"Career politician Joe Cryan is exhibit A of how MESSED UP Trenton is. The facts Gov Christie laid out are indisputable--except apparently to a guy with 2 Government jobs and a knack for sucking up to EVERY Union ...and special interest group in this state. Wake up Joe---it's about reality--not party politics...."
Let me see if I understand this. Chris Christie was a Freeholder, ran for Assembly, served as State Attorney for a Presidential campaign, then was appointed US Attorney, and now has been elected Governor. Yup, if anyone knows a career politician it would be Chris's brother Todd. He's going to be fun to watch for the next four years if this is the kind of reaction we are going to get each time his brother speaks and gets criticized.
While huntsu has been all over the connections between Todd Christie, Joe Kyrillos, Chris Christie and the politicization of the US Attorneys office, Freedom of Information requests shed some more light on the situation:
Kyrillos left messages for Christie at the U.S. Attorney's office 48 times between 2002 and 2008, including 19 times while Kyrillos was the Republican State Chairman, according to a log of Christie's incoming phone calls requested by the Corzine campaign as part of an extensive series of document requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Corzine campaign received the phone logs late Friday.
Most of the phone messages shed little information as to the topics Christie and Kyrillos were discussing. Kyrillos tended to call after 5PM, and would usually leave a message that offered little detail.
Kyrillos did call Christie on April 22, 2002, the day Todd Christie wrote a $225,000 check to the Republican State Committee.
After he takes the political appointment, the FEO is not supposed to be engaged in partisan politics very much but there is no such restriction on his close family. The FEO contributes $2000 to his candidate -- and now boss -- for the reelection campaign, and his wife does the same. The FEO's brother's wife gives another two checks for $3000 [2]to the candidate and three checks for $4500 [2, 3]to the national party, but the brother beats them all.
Soon after the FEO takes office, the brother contributes a single check worth $225,000 to the national party, and since then another three individual $25,000 [2, 3] checks for a grand total of $300,000 to the national party. But that's not all. The brother also issued checks over the past few years since FEO took office for $20,000, $25,000 and $25000 to the NJ party's state fund, and checks of $5,000, $10,000 and $10,000 to the federal fund. A check for $5,000 is reimbursed.
Now we know that not only did brother Todd circulate the money around, but as the records show, brother Chris got a call from Kyrillos the same day as one of the larger contributions. It's pretty impressive how much of a woman ahead of her times huntsu was. It's also a shame the rest of the media wasn't paying as close attention as huntsu was. We may have found this information out confirming the suspicions of some more than 3 days before the election.
A while back we covered how Chris Christie and his brother Todd seemingly bought Chris a job as US Attorney. Details are after the jump, but the long and the short of it is that the Christie boys and their wives donated a half million dollars to the GOP just before and after Chris Christie was named US Attorney.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett responded to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) ad against him by laying it at the feet of Republican Chris Christie's brother, Todd.
"This ad was essentially paid for by the $200,000 contribution that Todd Christie laundered through the Republican Governors Association to help his brother's campaign in New Jersey in circumvention of the $3,400 limit that my campaign is honoring," said Daggett in a press release that accompanied a press conference he held in Trenton this morning.
For a group of people who accuse Corzine of trying to buy his office, the Christie brothers sure do a lot of it themselves. Don't want to call them hypocrites, but ... nah,they're hypocrites.
The Corzine campaign just released a new web ad, detailing the benefits the Christie boys, Chris and Todd, got from all that money they raised together for Christie's old boss, George W. Bush:
I think this is a story that can't be told enough. Special privileges and getting off scot-free are advantages the rest of us don't get to have, like Christie and his brother do. What do you think, Blue Jersey?
Documentation for all this - worth looking at - is after the jump.
Chris Christie warned he was going to put a time-limit on his testimony today before the House Judiciary subcommittee investigating Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA's) he oversaw while he was US Attorney for the State of New Jersey.
And damned if he didn't just get up and ... leave. Before the hearing was finished. While there were questions still being asked. Just as the congressmen got to the part where Christie offered a fat monitoring contract to former US Attorney David Kelley, who let Christie's brother, Todd, off the hook in a stock fraud case that hauled in indictments for 15 other people.
He sticks around for an extra moment for the laudatory remarks of a fellow Republican - Ranking Member Rep.Trent Franks - but then he's outta there. It's pretty imperious behavior, don't you think? Watch for yourself:
House Judiciary Subcommittee Chair Rep. Steve Cohen:Mr. Christie, what time is your train? Christie:My train is a little bit before 2, sir, and I have to go. Cohen (checking clock):You're not going to make a 2:00 o'clock, so ... Christie:Well, sir. I'm going.
That last shot? That's Christie's empty chair, in the House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing room. He just got up and ... walked out of the room. Behavior befitting a Governor? You decide.
