Can cc take the heat? It seems that cc doesn't like to be questioned(Oh My). I have seen mayors get ripped 10 times worse than this and not crack. Maybe cc needs some time in the minor leagues. These weren't even cheap shots. It's June....

“I agree with the Obama Administration"

After observing that administration for 5 months, I cannot imagine any conservative ever using those words.

Di Marco - of course it will bite him in ths a** if idiots ignore the second part of the sentence. Until today, I seriously had NO intention of voting for Chris Christie. After today, I am seriously considering voting for him.

NJ, Ah most voters unfortunately either don't care or are sheep led in whatever direction they want to be led. Thats the reason we have such a messed up political landscape(not just in NJ). Many voters are busy with their own lives and choose not to become invested in politics. So the corrupt few capitalize on that very fact time and again. No political party can point the finger at each other. The only ones who are guilty are the public at large for not holding politicians responsible. Look at Albany for our latest example of politics at work.

Your constant use of that headline is funny....Christie did an amazing job in front of some "alleged" representatives of the people. Most of these Democrats hadn't the first idea about the agreements, their details and the facts of the cases. All they knew was the marching orders they were given by the DNC--smear Christie.

How does Congressman Cohen have the audacity to talk about conflicts of interest, when he lobbied and received an $800,000 EARMARK for one of the criminal corporations involved in the proceedings?

Christie clarified all of their "mis-facts" and proved that Pallone & Pascrell had orchestrated nothing more than a political witch hunt. If this is the best that Corzine, Drunk Cryan and the rest of the boys can do---they are in big trouble. 12 points down and growing.

You had to know that the Democrats would use this investigation to make points for Corzine to use in his campaign. The fact that no taxpayer dollars were involved must really cut the Demos the most. They would like to see more of our hard earned money go to thier cornies. I praise Christie for his brvado and I this only reinforces my belief that he is the man to make NJ better.

I'm voting for Chris Daggett.

"I agree with the official from the Obama administration... .!

Well, I know that there was more to the statement, but how stupid can you be to make a statement like that?

The only question is how will the democrats make hay out of it.

Oh man thank GOD the DNC is the ethics police:

Chris Christie’s repeated ethical lapses demonstrate that he’s just not up to the task of serving as governor of New Jersey,

HAVE YOU MET OUR FORMER SENATOR?

THE TORCH???

HAVE YOU MET OUR GOVERNOR?

Despite the intermittent streaming video I was able to watch much of the hearing, and I advise EVERYONE in New Jersey to watch the whole thing when it becomes available.

Christie was slick (in a smarmy corporate manner)  and, except for a few moments, maintained his cool...but on the substance he was destroyed.

There is no rational justification for the legally corrupt status quo re these free get out of jail cards for corporate criminals.

The Pascrell/Pallone legislation makes perfect sense!  And I dare say that if THAT becomes the central issue of the gubernatorial campaign; Christie's toast.

You have to see and hear how ably Pascrell demolished Christie's "case".  Pallone raised many unanswered questions that Christie has, now literally, run away from.

I challenge Chris Christie to stand up here in New Jersey and to go toe to toe with Pallone and Pascrell for a couple of hours on their bill and on his own actions re this matter.

Jon Corzine needs to hammer Christie's clearly foolish and facially unethical actions in this case.   The fact that Christie is (as one of the congressman said) "tone deaf" as to the impropriety (at the very least in terms of appearance) of his actions and the consequences of those actions is just one more indication of what a terrible rotten governor he would make.

Before Christie could go toe to toe with the two stooges, they would have to get out of Corzines arsh !!! Nick you didn't mention that the other five panelists, without an ax to grind, ALL were not in favor of Pallone & Pascrells legislation---it must have slipped your politically biased mind.

This has been a complete waste of taxpayer time and money. Tell these two to go back to doing what they do best---authorizing stimulous money and rasing taxes.

