NJ-Gov: Not Going Away

Michele Brown, who took that loan from GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie at a time when he was her boss in the US Attorney's office, just resigned from that office, citing the distraction the loan has become. However, the loan itself will continue.

The Republican challenger in the New Jersey governor's race said Tuesday he won't ask a federal prosecutor to end the 10-year mortgage loan he took out for her even if he is elected governor.

Chris Christie said Michele Brown would have to decide whether to repay the $46,000 loan early.

Christie said he and his wife lent Brown the money in 2007 after Brown's husband lost his job and the couple's credit card debt ballooned. Christie was Brown's supervisor in the U.S. Attorney's Office at the time.

Christie said Brown is fulfilling her end of the deal by making $500 monthly payments. The loan goes through 2017.

While Brown remained in the US Attorney's office, you were talking about someone with the ability to prosecute in a financial relationship with someone who could be Governor of the same state, a completely untenable and ethically dubious scenario. Now that she's left the office, you still have the matter of the loan never being disclosed anywhere, neither on ethics disclosure forms nor Christie's own taxes. The Christie campaign is trying to turn around the narrative by claiming that Jon Corzine smeared Brown, but this rings very hollow:

"It is despicable that Jon Corzine has stooped so low to try to win re-election that he's aimed the negative attacks of his hired guns on a dedicated public servant who made it her life's mission to serve the people of New Jersey as a corruption-fighter. As candidates willingly running for office, we expect this kind of mudslinging, but we don't expect it to be aimed at someone who has made a career serving both Democrats and Republicans in the best interest of the public good. Jon Corzine should be ashamed that he has smeared a respected federal prosecutor's name and forced her to end an acclaimed career in the sole interest of scoring petty political points."

Good luck with that line of argument, Mr. Christie. The bloom of a "corruption fighter" is most certainly off the rose.

UPDATE: Here's a fun one:

In 2005, New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie (R) was issued traffic tickets for speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving without insurance but was allowed to drive the vehicle home, reports Millennium Radio.

The three tickets had the words "no deal" written on them. Christie later pleaded guilty, paid a large fine and signed an affidavit.

A spokeswoman for Christie acknowledged that "the fact that Christie was U.S. Attorney did come up."