Despite Ethics Rule, Chris Christie's Ticket And Travel To Cowboys Game Paid For By Jerry Jones

[George II]

Source: International Business Times

January 05 2015 5:55 PM

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s ticket and travel to the Dallas Cowboys playoff game on Sunday was paid for by team owner Jerry Jones, according to a spokesman for the governor. The gifts from the NFL team owner follow the Christie administration giving millions of dollars worth of tax subsidies to the NFL.

The announcement from the governor’s office followed International Business Times first reporting today on Christie appearing in the NFL owner's box despite strict New Jersey ethics rules. Those rules subject public officials to “a zero tolerance policy for acceptance of gifts ... that are related in any way to [an officeholder’s] official duties.” As governor, Christie has overseen the state’s business with the NFL, most prominently during the 2014 Super Bowl.

Christie has cited those same ethics rules in barring other New Jersey officials from getting special access to tickets to events at state-owned arenas.

According to NJ.com, Christie officials said the gifts from Jones are legal since an executive order signed by a previous governor says governors “may accept gifts, favors, services, gratuities, meals, lodging or travel expenses from relatives or personal friends that are paid for with personal funds.”


Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/despite-ethics-rule-chris-christies-ticket-travel-cowboys-game-paid-jerry-jones-1773910

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Of course, Christie is above his OWN edicts regarding New Jersey officials.

New Jersey voters, on BOTH sides, are not happy with his antics last night, and there are a lot of Giants, Jets, and Eagles fans in New Jersey.

[mountain grammy]

1. And then there was that yellow flag and penalty..

and there was Christie in the booth.

[C Moon]

9. :D I was thinking the same thing. Money talks.

[Unknown Beatle]

14. Are you saying the refs wanted Dallas to win?

Or that the refs were paid to fix the game? That Jerry Jones is a billionaire and has a lot of influence? Let me ask you something, if Jones has so much influence, why have the Cowboys missed the playoffs in the past five years. And when they were in the playoffs last, why did they lose? If that's the case, he could pay to win the Super Bowl. SMH

Yes, money talks, but not in pro sports. Can you imagine the scandal if yesterdays refs were paid and someone talked? Ooh boy!

[titaniumsalute]

30. Don't you remember...

Of course slightly different with gambling...but corruption is corruption.

[Dont call me Shirley]

26. 2 pass interference flags against whineyboys and both were picked back up with no penalty

[Third Doctor]

2. Typical elitist repub

following rules is for the little people. This isn't the first time he has showed himself to be a hypocrite.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. Christie is a crook

[whereisjustice]

4. what a scumbag, to see him dancing around the cowboys owners box was disgusting NJ

should recall his ass. KISSING THE ASS OF J JONES? Shit he really does hate people who work for a living.

[al_liberal]

5. George Orwell yet again.

"Some animals are more equal than others"

[tabasco]

6. It baffles me that anyone would vote for a scumbag like Christie

I stopped trying to figure it out. I just accept that there are a lot of stupid people in the world.

[1step]

7. The Fix Was In

Just like when the refs picked up that well-deserved pass interference flag, tilting the fiekd in Dallas' favor.

[Unknown Beatle]

15. Read post number 14. eom

[karynnj]

19. Poor taste and you know it is not true - therefore you do not wonder if it is

I assume you know someone in real life who is heavier than they should be - even if not in Christie's league. Would you say this of them? You might not remember, but Christie may have won his first race for governor because the previous unpopular Democratic incumbent's campaign used what was seen as a "fat joke" low blow.

If he enters the race, would you want him to get the sympathy that he did then? Here is a link to the NYT coverage - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/nyregion/08fat.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 While reading it, remember that the REAL point of the ad was Christie's blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others and his use of his then position to avoid a ticket. Had the Corzine people not decided it was clever to use the double entendre of "throwing his weight around", this ad could have been very powerful for Corzine.

As a NJ resident and Democrat, I did some canvasing and phone banking for Corzine. I can tell you it was the WORST experience I ever had. (This even though I went door to door for McGovern in the most Republican county in the state in 1972) We were speaking just to known Democrats - and many were absolutely unwilling to vote for Corzine - saying they just couldn't. Part of the reason was it was a bad time (2009) to be an incumbent, but the other reason was there was no positive campaign to give good reasons (and that could not be done just by the callers) and they hated the negative campaign.

[cosmicone]

20. Point made :) n/t

[7962]

10. Being friends with a scumbag like Jerry Jones will cost him more votes than he thinks

IF he runs, which I kinda doubt. On one hand, i think its refreshing that a candidate stands by the team he always rooted for, (regardless of it being Christe). I'm sick of pols running away from stuff of their earlier life.
But there are few lower than Jery Jones. Ask the owner of the Falcons how good Jones' word is.

[LynneSin]

33. Christie only won that election because of the odd-year election

If he ran in 2008 he would have lost and he would never win if he ran for US Senate and he would never carry NJ if he ran for President.

[Scuba]

11. Christie and Jones have both been the subject of previous ethics investigations ...

... but none have ever been found.

[Lifelong Protester]

12. There are no ethics for republicans

especially governors....

