Fox: Wendy Davis And Her "Stilettos" Are More Scandalous Than Chris Christie

HANNAH GROCH-BEGLEY/Media Matters For America:

Fox News is now suggesting that minor contradictions in Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis' life story constitute a more important political "scandal" than accusations of corruption and political retribution by NJ Gov. Chris Christie's administration.

On the January 23 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, co-host Jon Scott accused "op-eds and pundits [for] tearing into [Christie's] character," while ignoring the "political scandal in Texas." This scandal, according to Scott, was that Davis' life story had "holes" in it, partly because she didn't pull "herself up by her stilettos" and instead relied on some financial help from her second husband in order to attend law school:

Scott: The interesting thing about Wendy Davis is this story that has propelled her to state-wide stardom, maybe even national stardom. She says she was married at 19, teenage mother, divorced, lived in a trailer, made it through Texas Christian University and Harvard Law School, and now she is where she is today, a state senator and maybe the next governor of Texas. The problem is, there are some holes in that story.

[...]

The suggestion that she pulled herself up by her stilettos and made it through Harvard Law School doesn't exactly jive with the fact that her husband, her then-husband, paid for it all, then as soon as it's all paid for, she left him, and he got custody of the two girls.

Michael Barone, a Fox News contributor, argued during the segment and in a Washington Examiner piece that Christie's record as governor of New Jersey was being scrutinized by media "because he might be a successful presidential candidate," and that Davis should come under similar media scrutiny for these details of her life because her run for governor could potentially "turn Texas blue," a move which would have national significance.

But the reason to scrutinize Christie's record is not that he might run for president. It's that he has been accused of corruption and petty political retribution in his position as the current governor of New Jersey. At no point during the segment did either Scott or Barone delve into the details of "Chris Christie's problems," but they are far more than minor contradictions in a timeline of life events.

Christie has admitted that his administration caused a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, in what is alleged to have been political payback against a local mayor. Though the governor claimed he was unaware of his staff's actions, and later removed two top aides, his administration was subsequently accused by a different mayor of holding Hurricane Sandy relief funds hostage for political reasons.

There are at least three separate legal investigations examining the accusations launched against the Christie administration.

In contrast, Davis is not currently under investigation for possibly abusing the power of her office as state senator. There are some small, legitimate questions about her presentation of her life story, but those questions have been blown out of proportion by conservative media, who have launched an absurd and often sexist campaign against her. Right-wing radio hosts and Fox contributors have implied she is an unstable and unreliable mother, unfit for public office, and have attacked her for defying gender norms by leaving her spouse to pursue her career (a move many male politicians have made, with little media fanfare).

Scott's sexist joke about Davis' stilettos is just the latest example of these demeaning attacks, and furthers the network's desperate attempt to bury the Christie scandal by deflecting attention to unrelated stories.

Fox has previously attempted to compare Christie's scandal to the September 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and to the IRS scandal, in which bureaucrats largely based in Cincinnati allegedly devoted inappropriate scrutiny to conservative groups. The network also devoted less than 15 minutes of coverage to Christie on the day the scandal broke, and mentioned the revelations about Hurricane relief only once the day they emerged.

Cropped images via The Texas Tribune and Gage Skidmore, using a Creative Commons License.

Olympic Gold Medalist Claims Chris Christie Bullied Him into Withrawing from Senate Race

by: Sky Palma/Americans Against the Tea Party

In yet another problematic development for the scandal-racked Chris Christie administration, Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis has come forward claiming that Christie personally pressured him to withdraw from a senate race against Christie ally, Kim Guadagno.
In 2011, Lewis challenged incumbent Republican Dawn Addiego for her state Senate seat, but Guadagno issued a ruling that declared Lewis did not meet the residency requirement to run, prompting outrage from Democrats. When the case went before a federal appeals panel, Lewis was ultimately denied the ability to run. But now, according to a report from the Huffington Post, Lewis is claiming that Christie personally told him that he was not wanted in the race. -

Lewis said Monday the governor called to dissuade him from running as a Democrat for state Senate in 2011 against Republican Sen. Dawn Addiego (ah-dee-AY’-goh). Lewis says he was told the fitness program they’d been developing wouldn’t materialize if he ran. Lewis says the governor felt the post “was a carrot he could pull away.”

