Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik is accusing the select committee probing the Jan. 6 violent protest at the Capitol of playing "political theater."
"I don’t trust this committee," he told Newsmax Friday. "I don't want political theater."
Kerik has been subpoenaed by the committee for his testimony and documents. The panel said Kerik paid for hotel rooms that served as command centers ahead of Jan. 6.
Now, Kerik is demanding he be allowed to give testimony publicly and not behind closed doors and says he has "overwhelming evidence of election fraud."
"I want to testify publicly," he said. "I think the American people should be able to hear firsthand the overwhelming evidence we have on election fraud."
In a letter to the panel chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Kerik’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore said: "To be clear, Mr. Kerik very much wants to cooperate with your committee and provide all of the requested documents and to testify and answer all questions regarding these matters.
"Unfortunately, our efforts are being hampered by your insistence on using a fatally flawed deposition process rather than a public hearing."
"Given the past conduct of certain members of this committee, Mr. Kerik is understandably concerned about sitting for a deposition behind closed doors which members of the committee will later leak selective and misleading portions of, while keep the remainder secret to intentionally deprive the public of proper context."
Kerik told Newsmax he is exploring the possibility of posting certain documents, which he believes are not privileged, on a website accessible by the public, while sharing it with the committee.
"I want people to see them in the full context," he said.
Kerik is due to testify before the committee on Jan. 13.
"Right now, we’re waiting for a response from the committee to my attorney’s letter," he said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.