Maybe New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in the wrong line of business.
Bench Memos readers will remember, of course, that Christie has a very poor record of choosing solid judges. He famously renominated a liberal activist to the New Jersey Supreme Court for the rest of his career, along with several other nominees (some successful, some not) who gave every indication that they would be just as bad.
Lots of intelligent people think this is a big problem. My organization, the Judicial Crisis Network, put together a website and video to highlight the issue.
Well, we now have another point in the constellation of Christie’s bad choices. Some are raising questions about Christie’s most recent trip to Dallas, which was apparently paid for by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has business before agencies overseen by Christie:
The trip, however, is proving to be controversial. Christie flew to Dallas and accepted the ticket to the game at the expense of the Cowboys’ owner, who just so happens to have a business relationship with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The state’s Code of Conduct says that governors “may accept gifts, favors, services, gratuities, meals, lodging or travel expenses from relatives or personal friends that are paid for with personal funds.”
The sticky issue is that the governor of New Jersey, along with the governor of New York, controls the Port Authority, and Legends Hospitality, a company in which Jones has an interest, has been given a license to run an observation deck atop One World Trade Center, which is operated by the Port Authority. The New York Yankees and Checketts Partners Investment Fund own Legends, along with the Cowboys, and the company’s One World Trade Center deal is expected to produce $875 million in revenue over 15 years for the Port Authority. The Yankees’ Randy Levine, a board member of Legends Hospitality, said Jones was not involved in the negotiations with the Port Authority for the observation deck contract. Levine did, though, tell the Wall Street Journal that Jones’s family is a “significant” investor.
The article adds, “The trip may comply with the letter of the law, but it’s still raising questions, especially given Christie’s George Washington Bridge scandal.”
Christie might make a better NFL commissioner than conservative politician. If he ever gets that job, you can be sure that we at JCN will monitor his referee appointments very carefully.