Unlike some New Jersey politicians who have been snagged by federal prosecutors, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has a high regard for those who staff the offices of the United States Attorney in the Garden State.
After all, the Republican served as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney from 2002 through 2008. In October, he said he enjoyed serving as U.S. Attorney more than he enjoyed being governor.
The Asbury Park Press reported Sunday that Christie has taken his admiration for prosecutors several steps further by appointing more than two dozen former prosecutors to administration jobs or the state Superior Court. Nearly 20 of them had worked for Christie directly, the newspaper reported.
In a state fighting its image as a haven for corruption, the number of former prosecutors working for the governor reinforces an image that the administration is intent on fighting white-collar crime, said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University. “The most obvious advantage is that there is a public perception that prosecutors are squeaky clean. And in a state with a reputation for corruption like New Jersey has, that offers voters and Gov. Christie a certain degree of credibility and legitimacy that comes automatically,” Harrison said.
But Seton Hall University political scientist Matthew Hale said prosecutors often are inflexible in negotiations, which can inhibit government operations.
Christie showed his prefernce for prosecutors at the start of his campaign when he chose former federal prosecutor Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno as his ruinning mate.
Other prosecutors in the Cabinet include Lori Grifa, former prosecutors in New York City, at the Department of Community Affairs; Lee Solomon, who was in charge of southern New Jersey for Christie when he was prosecutor, at the Board of Public Utilities; and Paula Dow, a former Essex County prosecutor, as attorney general.
The newspaper reported that the governor’s office is filled with former Christie colleagues: chief counsel Jeffrey Chiesa, deputy chief counsel Kevin O’Dowd, appointments counsel Michele Brown and Authorities Unit director Deborah Gramiccioni. In addition, there’s also Philip Degnan, the new State Commission of Investigation executive director; Homeland Security Director Charles McKenna; Schools Development Authority Director Marc Larkins; and Division of Consumer Affairs Director Thomas Calcagni. John Weingart, a Rutgers University political scientist told the newspaper that it is logical for a first-term governor to choose people he knows well.
“If you don’t like the people, you can say they’re cronies. If you do, you can say they’re trusted associates,” Weingart said. “But it’s a difficult task for a chief executive to pick the right people for these jobs, particularly in a governor’s first term, when he’s learning a lot as he goes. To bring in people he feels he has worked with and trusts, or feels there is a common language with, makes sense.”
Christie has been under pressure by some national Republicans to seek his party’s presidential nomination, but he has said he is not interested.
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Thank you Asbury Park Press. OPR should be looking at this as well. Twenty AUSAs who worked directly for Christie when he was the United States attorney. Can you spell H-A-T-C-H Act? Has anyone in OPR, or Merit Systems Protection, or the OIG heard of the Hatch Act? Christie and his minions walked a very fine line on the good old Hatch Act–unless, of course, they crossed it.