Lewis actually went public with the allegation back in 2011, but at the time Christie’s office said it was a “misunderstanding on Lewis’ part,” adding that the athletic program was “all but dead” anyway.

Fox: Where The Chris Christie Scandal Is Really Just About Benghazi

EMILY ARROWOOD/Media Matters For America:

Fox News can't seem to talk about the Chris Christie bridge closure scandal without invoking Benghazi.

Fox & Friends devoted five segments during its January 10 broadcast to the growing scandal surrounding Republican Gov. Chris Christie and his administration's involvement in deliberate traffic gridlock across the George Washington Bridge as political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, NJ.

But in every segment purporting to discuss Christie, the hosts and guests used the story to attack President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by bringing up the September 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.  

Right-wing media figures have attempted to deflect from the Christie saga by attacking Obama and Clinton with tired myths, a tactic Fox's coverage took to new heights today. But the network's dogged determination to tie Benghazi to the Christie story is contextualized by new revelations about Fox News chairman Roger Ailes and his focus on influencing national politics.

Ailes has long expressed a love for Christie and reportedly lobbied hard for him to throw his hat in the ring for the 2012 presidential race. As a New York Times article on the upcoming biography of Ailes explained, he aimed in 2012 to use Fox News to "elect the next president."

Media critics have already begun speculating that Fox's scant coverage of the Christie scandal the day it broke is evidence of a motivation to protect Christie's political brand before the 2016 election. The network's attempt to hide Christie behind Benghazi only strengthens that view. 

Rachel Maddow: Fort Lee’s mayor? No, there was another target of Bridge-gate

By Arturo Garcia/Raw Story

Rachel Maddow speculated on Thursday that the traffic closures that nearly shut down Fort Lee, New Jersey for four days at the behest of Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) ex-deputy chief of staff weren’t an act of revenge against the town’s mayor, but against Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg.

“The leader of the Senate Democrats represents Fort Lee,” Maddow explained. “Roughly 12 hours after Governor Christie blows up at the Senate Democrats and torpedoes the career of a [state] Supreme Court justice who he likes because he says the Senate Democrats are ‘animals,’ and he is not going to let that justice lose to those animals, the leader of those ‘animals’ sees her district get the order of destruction from Governor Christie’s deputy chief of staff.

Christie said on Thursday he fired the staffer who gave the order, Bridget Anne Kelly. But Maddow pointed out that Kelly’s e-mail directive to a Christie appointee, David Wildstein, calling for “traffic problems in Fort Lee” was sent the morning of Aug. 13, 2013, leading to traffic on the George Washington Bridge nearly grinding to a halt for a four-day period the following month.

Kelly’s email was sent less than 24 hours after the governor complained about Democratic Senate “animals” forcing him to withdraw his re-election nomination for state Justice Helen Hoens in response to their stonewalling of high court nominees.

Senate Democrats were already blocking Christie’s nominees to the court after he refused to nominate a Democratic Justice, John Wallace, for re-election, a decision which, while not illegal under state law, was still unprecedented.

Maddow also noted that both Christie and Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (D) had refuted the prevailing theory behind the lane closures — that they were a shot at Sokolich for refusing to endorse Christie — when they said in separate interviews that Christie never even pursued his endorsement during his successful re-election campaign.

“Or maybe it was about that endorsement,” Maddow said. “Until someone who knows the actual truth about this speaks it remains a wide-open question, and maybe the key to this whole story.”

Watch Maddow’s analysis, as aired on Thursday, below.

Not An Isolated Incident: Christie Has Been Repeatedly Accused Of Political Retribution

BY ADAM PECK AND JOSH ISRAEL/Think Progress

At a morning press conference on Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that he had fired Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff and top aide in his administration, for her role in the growing scandal involving the manufactured delays on the George Washington Bridge in an apparent act of political retribution and asked another aide not to seek a top position within the state Republican party.

He denied having advance knowledge about the lane closures or the involvement of his own staff. “I was blindsided yesterday morning,” he said. “I apologize to the people of Fort Lee, I apologize members of the state legislature.” Christie also faced questions about his abrasive leadership style that some have described as bullying, and insisted that those characterizations are untrue.