Sound quality is from the House Judiciary Committee website feed. We apologize.
As he prepares to testify during a hearing of the House Judiciary subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law about deferred prosecution agreements he entered into as US Attorney, the AP is out tonight with a synopsis to help guide us:
, John Ashcroft. Christie's former U.S. Justice Department boss made $28 million to $52 million or more in 18 months for monitoring Zimmer Holdings, one of five medical device manufacturers accused of giving kickbacks to surgeons for using their replacement hips and knees.
, David Kelley. A former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Kelley investigated a stock fraud case involving Christie's younger brother, Todd, but declined to prosecute him. Kelley was later picked to monitor Biomet Orthopedics Inc., another of the medical device makers.
, Bristol-Myers Squibb. A $300 million fraud settlement Christie negotiated with the New York company included a provision that Bristol-Myers endow a professorship at Seton Hall Law School, his alma mater. The U.S. Justice Department subsequently issued guidelines barring such requirements as part of out-of-court corporate crime settlements.
, David Samson. The former Republican attorney general and party fundraiser was a monitor of medical device maker Smith & Nephew Inc. His firm is now on Christie's payroll for legal work: the candidate's pre-election finance report last month listed expenditures of $9,439.40 in legal fees/rent and $18,439.40 still owed to Wolff & Samson of West Orange.
, Herbert Stern. Christie mentor got $10 million contract to monitor University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, accused of double-billing for services covered by Medicare. Christie close friend and fundraiser John Inglesino, a partner in Stern's law firm, was paid $325 per hour for his work as counsel on the monitorship. Stern, Inglesino, another partner and their wives later gave $23,800 in donations to Christie's campaign for governor. The donations were matched, 2-1, under New Jersey's campaign finance laws, bringing the total amount to $71,400.
, Debra Wong Yang. Like Kelley, Yang, a former U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, is a former Christie colleague. The Republican-connected prosecutor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner, who had ties to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was chosen to monitor Deputy Orthopaedics Inc.
, John Carley. A former Cendant Corp. vice president and Federal Trade Commission lawyer under President Reagan, Carley was on Sen. John McCain's 2008 New York fundraising team. He oversaw a nonprosecution agreement involving Stryker Orthopedics.
While much of the attention has been paid to the Ashcroft, Stern and Kelley prosecution agreements, the Seton Hall one could raise some eyes as well. The Seton Hall agreement spurred a change in the guidelines because of the contribution Christie required. It turns out that two years after the deal, Seton Hall presented Christie with the St. Thomas More Medal for outstanding contributions to the law, the community and the Catholic Church. I'm sure this and many other questions will be asked at the hearing tomorrow.
Rick Merkt doesn't like being called a liar. He says that that John Inglesino, a fundraiser and benefactor who Christie swears is just a volunteer tried to offer him a job to get out of the campaign. At the time, they said this:
Inglesino denied offering Merkt any kind of position.
"That's a bold-faced lie," he said, adding that the Christie campaign didn't officially launch until months later.
Christie also said no offer was made.
"I know for sure it's a lie," he said.
So he didn't officially launch his campaign til months later, but he knew for sure there was no offer from his non existent campaign and that the claim by Merkt was a bald face lie. At the time, huntsu questioned Christie saying he wasn't campaigning, when he was sending his brother Todd and a delegation to represent him:
And staying home from the Republican National Convention while sending a team to represent your interests is more of the same. Sure, he's not violating the law but he is surely supporting a shadow campaign team and effort in his name while being the sitting US Attorney for NJ.
Merkt said the pressure intensified when he attended the Republican National Convention in Minnesota over the summer. In the hallway outside of the ballroom where the state Republicans held most of their events, he said he met with Christie confidante Bill Palatucci, who was even more direct.
"Palatucci absolutely went up one side and down the other, pretty much screaming at me about three inches from my space, saying I couldn't run, I had no support, nobody liked me, nobody would ever talk to me again," he said. "In 40 seconds Bill Palatucci convinced me that I had to run for governor, because nobody with that kind of personality should be permitted anywhere near the Executive Office. I can tell you, bystanders were amazed by Bill's meltdown."
But of course Chris Christie had no idea of this situation either, because as he said he didn't officially launch his campaign until November, months later. And if you believe that, Sarah Palin has a bridge to nowhere she wants to see if you're interested in. Perhaps the most damning part is this exchange, where we find out that there really was a shadow effort going on as huntsu speculated:
Merkt said that Inglesino started off the conversation warm and cajoling, noting that two candidates running out of Morris County could help Christie rival Steve Lonegan in the primary. Merkt said he responded that Christie was not even an announced candidate yet, to which Inglesino replied that he was indeed going to run but could not announce at the time because he was still U.S. Attorney.
