BILL PALATUCCI

Getty Images Photo

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, left, with First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown and former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at a 2003 news conference.

The gathering at the home of Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie two Sundays ago appears to have been more political than social - something that might force the Justice Department to suggest that First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown skip similar events in the future.  Brown wasn't just any prosecutor - she is a seventeen-year veteran who served as Christie's counsel when he was U.S. Attorney and recently received a promotion to the number two slot, just behind Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, Jr.

Multiple sources in attendance confirmed that in addition to food and beverages, there was a clear political program for the group of Republican County Chairmen and GOP legislators. 

Among the speakers were: Christie fundraiser John Hansen, who talked about fundraising strategies and the challenges of Gov. Jon Corzine's Executive Orders limiting campaign contributions from state vendors in funding a gubernatorial campaign; Christie consultant Michael DuHaime gave a presentation on the campaign strategy; and Bill Palatucci, a veteran GOP strategist and Christie's top advisor, discussed the current New Jersey political landscape and the work the campaign has done so far.

Christie also made some remarks, and introduced Brown to the rest of the group.

The mother of a Utah teenager who died after a month in a wilderness boot camp is suing the West Caldwell-based Community Education Centers, Inc., (CEC) alleging that the staff at their facility in Colorado ignored signs of what turned out to be a staph infection.  The company is also facing a Colorado criminal trial in March.

CEC operates treatment facilities for criminal defendants in twenty states and manages a prison in Delaware, according to the Associated Press.  The Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Public Affairs for the company is William Palatucci, who is also a top advisor to Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci,, the law firm where Palatucci and Christie were partners, represented CEC for fifteen years before Palatucci joined the firm full time.

The 15-year-old, Caleb Jensen, had been sentenced to sixty days at a "rigorous boot camp," according to an Associated Press Report.  He was "forced to take long hikes in the Colorado backcountry without water. He was dragged by arm and wrist restraints when he stumbled in pain by counselors who believed he was faking an illness."

Bill Palatucci, Chris Christie's former law partner, managed campaigns for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Tom Kean.

Democrats seem determined to tie former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie to President Bush if he becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, but Christie’s allies say that it was the ex-Prosecutor’s friend and top strategist, William Palatucci, who avidly championed Bush when he began running for President in the late 1990’s.

Christie, who was Palatucci’s law partner, raised money for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign as part of a bigger effort coordinated by Palatucci, a veteran Republican operative who ran campaigns for Ronald Reagan, Thomas Kean and George H.W. Bush.

“It’s hard to imagine the Democrats not using every opportunity possible to highlight the fact that Chris Christie was part of an effort that raised significant money for George W. Bush, one of the most unpopular politicians in a generation” said Ben Dworkin, director of the David Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “He’s had an outstanding career as U.S. Attorney. But the connection is different from the one the Democrats tried to use against U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance.”

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), the Democratic candidate for Congress against Lance, ran repeated TV ads of Lance’s face interposed with that of Bush.  Lance won by nine percentage points.

“But Christie’s different than Lance because Lance didn’t become an assemblyman and senator because George Bush picked him,” said Dworkin. “Christie became U.S. Attorney because George Bush did.”

The main strand of the Bush-Christie connection hinges on what for Palatucci was a fortuitous encounter with the younger Bush as the then-Texas governor geared up for his 2000 presidential campaign.

At that point, Palatucci’s relationship with the Bushes was already long and recurring, and it was in his role as the New Jersey chief of the presidential campaigns of Bush’s father that he developed a relationship with the younger Bush.

BRIDGEWATER – If he runs statewide, it’s unlikely Chris Christie will resemble Andy Unanue as a candidate. 

But on learning that Passaic County Republican Chairman Scott Rumana tried to recruit Christie confidante Bill Palatucci to address municipal chairmen last week, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) feared the abrogation of process and quickly drew an analogy. 

