As a former resident of the Great State of New Jersey, I am familiar with the name Christopher J. Christie, the current U.S. attorney in the state, a Bush appointee. Christie was consistently portrayed as "aggressive" and willing to take on corrupt politicians in a state known for sleaze and corruption. Today, it becomes clear that Christie himself was the sleazies of the bunch, through illegal no-bid contracts and politically-driven, trumped-up cases. The irony, folks. The irony.
Today, I read in the NY Times (FYI the text is from an editorial, not a straight news article):
Mr. Christie, a Republican activist who got his job despite a lack of trial and criminal-law experience, has gone up to the line of acceptable behavior — and possibly crossed it.
He began an investigation of Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, late in a hard-fought election campaign. The charges now appear baseless, but at the time the news provided a big boost to Mr. Menendez’s Republican opponent. Mr. Christie went against a long Justice Department presumption against opening investigations or bringing indictments right before an election, to avoid affecting the outcome.
There are also questions about Mr. Christie’s decision to award, without competitive bidding, a lucrative contract to monitor a company accused of consumer fraud. The winner? Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, an influential Republican who was once Mr. Christie’s boss. Senate and House leaders have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
This appears to be yet another instance of rampant corruption in the Bush Justice Department. Albert "I Don't Recall" Gonzales, stonewalling on torture issues from not 1, but 2 different U.S. Attorneys General. Selective enforcement of federal law based on political reasons. The purging of generations of non-partisan bureacrats and their replacement with political appointees (a huge issue that will take decades to undo). And now this.
Not only is Christie to have allegedly awarded a massive no-bid contract to former AG Ashcroft, he seems to have interfered in a federal election through his baseless charges against Sen. Menendez.
These issues must be brought to light and addressed.
It's nice to see the Times bringing light to some of these issues, but it must go further. This entire Justice Department is a disgrace, and these officials must be brought to, for lack of a better word, justice.