PRESS RELEASES

Press Release: Christie Labels Himself Corrupt
August 5, 2009

For Immediate Release:
August 5, 2009 

Contact:
Elisabeth Smith, 609-695-7190

 

CHRISTIE LABELS HIMSELF CORRUPT

TRENTON—Citing Right Wing Conservative gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s statement in today’s Star-Ledger that “broken promises are the first path towards corruption,” Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said that he agrees with Christie.

In today’s Star-Ledger, Christie said, “‘You have to elect better people, and when they don't live up to their promises, you need to kick them out, because broken promises are the first path towards corruption,’ Christie said during a campaign stop in Sayreville on Monday. ‘Because if you get away with a lie during the campaign, if you get away with a promise you don't keep and you re-elect them, they begin to think they can get away with anything.’”

During his campaign for Morris County freeholder, according to the Daily Record, Christie said that “put[ting] out to bid all contracts for consultants and professionals” was “one of his major campaign themes. Christie said that “This one of the major things I’m running on. It makes common sense. It's good government. Let the chips fall where they may and get the best people at the best price.”

Then, after being sworn into office, Christie promptly broke the central promise of his candidacy and voted for no-bid contracts for his campaign contributors.

“I agree with Christie that broken promises are the first path to corruption,” said Hughes.  “Unfortunately, Christie’s history shows that he has set a standard that he continuously violated, and then refused to accept responsibility for his actions.  It seems as though the rules Christie has laid out do not apply to him.”

In 2001, after raising over $350,000 with his brother, Todd Christie, for President George W. Bush’s campaign, Christie was rewarded with an appointment as U.S. Attorney. Shortly after his appointment, he spoke out against no-bid contracts, telling the Asbury Park Press that “the biggest problem in corruption in New Jersey is no-bid contracts.  If you look at all of these cases that we do, they almost always center around no-bid professional contracts.”

Yet as U.S. Attorney, Christie not only broke his promise to crack down on no-bid contracts, but was also the only U.S. Attorney in the nation to unilaterally hand out no-bid contracts.  Christie gave his mentor, Herb Stern, and his longtime friend, John Inglesino, a $10 million no-bid contract to serve as a federal monitor. He then gave John Ashcroft, his former boss in the Bush Administration, a no-bid contract worth $52 million and in the same case handed out a multi-million dollar contract to David Kelley, the former U.S. Attorney who spared his brother on stock fraud charges.

After engineering these no-bid contracts and receiving campaign contributions for his gubernatorial bid from their recipients, Christie pledged in April that he would refuse “future contributions” from individuals he had appointed to monitorships. Despite this “promise,” the Associated Press reported that Christie’s campaign raised $100,000 from a fundraiser hosted by John Inglesino, who benefited from no-bid contracts from Christie.

“Over the past few years, we have made significant steps toward reform in New Jersey,” Hughes said. “By his own standards, Christie has been part of the corruption problem in New Jersey.”

Under Brian Hughes' leadership, Mercer County became the first county in New Jersey to ban the practice of pay-to-play by strictly limiting political contributions from individuals or entities seeking to do business with the County. This focus on ethics reform also led Hughes to create the County's first Office of Inspector General.