“This is the exception,” he said. “It is not the rule of what’s happened over the last four years in the administration.”

But while Christie claimed that this was “not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years” and denied being a bully, accusations of political retribution have long surrounded the governor. For instance, former Gov. Richard Codey (D) accused the Christie administration of “sending a message” by denying him state trooper protection after he publicly disagreed with Christie. The same day, a Codey cousin was fired from his position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a former Codey aide was removed from the New Jersey Office of Consumer Affairs.

After then State Sen. Sean Kean (R) told a reporter that Christie erred in not calling for a state of emergency sooner, during a 2010 blizzard, Christie’s staff banned Kean from attending the next news conference Christie held in Kean’s home district. A Christie aide told the Star-Ledger that Kean “got what he deserved.” Rutgers Professor Alan Rosenthal saw his state funding slashed after backing a re-districting map more favorable to Democrats and last year, confirmation of a judicial candidate recommended by State Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R) suddenly stalled after the legislator voted against Christie’s public medical education system reorganization.

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey announced that he would be opening up another investigation into the lane closings, joining the state legislature and the inspector general of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who are conducting investigations of their own.

Poll Reveals Just How Divided Republicans Are Over Chris Christie Running For President

By Ariel Edwards-Levy/Huffington Post

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) won reelection in a landslide last week, but he'd face a tougher challenge in the 2016 presidential race, according to an NBC News pollreleased Tuesday.

The next presidential election, of course, is still three years away, and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of early polls. But the results give a sense of how Christie might fare as a national figure.

The poll found the GOP is nearly split between Christie supporters and detractors. Asked specifically whether they'd prefer to vote for Christie or another primary candidate, 32 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners chose Christie, while 31 percent opted for someone else. His support was by far the highest in the Northeast, and lowest in the South.

“Naming just Christie divides the faithful equally into Christie, Not Christie and Don’t Know,” G. Evans Witt, the CEO of pollster Princeton Survey Research, told NBC.

In contrast, 66 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they'd vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a primary, while just 14 percent wanted someone else to win.

In a general election matchup against Clinton, Christie polled 10 points behind, taking 34 percent to her 44 percent, according to NBC. Fifteen other polls taken this year have all shown Clinton leading, although the margin varies greatly -- from just 1 point in a July poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, to 20 points in a March online poll by Reuters/Ipsos. HuffPost Pollster's average gives Clinton a lead of about 8 points.

For now, a more relevant question may be how Christie's ambitions will play at home. On that note, another poll released Tuesday suggests that many New Jersey residents expect Christie to run for president, and they generally don't mind.

Fifty-nine percent of voters in the state think Christie will run in 2016, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton survey, and 45 percent expect him to resign his position as governor early to run. Only 13 percent said that possibility had a negative impact on their gubernatorial vote.

The NBC poll surveyed 1,003 adults between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10. The Rutgers-Eagleton poll surveyed 804 New Jersey voters between Oct. 28 and Nov. 2. Both used live telephone calls.

How Chris Christie’s Plan To Replace Senator Lautenberg Will Waste Millions In Taxpayer Dollars

By Adam Peck/Think Progress

Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) announced on Tuesday afternoon that New Jersey’s special election to fill the seat vacated with the passing of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) will take place on October 16, three full weeks before the state’s general election and his own re-election.

The decision to hold the election at the earliest possible date instead of delaying it to take place on the same day as the statewide general election in November will cost the taxpayers anestimated $12 million in additional spending. That is a hefty price tag for a state that has endured sharp cuts to programs like tax credits for low-income families and women’s clinics.

Last year, Christie used his line-item veto authority to slash some $86 million from the budget that was passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature. Among the cuts were $6 million slashed from medical day care services, $2 million from Work First NJ child care, and $2.2 million from nursing care for the elderly. All three of these cuts could be undone for the cost of this special election.

