Chris Christie - Worst abuser of US Attorney travel

Christie (3.00 / 2)

His travel is  so expensive because the airlines probably charge him for 2 seats, sorry I couldn't resist that one.

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by: bluescat1 @ Mon Nov 08, 2010 at 20:05:27 PM UTC

When your record is (0.00 / 0)

120 - 0 ...your entitled to a few extras .....even Babe Ruth got his own sleeping birth aboard the Zephyr  

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by: speedkillsu @ Mon Nov 08, 2010 at 22:03:27 PM UTC

(1) no you're not (3.75 / 4)

(2) Christie ain't Babe Ruth
(3) this is a pattern of him abusing his office
(4) is is hypocritical of him to do this and demand others abide by austerity
(5) you forget the deferred prosecution agreements that netted his bosses tens of millions, the USA who didn't investigate his brother millions.
(6) you forget the convenient bogus subpoenas on Menendez which got him off the list of USAs to be fired.

I don't expect you to answer, since you never do anything but post and run

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 01:30:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Christie's room service (3.00 / 1)

His tab for room service could have paid off the national debt.

It costs extra for an over-sized bathtub and steel-reinforced king-size bed.

And I'm sure The Great One didn't start his day at those cheap breakfast buffets where all they give you is canned juice, stale bagels and danish, a small box of Cheerios, and powdered eggs with crummy sausage links that always remind me of something I stepped on.

It takes a Big Man to catch all those criminals, and a Big Man needs a Big Breakfast; Champagne and caviar, smoked salmon, fresh bagels, prime angus steak and eggs benedict, only the best for the best lawman since Wyatt Earp.

http://christiegonewild.blogsp...

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by: ken bank @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 03:40:14 AM UTC

Mr. Christie........"One Set of Rules for Himself (4.00 / 6)

......and Another Set for Everyone Else!"  MMMmmm where have I heard that before?

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by: Senator Loretta Weinberg @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 03:40:32 AM UTC

I would say you see it everyday from every lawmaker.... (2.00 / 1)

-Clinton's telling everyone the rich should pay more while hiding assets and income in trusts to avoid taxes.

-John Kerry docking his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid a huge tax if he kept it in Mass.

-Unions and Congress being exempt from Obamacare.

-NJ Democrats pretending to care about middle class, elderly, and the poor all while catering to the unions which tax the same people they say they care about out of NJ.

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by: cwood123 @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 13:21:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Witch Hunt ....... (1.00 / 2)

Twelve of the 14 vouchers involved travel to five cities in connection with the case Christie's U.S. Attorney's Office pursued that ended with five companies in the hip and knee replacement industry agreeing, at a cost of $311 million in civil penalties, to new procedures and federal monitoring to avoid federal kickback charges.....Hmmmmm let me guess what 2 new jersey Senators had a hand in this now !  

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by: speedkillsu @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 10:16:29 AM UTC

HA (4.00 / 4)

ironic that you use "witch hunt" when it is Christie's witch hunt against Menendez that allowed him to keep his job.  Or the incredibly partisan split of prosecutions against Democrats - many arising from Dwek, who coincidentally happened to contribute to George W. Bush THROUGH Christie's fundraising/bundling.

Nothing to see there, though.

Most hysterical is the fact that you are citing Zimmer - which resulted in $26-$50 million in fees to Christie's boss John Ashcroft (what he was unqualified for) in "monitoring" bribes fees.

The report was about ALL US Attorneys - Christie was the biggest serial abuser here, and even the instance you cite is a perfect example of how full of hypocrisy and conflicts of interest he was.

But that doesn't matter to a blindly cheerleading partisan like yourself, right?

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 13:06:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Adam (4.00 / 3)

I think you struck a troll nerve. Multiple troll nerves.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 13:33:41 PM UTC

spotlight (0.00 / 0)

Chris Christie better enjoy the spotlight while he can ... in a few months he'll just be a $200 question on Jeopardy.  

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by: johnleesandiego @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 14:33:03 PM UTC

I don't think so. (3.67 / 3)

I think Christie will be around till people grasp the cost of him outweighs the savings of him. Might take a while.  

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 14:37:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

LOL ..$2,176 (0.00 / 0)

 Justice Department audit that criticised Christie for overspending on travel, by $2,176 over 14 trips, Obama's boys  will have to do better than that ! Hell Corzine spent millions on a super secret report to privatize the tpk and were still waiting to see just how he spent so much !  

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by: speedkillsu @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 17:55:14 PM UTC

for someone whose username (4.00 / 1)

and much of your squawking was based on Corzine "breaking the law", you are a wee bit defensive when it comes to Christie.

interesting how it is easy to excuse things on partisan lines.  Wonderfully hypocritical.

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 19:17:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

There was a poor schmuck... (4.00 / 1)

who got caught filling his personal vehicle with $50 of state gasoline... He was prosecuted.

