Another Time When Christie Allegedly Steered Money To Political Pals
Allegedly steering money to those on-board the Christie train is not the first time he’s accused of fiscal impropriety.
During his tenure as a U.S. attorney, Christie negotiated seven of what are known as deferred prosecution agreements (DPA). DPAs allow for a defendant to avoid prosecution by making settlements in which they agree to do things such as: paying fines, making reforms, or cooperating with an investigation.
In those agreements, Christie required the appointment of outside monitors to ensure compliance with the DPA — at the expense of the company in the agreement.
In one case, a $311 million settlement that ended a probe and possible prosecution of some of the leading manufacturers of knee and hip replacements, Christie hand-selected the firm of his former boss U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft to serve as a monitor. Ashcroft’s firm was poised to collect an estimated $52 million in 18 months — one of the largest deals ever for a federal monitor…
Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s book, Double Down: Game Change 2012 revealed the Romney campaign included the incident in the vetting research on Christie, and it was considered a significant hit on Christie.
“There was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing,” the duo wrote of the opposition research file that caused vetters to be ” stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record.”