The Department of Justice under a Democratic President see nothing wrong with Christie's actions and want nothing changed. A former US Attorney finds nothing wrong with Christie's actions and does not think anything needs to be changed. The Government Accounting Office, the non-partisan watchdog of the federal government, believes Christie did nothing wrong. The only people on the Hill today who thought Christie did something wrong were Democratic politicians who are friends with the man Christie wants to unseat, and Democratic politicians who serve with those Dems from New Jersey. Anyone who looks past the Democratic talking points on this issue even briefly will see Corzine and Co. don't have a leg to stand on.

Corzine has no record to run on so his statist masters have to bail him out.

"The Department of Justice under a Democratic President see nothing wrong with Christie's actions and want nothing changed."

This is why I will not vote for Christie who wants more of the same as we have with the Democrats. If Christie gets in he will screw everything up and then the Dems will point to him and say "see!". Then we will get another Dem Governor in 2013 who will be even worse than Christie.

Uncle Floyd all the way!

$52,000,000 no bid contract to a politically connected law firm of a former boss. It just seems very very wrong.

You said you were going to move. Do you and your "credentials" still plan on being here now in 2013?

There is no way for me to put this to you delicately. You seem worse than typical NJ politicos. A lying hypocritical twit.

What's the difference between CC and a self-rightous former NY governor who decided that the ethical and legal rules that applied to everyone else didn't apply to him.
Absolutely nothing. And when you put yourself so far above the unwashed masses, the fall is so much steeper, eh?

"You said you were going to move. Do you and your "credentials" still plan on being here now in 2013?"

It takes time for another state to check his "credentials" before they give him permission to move there.

I think they have a bed reserved for him at Cherry State Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina if he decides to go there.

Or maybe he'll move to South Carolina and manage Mark Sanford's presidential campaign in 2012.

 ...it totally disagrees with the Pallone/Pascrell bil.

My sense is that they'll reach a compromise to PREVENT just the kind of abusive practices that Christie engaged in.

The five other panelists there were establishmentarian/corporate hacks.

I have no doubt that there are many many professors and good government experts and consumers rights advocates that could have testified that Christie's actions were bad policy and practically speaking ethically corrupt.

What happened was dirty.   There were law firms ready to do what Ashcroft did for only 3 million!

Then Ashcroft extorts even MORE money from the corporate (alleged) criminals he's supposed to be "monitoring" by hiring his firm out to them on separate matters in which they might also have criminal exposures.  Duuhhhh, can anyone spell "conflict of interest".

Christie is a Bush partisan hack...and the Democrats in that committee were totally unprepared to go after him.

Given how weak his position was, I give Christie credit for making the best of it against the wimps questioning him.....but the deal was dirty ON IT'S FACE!!!

The people of New Jersey aren't stupid...and you really do have to be both stupid, and a bit ignorant, to think that giving his ex boss a 52 million dollar contract was good policy or good politics....it doesn't pass the smell or the laugh test.

If Jon Corzine can't kick Christie's butt on this issue, he's not trying hard enough. 

Just wondering, but who were the firms that said they would do the job for 3 million? When did they say they would do it? Did they have experienced attorney's who had done that work in the past? What other "good government experts" would have testified against Christie? Given that Democrats run the committee and New Jersey Democrats clearly have some sway on who was called to testify, could they not find anyone of serious credentials to rebut Christie's actions?
Corzine, Pallone, and Pascrell are doing their best to hammer Christie on this. I'm sure it stirs up the base. That's as far as it's going to go however. No one from this state, seeing their taxes go up, seeing no relief to the highest property taxes in the nation, seeing jobs flee the state in droves, is going to determine their vote based on a monitoring deal that no one outside Jon Corzine's re-election committee has a problem with.

MiddleClassSqueeze says...

 "No one from this state, seeing their taxes go up, seeing no relief to the highest property taxes in the nation, seeing jobs flee the state in droves, is going to determine their vote based on a monitoring deal that no one outside Jon Corzine's re-election committee has a problem with."

