Chris Christie has until Sept. 4 to more fully answer questions from a House member about controversial court-monitoring contracts he awarded when he was New Jersey U.S. Attorney, PolitickerNJ.com reported this afternoon.
Steve Cohen (Gov)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), chair of the House Judiciary commercial and administrative law subcommittee, submitted questions for the record for Christie to answer after the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor stalked out of a June panel hearing about the deals. Christie answered the queries, but the House member from Tennessee said the responses from the former U.S. Attorney were “particularly unsatisfactory.”
The subcommittee chair wrote in a letter to Christie:
Chris Christie (Gov)
“For all but two of your questions, you responded with a general assertion that the questions were answered in your oral and written testimony. At time you cited page numbers in the unofficial hearing transcript, which on further inspection appear not to contain anything responsive, and which in any event will be confusing to those who will have only the official published hearing record, of which your letter will be part. Finally, even for the two questions for which you provided answers, the answers are incomplete.”
Read Christie’s answers here.
The questions from Cohen focused on a no-bid contract worth up to $52 million that Christie awarded to a firm owned by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
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Patrick Fitzgerald (DOJ)
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) says prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald preventing him from doing “a lot of good for a lot of people” by arresting him last December, The Associated Press reported. Blagojevich makes the observation in his upcoming book, “The Governor,” The AP says.
Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, described the Illinois governor as on as a “political crime spree” in a news conference last year. Blagojevich was charged with bribery and fraud in an alleged pay-to-play conspiracy.
“The Governor” will be released by Phoenix Books on Sept. 8. ”Mr. Fitzgerald didn’t stop a crime spree. He stopped me from doing a lot of good for a lot of people,” Blagojevich writes, The Huffington Post reported.
“There’s nothing wrong with America,” Blagojevich also wrote. “What is wrong is what this prosecutor has done. He’s wrong. His actions are undermining and threatening the rights we Americans expect and so often take for granted. It is not America that is wrong. His arrest, his press conference, and his false accusations are what’s wrong.” Read the NBC article here.
Fitzgerald’s office declined to comment.
Blagojevich is awaiting trial on charges he demanded campaign contributions in exchange for official actions. In June his wife, Patti, appeared on a reality television show and blasted Fitzgerald, saying, “They squeeze people to say things that aren’t true.”
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Neil Kinkopf (law.edu.gsu)
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy has picked up a veteran of the Clinton administration, Neil Kinkopf, a respected constitutional law scholar and former lawyer in the Office of Legal Counsel. Kinkopf, who is leaving his teaching position at Georgia State University College of Law, will join the office as counselor to the assistant attorney general.
Kinkopf (Boston College, Case Western Law) has long-standing ties with Christopher Schroeder, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head OLP. The two were colleagues in the Justice Department under Janet Reno and have since collaborated on several projects. In 1999, Kinkopf was counselor to then-Sen. Joe Biden for the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Schroeder was Biden’s trial counsel.
Schroeder was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in late July, and congressional aides say they expect him to win confirmation easily once the Senate reconvenes.
Kinkopf was special assistant in OLC from 1993 to 1997. During that time he worked closely with Dawn Johnsen, then a deputy in the office and now the nominee to lead it; David Barron, who was an attorney-adviser and is now the principal deputy in OLC (and acting head of the office pending the outcome of Johnsen’s nomination); Martin Lederman, who was also an attorney-adviser in OLC and now is a deputy in the office; and Schroeder, who was a deputy in OLC.
Kinkopf, reached today, said he took the job on short notice. He received a call in July and formally accepted the position a couple weeks ago, forcing him to cancel his fall-semester classes. Kinkopf is leaving for Washington this evening. When asked about his duties at OLP, Kinkopf said, “I hope to figure that out tomorrow.”
OLP provides policy advice to the attorney general and the deputy attorney general. The office also coordinates with the Office of Legislative Affairs to push the department’s initiatives in Congress and shepherds judicial nominees through the confirmation process.
This original version of this post incorrectly stated that Amanda Miller is a deputy in the Office of Legal Policy.
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Candace G. Hill took the oath as interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky Friday, WBKO in Bowling Green, Ky. reported.
Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Hill to the post last Wednesday. She is an 18-year veteran of the Western District office.