During his remarks on Tuesday, Christie initially claimed that he was bound by state law from holding the special election on the same day as the general election, on November 4. This is a highly questionable reading of New Jersey law, however. Although state law provides that the date of a special election primary “shall be not less than 70 days nor more than 76 days following the date” of the governor’s proclamation calling the election, and the election itself shall be held within a certain number of days of the primary, it appears silent on when the governor needs to issue his proclamation setting the election date. That means Christie could have waited 18 days to issue the proclamation and hold the special election on the same day as his own re-election, thus saving the state millions of dollars. Historically, special elections also see far diminished voter turnout as compared to regularly-scheduled general elections.

Christie told reporters that the financial factors did not come into play when he was making his decision. “I don’t know what the cost is, and frankly, I don’t care,” he said.

UPDATE

The Weekly Standard dug up a bill passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Christie last year that sought to save local communities money by allowing school districts to move their school board elections to November, consolidating them with the general elections.

Gov. Chris Christie calls African-American man ‘boy’ during town hall meeting

By Emily Mullen/Raw Story

BlueJersey.com reported Friday that during a town hall meeting at a church this week in Paterson, NJ, Governor Chris Christie let a racial slur slip when he called an African-American man a “boy,” a term closely related to the more severe “N” word. Christie has, in the past, touted a morally clean public image and has been quoted as saying “language matters; language is a window into attitude.”

Watch the video, uploaded to YouTube on March 15:

New Jersey Governor Vetoes Minimum Wage Increase

By Pat Garofalo/Think Progress

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) today vetoed an increase in the minimum wage that was passed by the state’s Democratic senate. Using what’s known as a “conditional veto,” Christie sent the bill back saying he would sign it if certain changes were made, including: shrinking the increase from $8.50 to $8.25 per hour, phasing it in over three years, and eliminating a provision tying the wage to inflation.

New Jersey’s current minimum wage stands at $7.25, so Christie’s veto, in essence, is saying that he believes a $1 increase in the wage over three years is sufficient. As the New Jersey Policy Perspective noted, “the first year increase proposed by the governor of 25 cents will be erased by inflation by the time the third year kicks in its 25 cents.” Here are more benefits that Christie denied to working New Jerseyans:

– Wages would have increased by $439 million in the first year;

– Overall economic activity would increase by $278 million in the first year;

– The equivalent of 2,420 new full time jobs would be created;

– 537,000 people would have received an increase in wages: 307,000 New Jerseyans making between $7.25 and $8.50 per hour would’ve seen an immediate raise, and 230,000 New Jerseyans making between $8.50 and $9.75 per hour would’ve seen a raise as pay scales were adjusted upwards.

Christie vetoed the wage increase, even though the cost of living in the Garden State is about 30 percent higher than the national average, according to a study by the New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Commission.

Christie claimed that the minimum wage bill would threaten the slow economic recovery in New Jersey. “The sudden, significant minimum-wage increase in this bill, coupled with automatic raises each year tied to the Unites States consumer price index, will jeopardize the economic recovery we all seek,” Christie said. But as the Center for American Progress’ T. William Lester, David Madland, and Nick Bunker wrote, “We reviewed academic research that examines the effects of minimum wage increases during a recession or stretch of time with high unemployment and found significant evidence that even during hard economic times, raising the minimum wage is likely to have no adverse effect on employment.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Adopted ALEC Bills ‘Nearly Word For Word’

By Aviva Shen/Think Progress

In the past year, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has lost over 40 member companies because of its role in crafting voter suppression laws, anti-immigration laws like Arizona’s SB 1070, and other conservative causes. Still, the group continues to be popular among lawmakers in Republican-controlled states. According to areport released Monday, ALEC has even made inroads in Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie (R) and other New Jersey lawmakers have apparently introduced 22 bills since 2010 based on ALEC model legislation. Christie denied the connection in April, when another report found many similarities between his legislation and ALEC bills. However, records found Christie’s advisers and conservative lawmakers in New Jersey consulted ALEC on key legislation, including:

The New Jersey Jobs Protection Act (S240) and a similar bill (S164), which would require all employers to verify whether their workers are legally qualified to work in the United States. The report said they were “taken nearly word for word from ALEC’s Fair and Legal Employment Act, which is also incorporated in ALEC’s longer and more thorough No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act — the infamous model legislation that was introduced in Arizona … and led to protests across the country and a showdown at the Supreme Court.”

