15 Chris Christie Controversies You MissedThe GWB scandal wasn’t the governor’s first dip in hot water.
By OLIVIA NUZZI January 09, 2014
Democrats in New Jersey have been celebrating what you might call Chris Christiemas this week. When documents were released strongly suggesting that senior members of Governor Christie’s staff were behind the George Washington Bridge lane closures in Fort Lee, the Gov’s ideological opponents breathed a sigh of relief. Christie’s unrivaled political skill and, as Matt Katz outlined here in November, ability to drive a narrative of his choosing, have meant that until now, The Story of Chris Christie As Told By The National Media is one that Christie has largely written himself. As one New Jersey Democratic strategist told me, “the press had basically inaugurated him already.” But Christie’s political career has been riddled with controversies big and small, most of which have been paid little attention by those outside the Garden State. And while perhaps none of these kerfuffles placed anyone in imminent danger quite like Bridgegate did, at least a few of them might have spelled the end of another, less media savvy politician’s career.
1. Using inflated cost estimates to justifying canceling the ARC tunnel
Christie has caused traffic before. The Access to the Region’s Core tunnel was a commuter rail project that would have more than doubled the number of trains from New Jersey to Manhattan, easing congestion on the state’s notorious (especially now) highways. After initially endorsing the project, which could have created an estimated 45,000 permanent jobs and 6,000 temporary construction jobs, Christie changed his mind. He claimed that cost estimates for the tunnel had grown to as much as $14 billion. Except, they didn’t. The cost estimates for the project had remained unchanged in the two years before Christie cancelled it.
2. Lending nearly $50,000 to aide who helped his campaign
When Jon Corzine’s 2009 gubernatorial campaign requested public records from Christie’s time as prosecutor, we learned a lot about his lavish spending habits. We also learned about Christie’s generosity: He lent $46,000 to Michele Brown, a top aide in the prosecutor’s office. Christie denied that Brown had done anything to help his gubernatorial campaign, but she had—pushing for a series of high-profile arrests to be made before Christie left his post as U.S. attorney so that he would receive full credit on the campaign trail. Brown now serves as CEO of the Economic Development Authority in Christie’s administration.
3. Handing out a no-bid contract after Sandy
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Christie awarded a $150 million no-bid contract to AshBritt, a Florida-based firm. Just days after the deal was done, AshBritt donated $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association, of which Christie was then vice chairman.
4. A corrupt Christie ally let off the hook, inexplicably
When a county sheriff was accused of hiring deputies without background checks who then manufactured fake police badges for a “prominent donor to Gov. Chris Christie,” the indicted undersheriff wasn’t worried. He assured an aide that Christie would “have this whole thing thrown out.” Not long after that, the indictments were killed, by someone.
5. Taxpayer funded “town halls”
Chris Christie is sort of like the Kate Upton of politics, in that his rise to prominence can be partly attributed to his presence on YouTube. Many of Christie’s Greatest YouTube Hits are videos of him, uh, connecting with voters at his town halls, which more often seem to double as campaign events. The problem? The taxpayers are footing the bill, including more than $12,000 for flags, lighting and other equipment.
6. Reckless driving
In 2002, driving a rented BMW Sedan, U.S. Attorney Christie injured a motorcyclist when he tried to turn the wrong way onto a one-way street. He was not issued a traffic ticket, despite his less-than-stellar driving record, which includes at least six accidents and 13 moving violations.
7. Reckless spending on being driven
After taking the hint that driving is perhaps not his greatest skill, U.S. Attorney Christie took a limo roundtrip between Newark and Atlantic City. The cost? $700.
8. Taxpayer-funded helicopter rides
In 2011, Christie sailed down from the skies and onto a baseball field (where his son was about to play) in a State Police helicopter. The 55-foot chopper cost taxpayers $12.5 million. A spokesman for the Gov said it was to be used “occasionally … as the schedule demands.” What was on Christie’s schedule for that day? No public events. Just a private dinner with Iowa Republican donors.
9. Shoddy oversight of halfway houses where prisoners escaped, murdered
Crowded prisons strain state budgets, so some states, like New Jersey, try to cut costs by handing over inmates to privately run halfway houses. A great idea! … Unless prisoners begin to escape in droves, which they did. More than 1,000 prisoners escaped in Christie’s first 29 months in office. One of those escapees murdered a young woman. Also, the company that received the bulk of the halfway house money? Its senior vice president is Christie’s close friend and political adviser, William Palatucci.
10. Staying in Disney World during blizzard
As New Jersey attempted to shovel its way out of 31 inches of snow in December 2010, Christie remained on vacation in sunny Florida, leaving others to deal with the mess in his state. Christie’s lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, was away too—in Mexico—so New Jersey residents were pretty much on their own.
11. Starring in publicly funded tourism ads
In 2013, an election year for Christie, it was difficult to turn on a television without being confronted by “Stronger Than The Storm,” an ad featuring a maudlin jingle and the governor and his family. The 30-second spot highlighted Christie’s leadership in bringing his state together in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and arguably served as his best campaign ad. Unfortunately, that spot and others like it were paid for using federal grant money from the $60 million Sandy relief package, and it later came out that in selecting the ad agency that wanted to feature his family, the Christie administration spent $2 million more than necessary.
12. Lavish hotel stays
U.S. Attorney Christie was known as the one “who most often exceeded the government rate without adequate justification” when traveling on the job. Out of 23 trips, he exceeded the rate 14 times by staying at places like the Four Seasons in Washington.
13. A payday of over $52 million for an old boss
As U.S. attorney, Christie settled a probe into kickbacks by knee and hip replacement manufacturers for a cool $311 million. Christie selected former Attorney General John Ashcroft, his old boss, to monitor the manufacturers, for which Ashcroft’s D.C.-based consulting firm received $52 million of the settlement.
14. Betting on a casino with public funds
Christie offered $261 million in tax incentives to Revel Casino in Atlantic City so the company could complete construction after Morgan Stanley abandoned the project. Two years later, Revel filed for bankruptcy.
15. Pulling a Daily Caller on Menendez before there was a Daily Caller
Long before The Daily Caller published bogus claims that United States Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was paying for prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie was initiating (allegedly) bogus probes into Menendez. In 2006, Christie launched an investigation into Menendez over his involvement with a nonprofit community group he reportedly helped get federal grants. Nothing came of the investigation. So why did it happen? It couldn’t have had anything to do with the fact that Christie was on the chopping block, and he needed to save face with George W. Bush, the man who held his fate as U.S. attorney in his hands.
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