The Justice Department is probing New Jersey acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra over remarks that could have aided his former boss’ campaign for governor, The Associated Press reported today.
Chris Christie (DOJ)
Unnamed “officials” told The AP that the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility has started an internal affairs probe into the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office’s handling of a corruption investigation that netted 44 individuals - including 29 elected or public officials — in July. Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has used the arrests to argue he would be better at preventing public corruption than Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.
Here are the Marra comments that prompted the probe, according to The AP:
“There are easily reforms that could be made within this state that would make our job easier, or even take some of the load off our job. There are too many people that profit off the system the way it is and so they have no incentive to change it. The few people that want to change it seem to get shouted down. So how long that cycle’s going to continue I just don’t know.”
Justice Department guidelines say prosecutors “shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused,” The AP reported.
Justice spokesperson Tracy Schmaler declined to comment or acknowledge the existence of the investigation to The AP. New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s office spokesperson Greg Reinert told The AP that he was unaware of such a probe and declined to comment.
Marra, Christie’s former deputy, became acting U.S. Attorney after Christie resigned in December 2008. Lawyer Paul Fishman was nominated by President Obama in May to be the next U.S. Attorney for the office, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to consider the appointment.
