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Even though, as police commissioner, Bernard Kerik won accolades for managing the NYPD after September 11, his defense team has been barred from talking about it in the trial over allegations that he accepted apartment renovations from a construction company that he later recommended, in exchange, for city contracts. "This is not about 9/11," judge Stephen Robinson said today. But what Robinson doesn't understand is that for Kerik, who has pleaded not guilty, everything is about 9/11. The nomination for Homeland Security director that destroyed his career was about 9/11. The love nest for mistresses he maintained in ground-zero quarters that were meant for rescue workers was about 9/11. And his affair with tempestuous publishing titan Judith Regan was definitely about 9/11. So how is he supposed to go through a corruption trial without talking about it? It's practically all he has left.

Judge: No 9/11 mention at ex-commissioner's trial [AP]
Related: Kerik talks about his political downfall in the 2005 New York article Tears of a Cop.