WEINBERG CALLS ON CHRISTIE TO RETURN PAY TO PLAY CAMPAIGN FUNDS FROM UMDNJ MONITOR

Weinberg Calls on Christie to Return Pay to Play Campaign Funds From UMDNJ Monitor

 
TRENTON - Citing published reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie has received almost $24,000 in campaign contributions from a law firm with principals that benefited from a no-bid contract, Senator Loretta Weinberg today called upon the Christie campaign to give the money back.  According to ELEC reports, the Roseland law firm Stern and Killcullen’s partners Herbert Stern, Kevin Killcullen and John Inglesino all contributed the maximum amount allowed under law of $3,400.  The three partner’s wives all contributed the same maximum of $3,400.  According to reports, Mr. Inglesino also contributed the maximum allowed of $3,400 from an election fund for a total of $23,800.

“Mr. Christie has said time and again that this type of behavior is unacceptable,” said Weinberg.  “As a U.S. Attorney in the Bush Administration for the past seven years Mr. Christie has been very appropriately vocal about the negative impact pay-to-play has on New Jersey taxpayers.  In the interest of eliminating any sense of impropriety, he should give back the $24,000 he has received from Mr. Stern and his associates and refrain from accepting any more money from them.”

During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Christie engineered a deferred prosecution agreement and picked the Roseland based law firm of Stern and Kilcullen to monitor the operations of the University and Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.  This no-bid contract reportedly paid the firm over $8 million.  One of the things the firm was tasked with was to ensure that UMDNJ no longer allowed no-bid contracts.
 
In a Bergen Record story on February 2, 2002 when he was U.S. Attorney, Mr. Christie said, “There's no question the system in New Jersey is broken and is not operating in the best interests of the people in the state. The people who have a responsibility to do so should put a stop to it.”  The paper went on to say that “Christie said laws banning ‘pay to play’ are needed because the practice falls into a ‘murky’ area where prosecutors are powerless without evidence of an explicit promise of a contract in exchange for a contribution, or vice versa.’”

“I couldn’t agree more”, said Weinberg.  “I believe Mr. Christie should heed this advice and take these campaign contributions out of that “murky area”.