David Kelley

Revelations yesterday that Christopher Christie did not report a personal loan he made to a former top deputy at the U.S. Attorney's office is the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds that could cost him the race for governor.  Christie had solid lead over Gov. Jon Corzine in last week's Quinnipiac poll (51%), but his own mistakes are helping the Democrats regain some lost ground.  The conventional wisdom among many political insiders is that Corzine, enormously unpopular with voters, cannot win the election, but he can make Christie lose by spending enough to raise the negatives of his Republican rival.

Making a personal loan to a close family friend is not a political liability; indeed, Corzine has made plenty of financial gifts -- sometimes to people he doesn't even like.  Christie's problem here is that he did not report that loan on personal financial disclosure statements required by the Department of Justice.  News last week that Christie discussed his upcoming campaign for governor with former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove helps Corzine paint Christie as a conservative Republican close to an unpopular former president.  Christie's decisions - apparently legal - to award no-bid public monitor contracts to: former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; David Kelley, who was the U.S. Attorney in New York who decided not to prosecute Christie's brother for illegal trading violations; and to close political allies Herbert Stern and John Inglesino, who later made major contributions to Christie's campaign, are all self-inflicted wounds.  Christie's greatest attribute is his record taking down corrupt politicians.  His greatest problem, at least right now, is that Corzine can afford to turn each of these issues into 30-second TV ads. 

Updated: Christie did not report income from the loan on his federal tax return, according to a New York Times story.

Corzine's chutzpah is clear, although in blue New Jersey that might not matter.  The governor has not exactly been the poster child for full transparency.  Starting back in 2000, he lost ground when he refused to release his income taxes (he hid behind a Goldman Sachs partnership agreement that was less important a few years later when his ex-partner, Henry Paulsen, became U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.  He has declined to release his personal e-mail correspondence with Carla Katz, who was both his girlfriend and the president of the state's largest public employee union.  He even posted bail for a lobbyist who was accused to stalking one of his closest political allies.

Most of the attention of picking a Lt. Governor candidate has been on the Democratic incumbent, Jon Corzine.  But that doesn't mean Republican Christopher Christie is having an easy time either.  As a former U.S. Attorney, Christie was supposed to be the ethics candidate.  But a couple of self-inflicted wounds - mega million dollar federal monitor contracts for John Ashcroft, David Kelley and John Inglesino - have put Christie, who sent more  than 100 public officials to prison, on the defensive as Corzine and the Democratic Governor's Association have already spent more than $3 million basing Christie on ethics. 

Despite the heaving spending attacking him, Christie leads Corzine by twelve points in a Quinnipiac University poll and eight points in a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll.   He is the first Republican to be over 50% in an independent poll in 24 years, and some key Democratic insiders now believe Christie can win.  Imagine what the race might look like had Christie hired federal monitors not named Ashcroft and Kelley, and rejected campaign contributions from Inglesino and law partner Herbert Stern? 

Christie will have an easier time picking a running mate because he doesn't have influential officeholders from his own party putting extraordinary pressure on him to pick - or not pick - a particular candidate.  Christie has had to pay special attention to the vetting process, partly because as a former federal prosecutor the bar is set a little higher for him, and partly because he can't any more self-inflicted wounds.  Once Christie loses his lead in arguably the most Democratic state in the nation, it will be nearly impossible to get it back.

Christie may be favoring Kim Guadagno, a former federal prosecutor and state Director of Criminal Justice who has served short stints on the Monmouth Beach governing body and as the Monmouth County Sheriff.  Some say Guadagno is in Christie's comfort zone; she comes out of the same prosecutorial establishment world.  She also has no legislative voting record to pick apart, and may be relatively low-risk for the GOP candidate.  Steve Lonegan, the conservative who challenged Christie is the gubernatorial primary, sort of gave his blessing to Guadagno this week. 

If Corzine picks a Reality TV star, Guadagno can make the argument that she is the most experienced LG candidate.  If Corzine picks a Democrat with more gravitas, Guadagno could be seen as someone who held local office in a town half the size of Wasilla, and as Sheriff of a county about the size of Alaska.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) is asking former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie for a "clarification" of his testimony before the House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee in June.  Pallone is the co-sponsor of legislation to reform the process used to select federal monitors in deferred prosecution agreements.  Christie, who was New Jersey's federal prosecutor from 2002 to 2008, is now the Republican nominee for Governor.

Pallone wants Christie to address his role in setting legal fees for former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's firm to monitor a DPA with Zimmer Holdings.  Christie had initially said that he was not involved, but e-mails show that had some involvement.

"I would like to offer you the opportunity to try to reconcile your remarks to the subcommittee about your selection of federal monitors," Pallone wrote in a letter to Christie today.