See http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2009/06/chris_christie_defers_trut...

Here's a snip (but please do read the whole thing)

>>>>>>"

Christie -- like Ashcroft himself, who testified before the same subcommittee last year -- never really answered that question. He insisted Zimmer and other companies voluntarily entered the deferred prosecution agreements and agreed to the monitors and that Ashcroft was qualified.
As Democrats on the panel pointed out, a company trying to make a deal with a prosecutor to avoid criminal charges is unlikely to refuse to hire the guy the prosecutor recommends.

There is something unseemly about a prosecutor choosing the monitor who will get a hefty fee for overseeing the settlement of a criminal case. Think of a building inspector telling you the deck you built violates zoning laws, but you can avoid a fine by hiring his pal the carpenter to fix it.

It's baffling that Christie, who made his reputation prosecuting public officials for ethics violations, doesn't see the ethical issue here. No one is suggesting his agreements violated any laws, but the point is they demonstrate the need for new laws or regulations to make sure deferred prosecution agreements serve no one's interests except the public's.

"The only people who believe this is a problem are the people who want to make political hay out of it," Christie said after the hearing. If he really doesn't understand why it's an issue, that's a big problem for someone who wants to be the ethics candidate for governor."<<<<<<

As for the details re the 3 million dollar offer; I can only say that it's now in the congressional record.  I dare say if it wasn't a bona fide offer that it will be subject to some substantial criticism from Christie's forceful and avid defenders on that committee.

The committe, as I said up top, could have done a much better job of airing out the issue in the context of the proposed legislation pro and con.   

I dare say that the changes the Obama Justice Department wants to make to the Pascrell/Pallone legislation are technical and that they will reach an accomidation.

What Christie did was so blatantly self serving in that it clearly rewarded Ashcroft and set up a situation where Ascroft looks like he's getting a sweetheart deal that it offends common sense.   Then Ashcroft has the effin GALL to hire himself out to the (alleged) corporate criminals he's supposed to be MONITORING as their attorney in other areas where they were concerned about possible criminal exposures!  (That tidbit of news came straight out of Christies mouth as he actually thought it helped him!!!  lol

This would have been a small technical issue if Christie had been a man and simply owned up to an error in judgment.   Hell, if he had then taken the next step and signed on to the Pallone/Pascrell legislation he would have been a hero!

As it is; Christie is doing a George Bush....he's stubbornly and stupidly defending the indefensible.

As a partisan, I'm glad he's screwing up his campaign...as a New Jerseyan it's scary that this ethically tone deaf person might ever be our governor.

I have disagreements with Corzine and have criticized him numerous times over the years; but going from Corzine to Christie would be like going from the frying pan into the fire!  

At least Corzine has the humility to admit error and to change course now and then.  We done need another George Bush in Trenton!    

Humility is one trait that no one can accuse Corzine of having. He has helped drive this state into fiscal crisis over the last eight years and sees nothing wrong with what he's done. I know, he cut the budget last year, after raising it two years in a row.
As for the Pascrell/Pallone legislation, they may have some headway with the Obama administration after further negotiations like you said. But it still hasn't been shown that Christie did anything wrong or even anything that wasn't done by other US Attorney's using the same system of DPAs. If those two congressmen think they can improve upon the system as it is, more power to them. But trying to smear an opposition candidate in the process to help their friend is underhanded at best.
In the end this is a small issue. In the last eight years he was the only person in a position of power who cared about political corruption in this state. Maybe the congressmen would have gone easier on Christie had he not put 3 Democratic members of the State Senate Budget Committee behind bars. Either way, this is like Jon Corzine's emails, fodder for the base but something few will remember. Though, to be fair, Corzine's emails had more to do with taxpayers dollars (re: the budget negotations) than the DPA agreements did.