ACR103, which would allow a two-thirds majority in the state Legislature to nullify any federal law or regulation. It’s sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) and Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris), co-chairman of ALEC’s state chapter. Handlin, who has said she is not an ALEC member, and Webber declined to comment.

The New Jersey Parental Rights Program Act (S504), which would create a publicly funded scholarship program for students attending certain types of private or religious schools.

None of the bills passed in the Democrat-controlled Legislature, and Christie’s office continues to deny any coordination on the bills in spite of the nearly identical language. His attempts to distance himself from the group is no surprise; ALEC has become notorious since their involvement in pushing right-wing legislation was exposed earlier this year. The bad publicity led corporations including Amazon, General Electric, Coca-Cola, and Walmart to drop their financial support of the group.

ALEC is funded by Koch Industries and has proven to be a good investment for the powerful brothers. The group wrote models for many of the most radical state bills, including “Stand Your Ground” laws, SB 1070, union-busting bills, anti-minimum wage laws, voter ID requirements, and efforts to block clean energy while promoting “the benefits of atmospheric CO2 enrichment.” In spite of their heavy reliance on the group, lawmakers are not required to disclose the powerful group’s influence as it is technically a non-profit and refuses to comply with lobbying laws.

Four Facts About New Jersey’s Economy Chris Christie Won’t Talk About At The Republican Convention Tonight

By Pat Garofalo/Think Progress

The first real night of the 2012 Republican National Convention will close tonight with a keynote address by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ). Christie has become a conservative darling for his blunt speaking style and his open willingness to berate public servants.

“I’ll be talking about the New Jersey experience and what that means for the country,” Christie said while previewing the speech. “If [listeners] say I like the vision he’s laid out for the country and for his party for the next four years, then I will have done the job for my party and my country.”

However, the “New Jersey experience” under Christie has been anything but rosy. Here are some key economics stats to know before Christie hits the stage tonight:

– New Jersey ranked 47th in the nation in GDP growth in 2011. [Bureau of Economic Analysis]

– The Garden state’s unemployment rate of 9.8 percent is fourth highest in the nation, trailing only Nevada, California, and Rhode Island. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

– New Jersey lost 12,000 jobs last month, the most in the country. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

– The state ranked 44th in personal income growth in 2011. [Bureau of Economic Analysis]

Christie has focused on cutting taxes for millionaires (while blocking a millionaires’ surtax), slashing social spending, and opposing plans to help New Jersey’s workers. He’s cheered the firing of public sector workers and scuttled important infrastructure projects on false pretenses.

Finally, he’s handed out a record number of corporate handouts, while getting little for it in terms of job growth. And for this, he’s been rewarded with a huge speaking slot at the Republican convention, from which he will likely proclaim Republican economic ideology a stunning success.

Cory Booker Responds To Christie: ‘I Wouldn’t Be Where I Am’ If Civil Rights Were Put To A Popular Vote

By Igor Volsky/Think Progress

Newark Mayor Cory Booker called into WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer show this morning to condemn New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) for suggesting that voters should decide whether gay and lesbian people should be allowed to marry in the state. Christie expanded on his comments yesterday, claiming “people would have been happy to have areferendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.”

“Frankly, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” if states had voted on equal rights legislation for African Americans during the 1960s, Booker told Lehrer. “This is not about a choice, it’s about a fundamental right and the 14th Amendment is very clear. It says, ‘equal protections under the law’ and right now in America we have second-class citizenship set-up where certain Americans can have privileges that certain Americans do not enjoy and that is just wrong.” Listen:

Booker has registered his outrage with Christie’s comments in a formal statement, during a press conference, and through his Twitter account. “This isn’t a right/left issue. There are many Republicans that are in favor of marriage equality, I’m just hoping that our legislature acts,” he said on the radio and predicted that putting the issue on the November ballot could help the GOP turn out conservative voters.

He added, “there are somethings I don’t mind putting on the ballot — we’re thinking about here in Newark putting on the ballot a question of do we want to pay a 1 percent more in property taxes to fund our police department — those kinds of things I think are good, but when it comes to fundamental rights that I believe are explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution… I do not think they should be subject to popular whim.”

