John Ashcroft

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.

Defense Attorney Ted Wells (center) was among the panelists.

MANHATTAN – Days before a House Judiciary Subcommittee launches hearings on the subject, legal experts at an event hosted by New York University’s School of Law considered whether sufficient checks and balances govern the process by which federal U.S. Attorneys select federal monitors to oversee deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) of corporations.

They also assessed in general the role of politics in prosecution, both at the state and federal level.

“No one should be exercising power without appropriate constraints,” said Michelle Hirshman, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York - but how the government would implement depoliticizing changes to federal monitoring contracts remains a question mark as Congressional lawmakers prepare for hearings.

The multi-paneled discussion unfolded against the backdrop of a gubernatorial bid on the other side of the Hudson River by former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, who during his tenure as New Jersey’s top cop appointed former Attorney General John Ashcroft to a no-bid federal monitoring job potentially worth up to $52 million.

U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) will speak at a New York University Law School conference on the regulation by federal prosecutors on Friday afternoon.  Their remarks will precede a panel discussion called "Monitoring and Compliance Oversight: When Should Monitors Be Used? How Should Monitors Be Selected? Who Monitors The Monitors?" The two New Jersey Congressmen have introduced legislation to regulate the Justice Department's use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) -- legislation that the two Democrats began pursuing after revelations that GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie gave the firm of his former boss, John Ashcroft, a monitoring contract with $27 to $52 million when he was U.S. Attorney.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie had to come out and directly address issues relating to the way he awarded federal monitoring contracts, according to three non-partisan political analysts.

The question, however, is whether Christie snuffed out growing media attention that has questioned his command of the issue that is supposed to be his strong suit: ethics.

Christie yesterday opened himself up to any question reporters had about allegations of cronyism and pay-to-play from his opponents and political commentators.  At issue was his appointment of David Kelley, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to a federal monitoring contract; $23,800 in donations to his campaign from the law firm Stern & Kilcullen, which he had earlier appointed to monitor the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and the one-and-a -half year old story about awarding of a federal monitoring contract with $27 to $52 million to his former boss, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"It wasn't going to go away.  He has to tackle them head-on because he can't be seen to be ignoring them," said Peter Woolley, a pollster and political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.  "And they're still not going to go away, because the campaign tactic book dictates that you always hit somebody in their strength.  So if his strength is integrity, or at least that's what the public's perception of his strength is, then the tactic book says that's where you have to tear him down."

Saying that his gubernatorial campaign was committed to transparency, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie held a press conference today to invite reporters’ questions about a spate of recent reports and critical columns detailing concerns over his past awarding of federal monitoring contracts.

“I’m not going to stand around and be a political punching bag of caddies for candidates who don’t have a record to sell, a story to tell, and actually attack the candidates who do have something to sell,” said Christie.  

The press conference was meant to squelch an increasing number of attacks by political opponents and news columnists charging Christie -- who is running largely on his record as a corruption-busting U.S. Attorney -- with hypocrisy and cronyism over his awarding of federal monitoring contracts during his tenure as U.S. Attorney.  Christie, however, said that he decided to broach the topic after conservative columnist Paul Mulshine's latest column "ruined my ability to enjoy my son's baseball game with a smile on my face." 

"‘I was tired of reading it. So if that means putting out a fire, you can call it that"," he said."  

Christie accused his opponents of “dragging my brother through the mud” over questions about his appointment of David Kelley, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to a multi-million dollar federal monitoring contract for a medical implant company.  

As U.S. Attorney, Kelley indicted 15 investment firm co-workers of Christie’s brother, Todd, who was not indicted but later faced a civil complaint from the SEC (The case against the co-workers ultimately failed, with 10 charges dropped, three found not guilty and two guilty pleas revered).    

Todd Christie has since settled the complaint with the SEC, admitting that improper trading took place in his company but not acknowledging any wrongdoing.  