So Christie was running, but couldn't talk about it. He just had other people do his dirty work. And exactly when into his term as non-partisan US Attorney did he decide to seek partisan office? At what point does the smell become so bad that people start asking more questions?
"Christie might as well propose a law requiring the rivers to run with whiskey and the mountains to be made of ice cream."
- Star Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine, commenting on the absurdity of Chris Christie's tax and spending proposals.
If politics is theater, than the 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary was akin to a Tony Award winning show on Broadway. Since the silly season accelerated last February with Chris Christie's formal entrance into the race, several moments stick out as worthy of inclusion on a list of the Top Ten Moments in the 2009 GOP Primary.
Click on the headline to read the list, and feel free to offer favorite moments of your own.
Gov. Jon Corzine's poll numbers are not good. The bearded New Jersey Democrat maintains a 40 percent approval rating in a blue state. These numbers, combined with the state's high-tax rate, suffocating property taxes, and high unemployment, make the 2009 governor's race an obvious target for the GOP.
Enter Chris Christie, the rotund former U.S. attorney credited with taking a bite out of the rampant corruption in New Jersey and putting away 130 government officials. Republicans have looked to run Christie for elected office for years, and now he walks into the governor's race leading Corzine 45-38 percent in recent polls. He leads Republican primary challenger Steve Lonegan in the most recent poll, down from 18 and 23 percent earlier.
Christie has received glowing early reviews from the press. For instance, the New York Times recently wrote that Christie "won widespread admiration for his aggressive fight against political corruption."
But Newark's White Knight is not quite the shoo-in for governor he appears to be. Christie's tenure as U.S. attorney was marred by significant ethical lapses which exposed Christie as the same type of "pay-to-play" politician that he rails against.
The most blatant example is his rewarding former New York U.S. attorney David N. Kelley with an advantageous no-bid contract after he agreed not to press criminal charges against Christie's brother Todd and after Kelley had left public office for private practice in 2005.
If you've been enjoying the Republican Primary campaign for Governor via traditional media, you're in for a treat. The food fight has spilled over to the intertubes. First, it's facebook surrogates gone wild between. Here we have an exchange between Lonegan Consultant Rick Shafton and Christie brother Todd Christie:
On April 6, Todd Christie sent Shaftan a private message on Facebook.com, writing "Can't wait to dance on your political grave."
Three days later, Shaftan responded, "Lighten up dude. This is nothing compared to what's coming up. It just gets better!"
Todd Christie wrote back with what Shaftan took as an ominous message: "This is fun for you messing with peoples lives. Payback comes in many forms,,,,at any time. Enjoy."
Ah family. Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison talked about the difference when it's family involved in a situation:
"Typically what a candidate can do in this situation is fire that staff member and distance themselves from that person's name and therefore abdicate any responsibility," she said. "It's really tricky to fire your brother."
Even though the apparent timeline shows Todd Christie making first contact, the Christie campaign is of course placing blame:
"This is ridiculous - a paid campaign staffer initiating and then purposefully provoking an opponent's family member in an online chat, and then forwarding the exchange to the media. This is nothing more than a distraction from the real issues of the campaign," he said.
So by real issues they mean talking about the monitor contracts? Anyway, they didn't stop at facebook because we now have Lonegan needling Christie on Twitter. After their teabagging together in Morristown, Lonegan sent out this tweet:
Chris Christie booed in his own backyard at the Morristown Tea Party
- Steve Lonegan (@lonegan)
I don't think Christie will care that he was booed if he wins the primary, but it's still providing some good entertainment as they learn to incorporate technology into their campaigns.
Reporter Matt Friedman at PolitickerNJ.com says things are getting nasty and real personal between the Christie/Lonegan camps. The circular firing squad known as the Republican Party is resorting to weapons of mass destruction, almost literally. The latest involves Todd Christie and Lonegan's manager Rick Shaftan. It seems Todd doesn't like some of the things Shaftan is saying about him and sent him a crptic email with an implied personal threat that comes right out of a Martin Scorsese mafia film.
I have a feeling this story will take off and make a lot of people in the Christie campaign awfully uncomfortable. Check it out.
But Christie has some 'splaining to do, in the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo. The point of ethics laws, as with his suggested ban on public jobs for politicians, is not merely to avoid impropriety, but to avoid the mere appearance of impropriety. And in this case, Christie created the appearance of impropriety every bit as much as Paris Hilton creates the appearance of a celebrity airhead.
Oh, he certainly did some splainin. Christie could have let the situation play out in the media and moved on to the next issue turning the debate back to the Governor. Instead, today he engaged and attacked, ensuring the story will continue:
"I'm not going to stand around and be a political punching bag of caddies for candidates who don't have a record to sell, a story to tell, and actually attack the candidates who do have something to sell," said Christie.
It gets so much better below the fold, so you will want to join me there.
