DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN CALLS ON CHRISTIE TO RETURN PAY-TO-PLAY MONEY

Democratic Chairman Calls on Christie to Return Pay-to-Play Money

“It's time for Christie to do as he says”

TRENTON – Following a Wednesday Newark Star-Ledger editorial that asked for Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie to explain a variety of no-bid contracts he handed out to associates while United States Attorney, New Jersey State Democratic Chairman and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan today called on Christie to return contributions from, and solicited by, recipients of these no-bid contracts.  The Star-Ledger editorial follows previous editorials in the Asbury Park Press and Philadelphia Inquirer questioning the candidate's judgment in handing out no-bid contracts to people he had previous relationships with.

“It has been well-established by news reports, editorial pages and Chris himself that he used remarkably bad judgment in handing out multi-million dollar no-bid monitoring contracts to a variety of people he had previous dealings with,” said Cryan.  “It's time for Christie to do as he says and return the $24,800 he received from Herbert Stern and John Inglesino, the $100,000 in campaign contributions solicited by Inglesino and, most importantly, the almost $250,000 in state taxpayer matching funds he received as a result.”

Previously, reports indicated that Stern and Kilcullen principals and their spouses, including Herbert Stern and John Inglesino, all contributed the maximum of $3,400 permitted by law with Inglesino contributing another $3,400 from an election fund.  The $23,800 in campaign contributions came after Christie awarded the firm an $8 million no-bid monitoring contract by Christie while he was still U.S. Attorney. As the monitor's counsel, Inglesino was deeply involved in the case, according to published reports, and was paid at least $325 per hour.

These contributions translated to an additional $47,600 in state taxpayer funds for the Christie campaign as a result of state campaign fund matching laws.

As the Star-Ledger points out, when questioned on the contribution Christie said “I'm not going to take any more contributions from anyone who's been a monitor because I don't want to deal with the distraction that it causes.”

The Star-Ledger editorial went on to say, “That's not a good excuse, but it is a good reason to return those contributions. If the candidate views such contributions as prospectively troublesome, then he must admit they are retrospectively troublesome as well.”

The week after pledging not to take any more contributions from anyone who has been a monitor, Christie attended a campaign fundraiser to raise $100,000 organized by Inglesino, who is also a former Morris County Freeholder and a former Mayor of Rockaway Township.  According to an invitation for the campaign fundraiser signed by Inglesino and Morris County Republican Chairman John Sette, the “cost of running a state-wide election is very expensive” and donor support would be “greatly appreciated.”  
The $100,000 in campaign contributions co-solicited by Inglesino cost state taxpayers an additional $200,000 in matching funds to bring the total expenditure to New Jersey’s citizens to $247,600.

“It sends a strong message to the people being solicited for campaign contributions when the request comes from two of the most powerful political figures in the entire county,” said Cryan. “Chris should do the right thing and return the money to state taxpayers.”

Christie previously gave a no-bid monitoring contract to his former boss in the Bush Administration, John Ashcroft.  Christie also gave the former U.S. attorney in New York, David Kelley, a no-bid contract two years after sparing his brother Todd from prosecution.  Christie described the mishandling of the case against his brother and the other defendants as “not his proudest moment”, before calling him the most qualified to receive the multi-million dollar no-bid monitoring contract.

In an editorial on April 11, the Asbury Park Press said:

"Christie's defense this week of his handing out a multi-million dollar, no-bid contract to a former federal prosecutor who let Christie's brother off on stock fraud charges was unconvincing.  He needs to do better.

He must provide a full explanation of the selection process."

In an editorial on April 16, the Philadelphia Inquirer said:

"When a prosecutor can single-handedly choose a monitor, it's akin to awarding a no-bid contract.  That's why there can be no appearance of a conflict or payback.

. . . he should have chosen his monitors with more care, or avoided accepting donations from them later.

Christie's weak responses to critics of these arrangements show he either doesn't understand or doesn't care how they violate the principles he championed as U.S. Attorney"