it were a different department of government.”

Kerik’s personal lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said it was Kerik’s call to withdraw.

“It was Bernie Kerik who uncovered this on his own. He brought it to the White House,” said Tacopina, who described Kerik as “distraught.”