New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie stayed in luxury hotels and exceeded the government allowance on 14 of 16 trips he took as the state’s U.S. Attorney in 2008, The Associated Press reports.
The spending records were obtained by the campaign of Gov. Jon Corzine (D) under the Freedom of Information Act. The Corzine campaign in August had made an issue of acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown’s assignment to help fulfill the FOIA request. Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said at the time that Brown was involved only insofar as some of the requested documents concerned her own travel.
Brown resigned in August after it was revealed that Christie had made an unreported $46,000 loan to her.
We don’t know anything first-hand about this story, just passing along what The AP says. To wit:
On trips in 2007 and 2008, his top deputy, Michele Brown, also exceeded the guidelines after Christie approved her requests for rooms in the same five-star hotels where he was booked.
The vouchers show Christie and Brown stayed at the NineZero Hotel in Boston on Oct. 16, 2007 and each billed taxpayers $449 plus taxes and fees for their rooms, more than double the government allowance for a Boston hotel room at the time, according to a General Services Administration travel reimbursement table.
Christie made a mortgage loan to Brown five days after they returned from Boston, on Oct. 22, 2007. He failed to report the loan on federal ethics forms and on his 2007 federal income tax returns, omissions he later described as a mistake. Brown has since resigned and joined a private law firm.
And:
Records turned over so far show Christie exceeded the government lodging allowance on 23 of 30 business trips taken between 2004 and 2008. In some cases, his travel vouchers were approved first by Brown, then certified by a third person. Christie, who was Brown’s supervisor, signed off on her travel, either in advance or when she submitted vouchers, the records show. The vouchers were all certified by a third party
So if I’ve got this straight, candidate Christie, while US Attorney had his deputy approve his expense reports whil ehe approved hers and then, after allowing her to ‘upgrade’ to stay in his fove-star hotel, he thne loanded her $46,000 and failed to report it on tax forms or ethics forms.
Yep…he sounds qualified to be governor!