Kim Scheinberg

From the NYT obituary of Bernard Kerik:

"In 2004, he was named by the president to head the Department of Homeland Security. But he withdrew one week later because, he said, he had employed an undocumented immigrant as a babysitter and neglected to pay payroll taxes."

It is impossible for me to convince my kids who came of age during the Trump presidency that this was a normal thing that happened in politics

Even minor scandals were once considered career-limiting. Imagine...

May 30, 2025 at 5:28pmWeb
Show threadC.Suthorn May 30, 2025

@kims

Trump hat die Linie zwischen erlaubt und kriminell nie ueberschritten.

Er ist immer auf seiner seite geblieben.

Show threadBarbara MonacoMay 30, 2025
@kims That's the excuse Kerik gave for withdrawal. It's quite possible that he really feared that other information would come to light during Senate hearings. Five years later he was convicted of multiple felonies. He spent three years in prison.
That said, it is remarkable that just a few years ago, relatively minor ethics issues could stop a nominee from taking a federal position. Now it seems that corruption is almost a requirement for being named to high office.
Show threadcaitpMay 30, 2025
@kims @billyjoebowers "you mean we impeached a guy for something that the new guy has a whole room of men and women doing to him constantly!?!"
Show threadkatzenbergerMay 30, 2025

@kims

Hold my beer: 😉

33 years ago, the German minister of economics used the stationery of his ministry for writing letters to multiple retail chains, praising the shopping cart chips produced by the company of a cousin as "smart products".

He had to resign.

It's known as the "letterhead affair", in Germany:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briefbogenaff%C3%A4re

Briefbogenaffäre – Wikipedia