YET ANOTHER CHRISTIE 'PAY-TO-PLAY' SCANDAL: CHRISTIE FUND-RAISER BENEFITED FROM PRIOR CONTRACT
Philadelphia Inquirer
Christie fund-raiser benefited from prior contractby Angela Delli Santi
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20090414_ap_christiefundraiserbenefitedfrompriorcontract.html
TRENTON , N.J. - A week after the Republican front-runner in the New Jersey governor's race said he'd reject all future campaign donations from lawyers to whom he gave no-bid contracts as U.S. attorney, he was scheduled to attend a $500-a-plate fundraiser hosted by a lawyer involved in one of the oversight deals.
Christopher Christie's campaign hoped to raise $100,000 during the Tuesday night fundraiser co-hosted by John P. Inglesino, a lawyer with Stern & Kilcullen. The Roseland law firm's principal, Herb Stern, was picked by Christie to settle Medicare fraud claims at the state's medical and dental school, and Inglesino was Stern's chief counsel for the monitoring work in a contract that earned the firm $3 million.
Neither Christie nor Inglesino returned phone messages for comment Tuesday. …
Christie made that pledge after facing repeated questions over donations to his campaign by Stern, Inglesino, another partner and their wives, amounting to $23,800. After 2-to-1 state matching funds were allotted, the gifts turned into $71,400.
Christie said then he would end the campaign ‘distraction’ by refusing future contributions from monitors. However, he said he had no plans to return the gifts he'd already gotten from the six contributors, which amounted to the maximum amount allowed by law.
The refusal to give the money back prompted renewed charges from Democrats that Christie was engaging in pay-to-play, the practice of giving government contracts to political donors. …
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