It's no secret that Blue Jersey has had our eye on Chris Christie for many years. Much of that work was led by the efforts of huntsu, whose work exposing the real Christie was years before it's time. Take a look at what huntsu said in April of 2007 after Christie announced a speaking tour:Clearly for someone covered by the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in politics, this speaking tour is patently unethical and should be stopped immediately.
Often the "appearance of impropriety" is enough to generate an investigation of a public official by a prosecutor. Given how he got the job, how his investigation and conviction rates have changed, and his public speaking tour there is no way anyone can say that there is no appearance any longer. Now at the time, Christie would have said that anyone suggesting any violations was just playing pure politics. But given the revelations in the House Judiciary Documents that Karl Rove and Chris Christie spoke about Christie running for Governor while he was US Attorney, those questions raised by huntsu and the Hatch act become that much more relevant:Guidelines spelled out in the Hatch Act prohibit federal employees organizing political meetings or assembling campaign staff. The prohibitions also apply to preliminary political activities that set a candidacy in motion, said Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the Hatch Act Unit in the Office of Special Counsel in Washington.
"Any kind of preliminary activity that leads to formally becoming a candidate can be considered candidacy in terms of the Hatch Act and would be in violation," said Hamrick. Preliminary activity, such as having discussions years before you announce your candidacy and sending people to campaign for you at your party's national convention? Leading to formally becoming a candidate, such as the campaign Christie is running right now? Add those two up and you get a violation of the Hatch Act and that's not huntsu saying it, that's the Office of Special Counsel. Again I'll ask, who was playing politics again? The people who questioned Christie's actions and motives, or the man himself who was carrying them out?
Updated by Jason: It looks like Thurman Hart was ahead of his time as well and he got Christie on the record too back in December of 2008 after Christie quickly announced his resignation:A few months ago, at the end of primary season, I filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (Word doc) asking them to investigate Chris Christie's actions (see here and here and here at NJ Voices) and determine if he was in violation of the Hatch Act. In part, the complaint reads:
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 and that his brother, Todd Christie, has "represented his interests" at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota - 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.
I received their response today (pdf file), only a short three and a half months after I filed. In part, it reads: 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? In their own response, they practically admit that if the information available now was known then, it would constitute an investigation and possible disciplinary action. |