Christie should pay the money back, and move on.

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Tue Nov 09, 2010 at 19:57:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd accept that (4.00 / 1)

and some kind of statement that admits to any responsibility.

For this, or really for anything for that matter.  There is such a long pattern of this (hypocrisy, bullying, insider deals, double standards, conflicts of interest, etc) and the complete lack of any humility ever, the always looking to get in someone's face about something is really tiring and embarrassing.

Everything doesn't have to be a battle, and he makes everything into a battle.

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Wed Nov 10, 2010 at 02:31:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd accept that (0.00 / 0)

and some kind of statement that admits to any responsibility.

For this, or really for anything for that matter.  There is such a long pattern of this (hypocrisy, bullying, insider deals, double standards, conflicts of interest, etc) and the complete lack of any humility ever, the always looking to get in someone's face about something is really tiring and embarrassing.

Everything doesn't have to be a battle, and he makes everything into a battle.

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Wed Nov 10, 2010 at 02:31:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Other choice bits of the report: (4.00 / 3)

Despite the lack of effective oversight, the large majority of U.S. Attorneys rarely or never exceeded the government lodging rate.1 However, a small number of U.S. Attorneys routinely exceeded the government rate, by large amounts, with insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification.

...we identified five [out of two hundred eight] U.S. Attorneys who exhibited a noteworthy pattern of exceeding the government rate and whose travel documentation provided insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification for the higher lodging rates...

Every U.S. Attorney we asked to interview consented to an interview except for two, as detailed below....

During 2007-2009, U.S. Attorney C [Christie] submitted 23 vouchers that included reimbursement for lodging. Of the 23 vouchers, 15 (65 percent) exceeded the government rate for lodging. After reviewing the travel documents and interviewing the U.S. Attorney's secretary, we found insufficient justification for exceeding the government rate with respect to 14 of the 15 trips. These 14 vouchers exceeded the government rate by $19 to $242 per night, for a total of $2,176 (excluding taxes for domestic travel). U.S. Attorney C's lodging costs exceeded the government rate by more than $100 per night on 9 of the 14 vouchers.

For example, U.S. Attorney C traveled outside of his district to Boston, Massachusetts, for meetings with representatives of a defendant company at the Nine Zero Hotel. U.S. Attorney C stayed at the Nine Zero Hotel at a cost of $449 per night, which was more than double the government rate of $220 per night in Boston. U.S. Attorney C's secretary told us that it was a "coincidence" that these meetings were at the same hotel where she had reserved a room for the U.S. Attorney.

U.S. Attorney C's reimbursements for airport transportation costs were also noteworthy. For example, rather than take a taxi from the Boston airport to the Nine Zero Hotel in downtown Boston, a trip of approximately 4 miles, he prearranged a car service to and from the Boston airport to the hotel, which cost the government $236 round trip. In another example of excessive transportation costs, his car service from a London airport to his hotel in central London cost $562 round trip.

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by: Dvd Avins @ Wed Nov 10, 2010 at 00:30:10 AM UTC

What about Michelle Brown's expenses? (4.00 / 2)

... did she not accompany him on several trips?

"Discrimination caused by ignorance and fear is a tax on human progress" - Barbra Casbar Siperstein

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by: Babs NJSD @ Wed Nov 10, 2010 at 20:25:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This Is Just The Tip Of A Massive Iceberg (4.00 / 1)

This is the "great white hope" of the Republican party for 2012. No wonder he keeps on backing off when he is asked whether he's running for the presidency.

We are living in strange times. People complain about waste and abuse in government, but they vote for people who waste money and abuse their positions of power. And this story is just the tip of a large iceberg for Christie.

The guy has a superficially refreshing tough talk attitude that can sound appealing on the surface......but when you dig a little deeper he's just another self serving machine hack who is a shill for big business interests and the rich.

The questions re Michelle Brown alone should have destroyed any credibility in Christie.   It's obvious that his "friendship" with her has resulted, and continues to result to this day, in her receiving more than she would deserve as just a regular employee.

It's a pity that John Corzine didn't have the will to engage in a real knock down drag out fight.....if he did he would have won hands down. Bullies are weak at the core. But that battle is over and the bully won. Now NJ will be paying a heavy price for four years.

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by: Nick Lento @ Thu Nov 11, 2010 at 18:23:16 PM UTC

you are so right (0.00 / 0)

I'm working on a post along these lines and it was something I said earlier in the week - that he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt (for us, he never did, and for others, he has lost that by now).


Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 17:26:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

New....!! (3.00 / 1)

The questions re Michelle Brown alone should have destroyed any credibility in Christie.   It's obvious that his "friendship" with her has resulted, and continues to result to this day, in her receiving more than she would deserve as just a regular employee.

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by: DabyTymnAbaby @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 06:50:07 AM UTC