CORZINE CASE MOVES FORWARD
As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was sworn in for a second term Tuesday amid legal and ethical questions, a federal judge ruled that a U.S. regulatory agency’s lawsuit can proceed against Christie’s Democratic predecessor, Jon Corzine. The judge said allegations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission provide “reasonable inferences” that Corzine illegally transferred funds from customer-segregated accounts while he was chief executive officer of the New York City-based MF Global Holdings Limited. More than $1 billion in customer money vanished. Corzine, who served as governor from 2006 to 2010, has denied knowingly participating in any alleged misconduct. He was MF Global’s CEO from March 2010 until bankruptcy proceedings began in October 2011.
Associated Press
Gov. Chris Christie sought to turn back the clock as he was sworn into a second term Tuesday, saying voters gave him a mandate in November to “stay the course” and put aside partisan differences, even as Democrats ramped up an investigation into whether his administration abused its power.
Christie, considered a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2016, was inaugurated amid a snowstorm that forced him to cancel an evening celebration on Ellis Island, and then gave an 18-minute address that dwelled on his 22-percentage-point election victory in the fall. He did not mention the investigations that have already led to the firing or departure of four top aides.
“It was the largest and loudest voice of affirmation that the people of our state have given to any direction in three decades,” Christie said, noting priorities including the economy, education and improving access to jobs for recovering drug addicts. “We have no moral option but to heed the voice of the voters, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
His speech came less than an hour after Democratic lawmakers announced they were consolidating twin probes into allegations that aides engineered traffic jams in September in the community of Fort Lee, N.J. as political retribution, apparently against the town’s mayor for not endorsing his re-election bid.
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, who was on the podium during the inaugural address, said the merger of Assembly and Senate committees was the “optimal approach to ensuring the people of New Jersey get the answers they need to these questions about the abuse of government power.”
Lawmakers have not decided whether the probe will also be extended to allegations raised over the weekend by Hoboken, N.J., Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The Democratic mayor said Christie’s underlings tied the delivery of Superstorm Sandy aid to the low-lying city of 50,000 to support for a prime real estate project.
Zimmer said she was told by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno that the ultimatum came directly from Christie. Guadagno, who was also sworn in Tuesday to a second term, has strongly denied those claims and described them as “false” and “illogical.”
Zimmer met with investigators from the U.S. attorney’s office for several hours Sunday and gave them journal entries she said were made at the time of the conversation at a supermarket opening in May. She also has offered to take a lie-detector test or testify under oath.
The U.S. attorney’s office is also looking into the traffic jams, which happened over a few days when lanes leading to the busy George Washington Bridge to New York City were closed.
Christie has apologized, denied any involvement with or knowledge of the plot, fired a deputy chief of staff at the center of the controversy, and banished one of his top campaign advisers. Two officials Christie had a role in getting hired to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, resigned.
Christie’s inaugural gala had been planned for Ellis Island, once a gateway for millions of immigrants and a symbolic location designed to showcase ideals of inclusiveness and his ability to appeal to a broad swath of voters. The campaign directed that food prepared for the $500-a-person gala be donated to food pantries in the Jersey City area.
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