The full text of Pallone's letter:

Today is an important moment in the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey.  In Trenton, Gov. Jon Corzine seeks to get Legislative approval of his state budget.  In Washington, Republican Christopher Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, testifies before a House Judiciary subcommittee considering legislation to change the way federal monitors in deferred prosecution agreements are selected.

Corzine, with upside-down approval ratings in independent polls, especially on economic issues, needs a budget that he can sell as a success story.  Christie, criticized for lucrative federal monitor contracts to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, former New York U.S. Attorney David Kelley, and political allies Herbert Stern and John Inglesino, needs to get through the hearing without making any real news.  He wants to make sure voters care more about Corzine's handling of the economy.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie's decision to testify in front of a congressional subcommittee next week was the logical choice, according to Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray.

"It was clear he was going to have to do this at some point in time," he said.

Christie will testify about a type of corporate fraud settlement called deferred prosecution agreements, in which defendants can avoid prosecution by taking on monitors and making other types of restitution.  U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) have pending legislation reforming the way the agreements are given out, which is largely inspired by Christie.

It's no secret that Christopher Christie is the preferred candidate of Republican Governors Association, which clearly views the former U.S. Attorney as their best shot at defeating Gov. Jon Corzine this year.  That's why some party insiders are wondering why the national GOP appears to be sitting idly by as national Democrats - specifically the Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund, has purchased about $900,000 worth of New York and Philadelphia TV ads attacking Christie in an attempt to influence the outcome of the GOP primary.

The Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund, a Washington-based organization with ties to Democrats, has purchased about $900,000 worth of New York and Philadelphia TV ads attacking GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  According to filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the political organization, which will not need to disclose their donors until July, is run by Sean Sinclair, a Democratic strategist who ran Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2004 re-election campaign.  The ad ties a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint against Todd Christie, the candidate’s brother, to the award of a lucrative federal monitor contract to David Kelley, who as U.S. Attorney in New York declined to prosecute Todd Christie.

Reid served in the Senate with Gov. Jon Corzine.

Other names associated with the Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund include: Amanda Flanary, a former Kentucky Democratic Party official; Mike Mikus, who worked for Mississippi Democrats in 2007, and Steve Bouchard, who ran Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in South Carolina.

There has been speculation for weeks that Democrats would seek to influence the Republican primary for Governor by spending some money to beat up on Christie, with the hope that he can boost Steve Lonegan's chances to win the GOP nomination.  A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday shows Christie leading Corzine by seven points, although Corzine trails Lonegan by two points.

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said yesterday that he finally received an invitation from the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to testify at their March 19 hearing on legislation to reform deferred prosecution agreements and the selection of federal monitors.  The letter was sent from Washington by regular mail, even though the committee's standard procedure is to send it certified, or by Federal Express. 

Christie, a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, says he'll review the request and see if it fits into his schedule.

Democrats who were anxious to watch Christie squirm by being called in front of a house panel two weeks before the GOP primary can blame the Judiciary Committee staffer who didn't get the politics of the timing.  It will be hard to criticize Christie for not being available to testify on just a few days notice, especially since he found out about his requested testimony from a press release issued by two Democratic Congressmen.

State Democratic Chairman Joe Cryan

Apparently not content to sit in the stands and let Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan duke it out on their own as the Christie campaign today unleashed a Republican Primary attack ad, State Democratic Chairman Joseph Cryan called on the front-running Christie to return campaign contributions given and solicited by recipients of no-bid contracts Christie awarded while serving as U.S. Attorney.

“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, specifically citing a Thursday Star-Ledger editorial that upbraided Christie for failing to fully explain his role in awarding no bid federal monitoring contracts.  

Todd Christie, left, the brother of GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie, and Rick Shaftan, right, the chief strategist for GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan

The Republican gubernatorial primary campaign between Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan has gotten personal before, but Lonegan’s chief strategist, Rick Shaftan, feels that some messages that Christie’s brother Todd sent to him through a popular social networking Web site crossed the line.

On April 6, Todd Christie sent Shaftan a private message on Facebook.com, writing “Can't wait to dance on your political grave.”

Three days later, Shaftan responded, “Lighten up dude. This is nothing compared to what's coming up. It just gets better!”

Todd Christie wrote back with what Shaftan took as an ominous message:  “This is fun for you messing with peoples lives. Payback comes in many forms,,,,at any time. Enjoy.”

According to Shaftan, that was the third and final exchange between the two men, who have both become lightning rods in the primary campaign -- Shaftan for his disdain for the state’s Republican establishment and brash on-the-record remarks, and Todd Christie for heading up a trading company whose practices ultimately brought sanctions from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“When I threaten people, I do it face-to-face -- never in writing,” joked Shaftan.