Source: www.bloomberg.com

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who withdrew as President George W. Bush's nominee for U.S. secretary of homeland security 11 days ago, resigned from former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting firms.

Kerik, addressing reporters today in Manhattan, said he quit ``in the best interests of my family, my colleagues'' and the clients of Giuliani Partners LLC and its Giuliani-Kerik security- consulting affiliate. ``I plan to take some time off to focus on my family and the things that have to be focused on at this point, and to clear my good name,'' he said.

Giuliani, in a separate news conference outside his offices at Times Square, said he hadn't asked Kerik to resign. Giuliani, who has spoken of possibly returning to politics and has been touted by admirers as a 2008 presidential candidate, said last week he apologized to the White House for his role in pushing Kerik for the Homeland Security job.

Kerik, 49, took himself out of consideration for the Cabinet post Dec. 11 after saying he discovered he failed to pay taxes on a housekeeper and nanny whose immigration status wasn't certain. In subsequent days, reports in the New York Daily News, New York Times and elsewhere raised questions about his conduct while a New York City official, including ties to contractors who did business with the city.