Hill succeeded David Huber, who resigned in January after serving five years as U.S. Attorney. He was a Bush appointee.
Former D.C. U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova rebuked New Mexico U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Fouratt for remarks the prosecutor made about the decision not to file charges against Gov. Bill Richardson, The Associated Press reported last week.
Joseph diGenova (diGenova & Toensing)
diGenova, a Reagan U.S. Attorney, told The AP that a letter Fouratt sent to grand jury witnesses about the decision was “stupid.” The ex-D.C. U.S. Attorney said the letter made accusations of dishonesty after the investigation was over.
“That letter is an outrage and the U.S. Attorney who wrote it should be fired,” diGenova told The AP. “The case is closed. If he had charges, bring them. Otherwise, he should shut up. He’s being a politician now, not a prosecutor.”
Gregory Fouratt (Gov)
Fouratt, a Bush holdover, wrote that “pressure from the governor’s office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process” and said that the letter “should not be interpreted as exoneration of any party’s conduct in that matter.”
Richardson, a Democrat, was being investigated for a pay-to-play scheme involving one of his donors. He was appointed commerce secretary in the Obama administration, but withdrew his nomination as a result of the inquiry.
Bill Richardson (Gov)
The governor said he was innocent. Richardson said he decided to withdraw his nomination to prevent a delay on his confirmation.
Officials were probing whether political contributions played a role in the selection of California-based CDR Financial Products as an adviser on state transportation bond transactions.
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Gregory Lockhart (DOJ)
Gregory Lockhart, who recently stepped down as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, has joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister , reports the Dayton Business Journal. (Click here for our post on his resignation.)
Lockhart, who had been U.S. attorney in the Columbia-based office since 2001, will join the Dayton office as a partner in the Taft’s litigation practice, focusing on commercial litigation and white-collar crime.
“Greg Lockhart has been an outstanding public servant for many years and is known and respected throughout the region as a superior trial lawyer,”said Thomas Terp, managing partner of the Cincinnati-based firm, in a news release.
Lockhart (Wright State, OSU Law) was an assistant U.S. attorney for 14 years before his appointment as U.S. attorney. He has also taught courses at the University of Dayton College of Law and Wright State University.
President Barack Obama nominated Carter M. Stewart of Columbus-based Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease to replace Lockhart. The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Stewart earlier this month.
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Former Vice President Cheney on "FOX News Sunday"
The president is the chief law enforcement officer in the administration. He’s now saying, well, this isn’t anything that he’s got anything to do with. He’s up on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and his attorney general is going back and doing something that the president said some months ago he wouldn’t do.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), who called the interrogation probe a “mistake,” said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Holder nonetheless has the authority to investigate. “The attorney general has a unique position in the cabinet obviously,” McCain said. “He can’t be told what to do by the president of the United States.”
Yet Cheney said the Constitution confers ultimate law enforcement authority on the president, not the Attorney General.
Well, I think if you look at the Constitution, the president of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer in the land. The attorney general’s a statutory officer. He’s a member of the cabinet.
Cheney appears to be taking an expansive view of Article II of the Constitution, which says: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” Yet in practice and common understanding, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States is the Attorney General. The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the AG’s office, “which evolved over the years into …. chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government,” the Department of Justice’s Web site says.
The Attorney General’s office is unique in that it is expected to enforce the nation’s laws fairly, uphold the Constitution and represent the broader interests of the American people, not the political interests of the White House. While President Obama has said he opposes a new review of the CIA interrogation methods, he’s also repeatedly said the decision ultimately lies with Holder.
While no Attorney General is deaf and dumb to politics, there are lines that can’t be crossed without an uproar.
President Nixon’s attorney general, Elliot Richardson, resigned in protest when Nixon fired the Watergate special counsel, Archibald Cox. FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey almost resigned after the White House tried to pressure then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in the hospital, to reauthorize surveillance techniques believed to be illegal. And Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned after it was revealed the White House had directed the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.
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Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s driving record has become an issue in the New Jersey governor’s race.