Booker has long supported marriage equality and refuses to “perform marriages at Newark city hall until all couples have the right” to marry.

Nice try Chris Christie but we got you.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Christie: Supporting Public Media Is Communism, But A $400 Million Bailout Of A Huge Corporate Mall Is A ‘Great Idea’

By Zaid Jilani

Over the weekend, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was interviewed by New York City-based radio station WNYC. In the interview, the governor touched on a number of topics, including his support for a pension deal that would ask teachers and other public servants to pay more thanmillionaires were asked to pay (after Christievetoed a millionaire’s tax last year).

At one point in the interview, Christie was asked about the state Assembly rejecting his effort to sell off the state’s public broadcaster NJN (ironically to another public media outlet based in New York). The governor said he believes “state-owned operation of media ended with the Soviet union” and that New Jersey shouldn’t support public television:

INTERVIEWER: You had a big win yesterday [Thursday]. But you did have one setback. The Assembly rejected your proposal to have WNET Channel 13 takeover the state’s public broadcaster NJN. Critics of the deal say they are concerned WNET won’t deliver the quality news product Michael Aron with NJN has been putting out. What’s at stake with this deal?

CHRISTIE: What’s at stake is, I really believed that the state-owned operation of media ended with the Soviet Union, and I don’t think we should be in the television business. I think its an inherent conflict of interest for us to be in the television business and for reporters to be state employees and I also think that the expense at this time is not justified into the budget.

Yet at a different point in the interview, Christie defended the state’s $400 million bailout of a giant corporate mall boondoggle, saying the state has to be a partner and that it’s a “great idea”:

INTERVIEWER: As Governor your tool box for fixing the macro economy that’s so tied into national and global trends is limited. But who have put a lot of chips on the table with your plan to provide $200 million in economic aid to the Triple 5 Company that runs the Mall of America to re-brand the stalled Xanadu project in the Meadowlands. That’s up for a vote Monday. What is that $200 million…I don’t want to say government giveaway but how would describe it for voters?

CHRISTIE: Listen, what we’re trying to do is provide incentives for places like the American Dream at the Meadowlands to be built, and in these difficult economic times, the state is going to become a partner, a small partner in the project, but a partner none-the less, and we’re going to get our money back once the project is successful. So I think this is a great idea for New Jersey.

The interview says a lot about Christie’s priorities. He appears to be fine with cutting back oneducation and social spending out of supposed concerns for cost and is willing to deride public media as a relic of the Soviet Union, but does not seem to have the same qualms about subsidizing a giant corporate mall.

Christie Worked For Firm That Represented For-Profit Schools, Now Pushing For School Privatization

By Zaid Jilani

One of the major initiatives of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has been pushing for is the expansion of for-profit and privately managed schools in K-12 education. As part of this push, Christie has been championing a school voucher expansion that would cost the state $825 million to funnel tax dollars to private schools, while at the same time slashing spending for public education, cutting $820 million last year alone.

Last week, Christie announced a new “public-private school pilot program” which would allow “local school boards [to] hand control of some so-called ‘transformation schools’ to education management organizations, possibly including for-profit firms.” Christie designed the new program with Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, the “former president of the world’s largest for-profit operator of public schools, Edison Schools Inc.”

The New Jersey Star-Ledger notes that Christie actually has a very strong financial tie to Cerf’s for-profit company. The private law firm at which Christie worked as a lobbyist between 1999 and 2001 actually lobbied New Jersey’s government on behalf of Edison Schools:

From 1999 to 2001, Christie was a registered lobbyist at a law firm that lobbied New Jersey government on behalf of Edison Schools, according to filings with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. While the firm was representing the multinational education company, Chris Cerf was its general counsel.

The firm, Dughi, Hewit and Palatucci, also represented Mosaica Education, a for-profit charter school operator, and the University of Phoenix, a for-profit online university. At the time, the firm listed two lobbyists, Christie and William Palatucci, a longtime political ally of the governor who is a named partner in the firm.

“Many people support their public schools and they are reacting with anger to the idea they should be privatized,” said state Sen. Dick Codey (D), in response to Christie’s proposed education policies