Posted on 02/14/2007 7:58:30 AM PST by Calpernia
Although an official with Chris Christie's office will neither confirm nor deny it, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the non-partisan research arm of New Jersey Legislature are set to square off in federal court today over records federal prosecutors reportedly want as part of a widening probe into political corruption. The Office of Legislative Services (OLS), also the legal arm of the legislature, claims the documents are confidential and has refused to release them.
The investigation is said to be focusing on more than $270 million in last-minute State Budget add-ons, commonly known as "pork," or "Christmas tree items." The U-S Attorney is thought to be seeking to determine if any taxpayer money was illegally steered by lawmakers to fund pet projects in their districts or if a lawmaker or family member directly benefited from any grants. Essentially this is a search into possible conflicts of interest.
Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck says, "The U.S. Attorney is conducting a criminal grand jury investigation into grants appropriated to a Legislator's business interest and that investigation may extend beyond that; the Democrat leadership must do whatever is necessary to get Chris Christie the subpoenaed information…..let's weed out the corruption that has plagued this State. Why would any member of the Legislature stand in the way of a federal corruption probe?"
The Democratic leadership is responding. In a joint statement State Senate President Dick Codey and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts write, "The U.S. Attorney's efforts to root out corruption in this State should be applauded. The Senate and Assembly have fully complied with all requests from the U.S. Attorney's Office. We're unaware of a broad ranging investigation as has been reported in the media. What apparently is in dispute is a narrow issue that the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) believes to be of constitutional significance and ultimately it will be up to the court to decide the matter. We have asked OLS to continue to brief counsel for the minority party and to make staff available for any questions that can be answered."
OLS is not making staff available to answers questions from this reporter. A call to the OLS offices yesterday was not returned. Kim Guadagno, a law professor at Rutgers-Newark who spent ten years at the U-S Attorney's Office and another two years in the State Attorney General's Office says the lawyer retained by OLS should be free to talk about the case, "Unless something happens in the court room to prevent OLS from speaking, then he's free to talk about what he feels comfortable talking about." Newark attorney Edward Dauber has reportedly been hired to represent the Legislature to contest the federal subpoena. Dauber is a former assistant U.S. attorney and has served as the executive assistant state attorney general. He is charging the Legislature $275 an hour, which goes up to $300 an hour for court time.
Guadagno says Christie is not at liberty to talk about the case. She says according to rule 6 "e" of the Federal Grand Jury Rules of Procedure, "The prosecutor is not permitted to disclose anything about what he's investigating. He's prevented by law from disclosing it or he can be punished by contempt." She explains that this means, "We may never know what happens in that court room because it is an investigation and an investigation may never rise to the level of criminal charges…..this could be the beginning of an investigation, you could be months, maybe years away or, this could be the end of an investigation, it's impossible to tell right now."
A spokesman for Governor Jon Corzien says, "As a matter of policy, he (Corzine) does believe it would be appropriate for the Legislature to comply in the spirit of openness and transparency in government." Corzine had indicated that he would ask State Attorney General Stu Rabner to look into the matter but Rabner who worked under U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie before being recruited by Corzine as the governor's counsel feels that would be a conflict of interest. His spokesman says, "We are not going to issue any opinion....the Attorney General's office works cooperatively with the U.S. Attorney's office on a number of issues. Therefore, we have a conflict."
Hearing Will Determine Whether Prosecutors Get Lawmakers Memos' (NJ)
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1785209/posts
Pork Probe Continues As Attorneys Clam Up (NJ)
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