On Friday, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jon Corzine (D) called the Republican challenger a “complete menace” as a driver, after it was revealed he’d been found guilty on 13 tickets between 1985 and 2009, and had been involved in six accidents between 1989 and 2007. Christie wasn’t ticketed in the accidents, and a spokesman for the New Jersey motor vehicles department said he was a driver in good standing, the Daily Record reported.
On Saturday Christie clarified the circumstances surrounding a 2005 traffic stop, in which he was issued tickets for speeding and driving an unregistered vehicle without proof of insurance.
Christie said he didn’t bring up his position as U.S. Attorney, but that a tow truck driver had recognized him, The Associated Press reported. He said he was permitted to drive the vehicle home because his four kids were with him, not because he got favorable treatment as a result of his law enforcement position, The AP reported.
Also in the car with him at the 2005 traffic stop was his wife and Michele Brown, a family friend and prosecutor who was supervised by Christie in the U.S. Attorney office. Christie on Saturday denied a report that Brown had displayed her badge during the traffic stop. Brown resigned as acting First Assistant U.S. attorney last week after controversy erupted over a $46,000 loan Christie had made to her.
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Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation John Pistole is being vetted to head the Drug Enforcement Administration, Tickle the Wire reports. The federal law enforcement blog said Pistole now appears to be the frontrunner.
John Pistole (FBI)
The Bureau is the big-foot of law enforcement agencies, often muscling out agents from smaller agencies like the DEA on hot cases. Retired DEA agent William Coonce wrote in a recent Tickle the Wire column: “To consider a current FBI official is an insult to ever DEA agent either on duty or retired.” Still, Coonce conceded that agents widely consider the DEA’s best administrator ever to have been former FBI agent John “Jack” Lawn, who ran the agency from 1985 to 1990.
During the Clinton Administration, the Justice Department considered folding the DEA into the FBI, but the plan was abandoned. Both the DEA and FBI are agencies under the Justice Department.
Who else has been interviewed for the job? According to Tickle the Wire, Boyd M. Johnson III, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York with experience prosecuting drug cases, made the cut. Johnson headed the public corruption unit that brought charges in the prostitution ring whose customers included then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York. New U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the SDNY recently promoted Johnson to Deputy U.S. Attorney.
Other candidates who’ve gotten interviews are former San Diego U.S. Attorney Greg A. Vega and Michele Leonhart, the DEA’s acting chief, Tickle the Wire reports. Read the Tickle the Wire story here.
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Edward Kennedy (Gov)
As Massachusetts lawmakers mourn the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) they also are preparing for a battle about his replacement. Namely, how that person will be selected and who that person will be. The how is the more pressing matter right now, according to state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R).
Current state law calls for a special election in the event of a Senate vacancy, but some Democrats are pushing for the law to be changed to allow Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint the next senator. Bay State residents “don’t want to see election laws changed to benefit one person or party … it erodes people’s confidence,” according to Tisei.
The state Republican Party also hopes the current law stays in place, as Patrick would almost certainly appoint a Democrat. “I think it’s wrong for Democrats to change the law for purely self-serving purposes,” state Republican Party communications director Tarah Donoghue said. She added that Patrick has a “long history of making poor decisions in political patronage” in making his appointments.
In the event the law doesn’t change, a special election would be held. Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin on Thursday presented state lawmakers with a proposed election calendar, The Boston Globe reported. The calendar was drafted after Galvin met with state House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D), state Senate President Therese Murray (D), and top Patrick aides. Under his proposed scheduled, the special election would take place either Jan. 19, with a Dec. 8 primary, or Jan. 26, with a Dec. 15 primary.
According to Galvin, Patrick is legally required to choose one of the two proposed special election dates and then notify local officials by early next week. Under state law, the governor must set the special election process in motion “immediately’’ upon a Senate vacancy, The Globe reported.
Michael J. Sullivan (Ashcroft Sullivan)
Among the names mentioned as possible candidates is former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan. Sullivan has declined to comment on the possibility of running for the seat, although he did release a statement regarding Kennedy’s passing.
While the state GOP believes it is “too early” to endorse a candidate, according to Donoghue, the state House has scheduled a caucus for Monday to discuss possible candidates, according to state House Assistant Minority Leader George Peterson (R). If former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey decides to run, she “would be very formidable,” as she would be able to self-finance her campaign, according to Tisei.
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