“The fact of the matter is none of my brother’s trades could even meet a civil standard of fraud, let alone a criminal case,” said Chris Christie.  

When questioned as to why he would appoint Kelley to monitor a company despite the botched case against the traders, Christie said he was sure it was “not [Kelley’s] proudest day,” but that he judged him on the entirety of his work as U.S. Attorney.  

Chris Christie lashed out against former state Sen. Richard LaRossa (R-Ewing), who in his unpaid column for PolitickerNJ.com wrote about Todd Christie and David Kelley.  Christie said that this Web site in particular has had a bone to pick with him since he indicted Charles Kushner on charges of tax fraud, campaign finance fraud and witness tampering.  Kushner’s son Jared bought PolitickerNJ.com – then-known as PoliticsNJ.com -- in 2007.    

“Those people… who are on the Kushner-owned web site, I've never been on their holiday card list,” said Christie.  “Ever since I sent Kushner to jail, my coverage on Politics – or PolitickerNJ.com -- has not been sterling. While I'm sure there are lots of good, well-intentioned people, the editorial policy there has not been favorable since I sent Charles Kushner to jail.”

When is a Prosecutor not a Prosecutor?

Two hours after Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie outlined a series of proposed ethics reforms, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) and Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) emailed a press release announcing their introduction of a bill that seeks to regulate the Justice Department’s use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs)– legislation that the Congressmen began pursuing after revelations that Christie gave the firm of his former boss, John Ashcroft, a monitoring contract with $27 to $52 million when he was U.S. Attorney.
‘
“Deferring a prosecution should never be an excuse for a federal prosecutor to defer justice,” said Pascrell in a statement.  “As federal prosecutors have dramatically increased the use of deferred corporate prosecutions in recent years, it is necessary that Congress have the oversight authority to ensure all legal arrangements are being made above the board.”

The Ashcroft contract, which was for monitoring a medical implant company that Christie had charged with giving doctors kickbacks to use its products in lieu of prosecution, has been wielded as a political weapon by Democrats seeking to take Christie’s corruption-busting image down a peg.  It led Pallone to introduce an earlier version of the legislation last year.  Ashcroft, under threat of subpoena, gave at-times heated testimony about the contract in front of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie should say if he will ask former President George Bush or former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to campaign for him or raise money for his campaign, says State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Woodbridge). 

Appearing on a Fox morning show today, Christie said he would not ask former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to campaign for him, but sidestepped questions about Bush or Ashcroft. 

"He should answer the question," said Vitale, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

Christie was a top fundraiser for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign before being named U.S. Attorney in 2001.  After leaving the Justice Department, Ashcroft received a federal monitor contract from Christie that could net the ex-Attorney General more than $50 million in fees.

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor, told Fox's Good Morning New York today that he doesn't want his ex-boss, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, to campaign for him.

"I wouldn't be comfortable with Alberto Gonzales coming and campaigning for me," said Christie.  "I had some serious disagreements with the attorney general about the way things were run when he was attorney general and so I would not ask and wouldn't want him to come and campaign for me because we just had some serious philosophical disagreements with each other."

Getty Images Photo

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft at a Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law hearing last March.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, which subpoenaed former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to testify on deferred prosecution agreements and a multi-million dollar federal monitoring contract he received after leaving the Bush administration, has a new chairman.  U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) has left the Judiciary Committee for a seat on Ways and Means, and has been replaced by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), a Memphis lawyer who spent 24 years in the State Senate before winning a congressional seat in 2006.  Cohen, whose rise in the House has been extraordinarily fast, is a member of the Democratic leadership; he serves as a Regional Whip.

The subcommittee is expected to resume their review of federal monitors this year, according to congressional sources.  In March 2008, the panel decided against issuing a subpoena to then-U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who resigned last month and is now a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor. Democrats expect Christie's decision to give a no-bid contract to Ashcroft - estimated to be worth as much as $30 million in fees - to be a campaign issue.