Very interesting to those of us who are watching the Christie administration soap opera:
As Chris Christie draws closer to a run for president, there’s intensifying scrutiny of donations flowing to his political organizations from executives at financial firms that manage ever-larger slices of New Jersey’s $80 billion state pension system. Now, the Christie political confidant at the center of many of those questions is resigning.
During today’s meeting of the New Jersey State Investment Council, private equity executive Robert Grady announced he is stepping down from the chairmanship of the panel. Christie has called Grady a “friend of mine for nearly 40 years” whom he relies on for political advice.
In recent months, campaign finance documents revealed that under Grady’s leadership, the state has awarded lucrative pension management contracts to hedge fund, private equity, venture capital and other so-called “alternative investment” firms whose executives made campaign contributions to Christie’s campaign, his state party, the Christie-led Republican Governors Association and the Republican National Committee. The donations included a $10,000 contribution from Massachusetts Republican Gov.-elect Charlie Baker to the New Jersey Republican State Committee just months before Baker’s firm was given a New Jersey pension investment.
The donations were made despite New Jersey and federal rules aiming to restrict contributions to state officials like Christie who oversee pension investment decisions. Documents uncovered by International Business Times showed that Grady, a former Carlyle Group executive, was in regular communication with Christie’s campaign officials at the time the campaign was raising money and he was overseeing the state’s pension investments. Grady pushed New Jersey to move pension money into an investment in which his private financial firm was also investing, documents revealed. New Jersey also invested in Carlyle Group funds during Grady’s tenure, though he recused himself from final votes on those investments.
Chris “the Fat Man and Clown” Christie doesn’t stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. They keep him around because he raises a lot of money for the Republicans. You know, like Ted Cruz. Christie gets much of the money he raises from Big Oil and Coal (Koch’s) because he’s squishy on climate change. Speaking of which, the area getting 6 feet of snow, like Buffalo, consistently vote Republican. God is punishing them. Creating carbon emissions as it turns out is a violation of Biblical, Talmudic and Koranic law.
This is a bit of an aside, but I never understood why there wasn’t more discussion of prosecution for the bridge shut-down using the definition of terrorism that’s in the Patriot Act. It defines terrorism as “an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.” Seems that cases i and ii would apply. Or does the Patriot Act include special dispensation for Republicans?
Kurt, we both know that there’s a rich man’s law and a poor man’s law. The oligarchy (1%) protects its own if it perceives even the slightest bit of long-term value in doing so. The 99% are the “takers” and can be thrown to the wolves on a moments notice for the most ridiculous of infractions. Keep your head down and your shoulder to the wheel or the NSA will get you.
We’ll know that Hillary has gotten serious about 2016 when she asks Obama on the QT to audit Sandy funds. It’s a twofer. Cuomo and Christie in one fell swoop.