[George II]

13. Interesting column in the Bergen Record site, northjersey.com:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/stile-christie-saddling-up-to-texas-1.1186446

Stile: Christie saddling up to Texas

Excerpts:

“Let’s just say, our chances have just improved,” he told WFAN sports personality Boomer Esiason on Monday morning.

But Christie will have to get in line behind a lengthy list of potential home-state Republican candidates, including Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose family has deep roots in Texas, and even U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, whose father, Ron Paul, is a former Texas congressman.

[Hubert Flottz]

16. It's hard to hide a blimp from the NFL cameras.

What a disgusting self serving POS.

[riversedge]

17. Lawmakers make laws for their own benefit--look at Congress!!....

This applies lawmakers of all stripes.

...........According to NJ.com, Christie officials said the gifts from Jones are legal since an executive order signed by a previous governor says governors “may accept gifts, favors, services, gratuities, meals, lodging or travel expenses from relatives or personal friends that are paid for with personal funds.”

[George II]

21. That's the way it works, legally, in corrupt New Jersey, but IF Christie decides to run....

...for president he'll have to operate under an entirely different set of rules.

Just ask John Rowland and Bob McDonnell, who were both scheduled to be sentenced today (unfortunately Rowland got a short reprieve yesterday)

[WillyT]

18. K & R !!!

[louis-t]

22. Y'know what the sickest part is?

He'll say "Uh, I wuz gonna pay him back", he'll pay him back, and this will go away.

[wilt the stilt]

23. The big question

is did he have to buy 2 seats? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Laxman]

24. This Is Way Deeper Than Just Christie....

rooting for the Cowboys. Jerry Jones paid for the private jet to fly his family there. Jerry Jones gave him sideline access. Jerry Jones gave him seats in the owner's box. Why, because their best buddies? This just doesn't pass the smell test. This is the kind of "friendship" that just sent the former governor of Virginia to jail.

Christie, in private jet, breaks his own ethical standard

It was 2007 in Atlantic City, and the hot new political property, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, was giving local officials advice on ethics at the annual League of Municipalities convention.

Don’t take bribes was #1. Easy enough.

But he went further, and advised the local mayors and council members to refuse any gifts, not even a sandwich from the local deli. The public, he said, should never have to wonder.

Fast forward to last weekend, when Christie flew in a private jet to Dallas and watched a football game in the luxury box, a gift that goes well beyond the deli sandwich, all if it paid for by Jerry Jones, a man who made his fortune in the oil and gas business and has a hefty contract with the Port Authority.

This is not cash in an envelope, granted. But please, this clearly does violence to everything Christie said that day. And it does violence to his own Executive Order #24, stipulating that “all public officials must avoid conduct that violates the public trust or creates an appearance of impropriety.”

I’ve sent the obvious questions to both the governor’s office and the State Commission on Ethics, but I’m not holding my breath.

Start with what constitutes a “friend.” According to Susan Guerrero, a Christie appointee who runs the ethics commission, the law allows governors to accept gifts from friends.

Is Jones a high school buddy of Christie’s? Or is this the sort of friendship that an oil and gas man likes to make with someone running for president? And is Christie’s affection genuine, or is Jones his entrée to the oil and gas crowd that gives so generously to the Republican Party – especially to those like Christie who have been consistently hostile to the fight against climate change?

Read the rest here: http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/01/christie_1.html

[George II]

25. The last paragraph reminded me that Christie is a "big wig" in the national republican party....

....he's chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

That alone put him in a bright light, and more scrutiny and more "ethics" are required than any other governor in the US, Democratic or republican.

[Laxman]

28. When You Start To Do The Math....

this really adds up!

1. Round trip limo ride Mendham to Allentown Bethlehem Easton Airport
2. Round trip private jet ABE to Dallas
3. Round trip limo ride airport to AT & T Stadium
4. 50 yard line seats in the owner's box for NFL playoff game
5. Food & beverage service in box
6. Sideline access to meet the Cowboys

What's the value of this? What did McDonnell take? A Rolex, a vacation? Probably not much more than Christie.What did McDonnell do? Make a couple of phone calls on behalf of the snake oil salesman? Christie lobbied for and got Jones a very lucrative contract with the Port Authority. Who's behavior was worse? Who's going to prison and who is dancing at a football game?

[George II]

29. Yes, it adds up VERY fast. I'm sure he took one or all of his children, too....

...and your item #5 has to be a HUGE figure!

This is what got Rowland in CT in trouble, "free" trips and Yankee baseball tickets, among other amenities, from people doing business with the state. It resulted in his first conviction, even though he paid back the givers of some of those gifts.

What Christie did (on more than one occasion) is a violation of FEDERAL laws, not just NJ laws, no matter how he spins it.

[Dont call me Shirley]

27. Ooh, just had an occurance...

What if jj did this as a favor to jb?

[Cha]

31. KICK!!

[LynneSin]

32. Way to say 'Fuck you' to the New Jersey voters...

who are mainly NY Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and NJ Jets fans.

And many of the players of those teams - they also live in New Jersey. I know many of the Eagles live over in Cherry Hill NJ.

It goes to show that Christie doesn't give a rat's ass about the people of New Jersey.