On November 18th, Chris Christie dropped a minor bombshell - he said he would give up his US Attorney seat effective December 1. This is strange timing - and incredibly fast - for a US Attorney to turn over his office.
As for the time-line - it's barely two weeks, and one of those weeks is Thanksgiving. Anyone who has been around a government office on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving knows that there are only two work days that week. So we are talking about roughly seven work days to turn over the entire US Attorney's office. That's fast. Even if you have an assistant that knows what's going on, that's fast. Consider for comparison that David Inglesias, who was fired, announced he would leave "in the next few months". Apparently, he expected it to take months, not weeks, to turn over the reins of his job. Why would Christie's job be any easier to turn over?
And the timing - sure it's good for the family to have Thanksgiving and Christmas, but what about the agency you are leaving? They get everything dumped on an assistant in December, then in January a new boss will come in and overhaul everything. Instead of a steady, slow transfer of power, you get two jerking, heaving movements within sixty days. And it's difficult not to notice that the list of NJ US Attorneys contains only one name of someone who filled the job because of the "Vacancy Reform Act". The current one. Now, to be fair, that law has only beeen effective since 1998 - but that means that neither Christie's predecessor, Robert Cleary, nor his predecessor, Faith Hochberg, left their office in such a lurch.
Why would Chris Christie do such a thing? Particularly if, as Christie's reputation would seem to say, he has such a stick in his butt for corruption and the investigation into Ferriero/BCDO - which has the potential to completely overhaul Jersey politics - is in its infancy? And why not hang around and get some credit for the terrorism trial of the Fort Dix terrorists? Let's be clear that jumping ship before the end of your term is not typical US Attorney behavior:
At least 54 U.S. attorneys appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate left office before completion of a four-year term between 1981 and 2006 (not counting those whose tenure was interrupted by a change in presidential administration). Of those 54, 17 left to become Article III federal judges, one left to become a federal magistrate judge, six left to serve in other positions in the executive branch, four sought elective office, two left to serve in state government, one died, and 15 left to enter or return to private practice.
Of the remaining eight U.S. attorneys who left before completing a four-year term without a change in presidential administration, two were apparently dismissed by the President, and three apparently resigned after news reports indicated they had
engaged in questionable personal actions. No information was available on the three remaining U.S. attorneys who resigned.
Well, of course, as Jason Springer has reported here at Blue Jersey, the Fort Dix trial is starting to look like a farce. So maybe Christie doesn't want his last major case to be a cosmic failure. But there may be a different reason.
Mr. Christie has not openly sought the office of Governor, nor has he formally stated that he will run. However, news reports indicate that he is in the process of interviewing running mates (http://www.politickernj.com/wallye/23185/christie-met-beck-discuss-09-campaign-lt-governor) and that his brother, Todd Christie, has ?represented his interests? at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota (http://www.politickernj.com/max/22962/christies-absent-his-brother-makes-rounds) ? at which convention it was reported that Todd Christie was involved in a discussion with several New Jersey Republican power-brokers concerning the viability of a Chris Christie candidacy (http://www.politickernj.com/max/23001/crowley-parties-delegation-mississippi-river-while-christie-forces-stay-underground).
It was alleged that Mr. Christie engaged in these preliminary activities regarding a candidacy for Governor of New Jersey while still employed as a United States Attorney.
Allegations such as those described above ordinarily would trigger an investigation by OSC and, if the facts warranted, a recommendation to the President of the United States for disciplinary action. However, because Mr. Christie is no longer a federal employee, OSC would be unable to obtain meaningful disciplinary action against him, even if our investigation were to substantiate the allegations described above. Consequently, we have decided not to inquire further into those allegations and have closed our file in this matter.
So, the allegations - which were simply reports from New Jersey media sources - that Chris Christie was, in fact, running a shadow campaign for Governor while still a US Attorney cannot be pursued because Christie no longer is a US Attorney. I am notified of this barely ten working days after Christie's resignation becomes effective. So which came first - the phone call notifying Christie that he would be investigated for Hatch Act violations or his "decision" to abandon his job at an inopportune time (nice to do Christmas without a paycheck, don't ya know) and in a hurried manner?
Of course, no one can say what would have been found. And no one but Christie knows if such an investigation might have pushed him to resign faster than otherwise. But it's beginning to look increasingly like Christie's "non-partisan" reputation as a "corruption-buster" is nothing more than a veneer over a hard core of a bully who just happened to catch a few people on the wrong side of the partisan divide along the way.
This isn't about dinging Christie for busting actual corrupt politicians. It's about the hypocrisy of a man who built a reputation of going after people who were using their public office for political and personal gain, and all the while he is in violation of the law that prohibits using his office for political gain. It looks like Mr. Christie never really cared that someone was corrupt, only that they'd grab a few headlines for him to launch himself to something bigger and better. And just like everyone he busted, when push comes to shove, he choose CYA over doing what's right. So is his long awaited decision over his potential candidacy simply a stalling game to see if this story gets any legs?
And McGreevey? Yeah, he also jumped ship when he faced an investigation that was hitting too close to home. No one knows dirty tricks like the guy that investigates them.