“It’s exactly the Unanue fiasco I want to avoid in the election,” said Merkt, himself a declared GOP candidate for governor. “I don’t want a (state Republican Party Chairman) Tom Wilson candidate to drive away other candidates.” 

An unknown, wealthy Latino businessman who was backed by the upper echelons of his party in a U.S. Senate bid, Unanue last year began sealing county committee support in absentia, effectively making other Republican primary candidates like state Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) feel helpless – at least until Unanue’s campaign imploded.

Our first list of New Jersey's Best Political Operatives, from March 2000:

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is expected to seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2009.

On reports from local party chairs that U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has been aggressively working the phones this week, Christie's friend, Bill Palatucci, said the prospective Republican candidate for governor is indeed making the rounds. 

“Chris is just doing what he said he would do upon leaving office - talk to people,” Palatucci said. “He's talking to a wide range of people - inside and outside of politics - in order to gauge what his options and opportunities are.  I think this is a natural part of the process for any person in his position.”

Chris Christie resigned as U.S. Attorney on Monday, but says he hasn't decided if he'll run for Governor next year.

Rick Shaftan, the political point man for gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, is convinced: the much heralded announcement that former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is running for governor will never come.

"He's absolutely not running," said Shaftan.

That is, of course, coming from the chief strategist for Lonegan, the  conservative former mayor of Bogota and anti-tax advocate who entered the race on Monday. But Shaftan said that since resigning from his post as U.S. Attorney on Monday, Christie has not acted like a candidate.

"Don't you think Todd Christie would say he's absolutely in this race, 100 percent? On December 2nd the operation starts going. That's what these guys expected," said Shaftan, referring to the former U.S. Attorney's brother and the Republican county chairmen who are hoping Christie enters the race.

John Crowley is interviewed on the Mississippi river boat by NJN's Jim Hooker.: Politicker photo

MINNEAPOLIS - It started like a scene in a movie where guests receive a mysterious invitation from a powerful benefactor. On the bus trip out to the Mississippi River, a lot of Republicans were wondering, "Who is John Crowley?"

There was another less flashy, more intimate New Jersey political meeting going on simultaneously in another corner of the sprawling Minnesota town where Republicans had converged for their national convention, but for the moment this boat covered with red, white and blue bunting was a captivating focal point for the New Jersey GOP procession answering their invitations to see Crowley.

Crowley. Princeton businessman. Owner of a biotech company engaged in finding a cure for a disease Crowley’s children have fought since birth. Millionaire. Navy intelligence officer. Presumptive GOP political star.

Republicans knew the lineaments of the story; still, everyone was speaking the name without knowing the why beyond the boat trip and the vague possibility that Crowley would challenge Gov. Jon Corzine for governor next year.

Coming off the bus, former Gov. Thomas Kean led the way down the gangplank as the jug band started in on a tune and a paranoid Jersey guy told the governor, "As long as you’re here, I know I’m not too far from home."

MINNEAPOLIS - The elevator doors in the Hilton opened and a man stepped off and headed for the bar.

"It’s Chris Christie’s brother," said a veteran newspaperman, staring at the familiar facial features of the newcomer in a scene that all evening took in a steady flow of New Jersey Republicans.

The white-haired, Chris-Christie lookalike made his way over to GOP operative Bill Palatucci, who was seated at the bar, and they began talking. He took an extended handshake from a stranger and acknowledged, "Yes, "I’m Chris Christie’s brother."

The word out the there among GOP sources is that Todd Christie is here to keep the idea firmly fixed in people’s heads that his brother, the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, is going to be running for governor next year.

The revelation that U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is investigating former CWA Local 1034 President Carla Katz, reported by the Star-Ledger yesterday, has unavoidable political ramifications.

Christie is, in effect, investigating the ex-girlfriend of the man he will likely face off against if he chooses to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine next year.

You won't hear them go on the record about it, but the idea has some Democratic insiders grumbling.

"It sure as hell doesn't look right, I can say much," said one prominent Democratic official.