Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie - Softcover

Manzo, Louis Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1937584895 ISBN 13: 9781937584894

Verlag: TRINE DAY, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

How could a man like Chris Christie get within shouting distance of a seat in the Oval Office? What does this say about our Justice system, and about us? If you think you know the whole story of Christie's rise and later fall from grace-think again.

In his searing tell-all, Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie, former New Jersey State Assemblyman Louis Manzo recounts an extraordinary tale of political ruthlessness, corruption, and greed while also telling the story of how he was caught in the center of one of the most egregious political scandals in modern-day history: the Bid Rig III sting operation, masterminded by the then United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and soon-to-be Governor Chris Christie. Manzo shows us how the blind ambitions of Christie and his staff centered on capturing a governorship and the patronage jobs that accompany it, then parlaying that office into a shot at the presidency.

Meticulous in backing up everything he says with objective legal documentation, Manzo makes a convincing and disconcerting case for the governor as an unbridled and sinister political figure who made the most of a seriously flawed Department of Justice and overall judicial system to feed his megalomania and desire for power. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in justice and ethical leadership. It can't happen here? Well, it almost did. Soon you will know why. Philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Substitute "understand history" and you can appreciate how Manzo's courageous true tale is poised to help all of us better understand the seemingly incomprehensible.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Louis Michael Manzo is a former state assemblyman and the author of God’s Earth Also Cries. He lives in Belmar, New Jersey.

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Ruthless Ambition

The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie

By Louis Michael Manzo

Trine Day LLC

Copyright © 2014 Louis Michael Manzo
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-937584-89-4

Contents

Cover, 
Title page, 
Copyright page, 
Dedication, 
Quotes, 
Photo: Chris Christie and Bridget Kelley, 
Beginning of the End, 
Born to Run: With Help from Bush and Rove, 
Persecuting a U.S. Senator and Other Democrats, 
Helping John Ashcroft and Company, 
From U.S. Attorney to Almost Governor, 
The Infamous Solomon Dwek, 
Two Trails Converge in Bid Rig III, 
Anatomy of a DOJ Sting, 
A Justice Department Cover-Up, Sanctioned by the FBI, 
Bid Rig III's 'Backroom Boss with a Badge', 
Painting Conflicts of Interest as 'An Honest Mistake', 
Broken Promises and a Glimpse of a Christie Presidency, 
The Art of Placing the Blame Elsewhere, 
Nancy Reagan Launches Christie onto the National Stage, 
Snubbing Romney and Embracing Obama, 
The Re-election, 
The Tragedy of Politics as Usual, 
Chapter Notes, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 
Photo: Lou Manzo, 
About the Author, 
Acknowledgements, 

CHAPTER 1

Born to Run: With Help from Bush and Rove

Landing so powerful a job as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey was not happenstance for Chris Christie. Christie's hunger for power, whether driven by ego or public service, thrust him into the foray of local politics at an early age. Bruce Springsteen, Christie's self-proclaimed rock idol, wrote the mega-hit, "Born to Run." It is his mantra.

After graduating from the University of Delaware and Seton Hall School of Law, Christie hooked up with a small law firm (Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci) in Cranford, New Jersey. Initially employed as a corporate lawyer, Chris Christie's burning political ambition would soon thrust him onto the public stage. With a powerful supporter in his friend and confidant, Bill Palatucci, the 30-year-old Christie made his entry into the world of politics in New Jersey's Morris County. It was probably no surprise to anyone who knew him.

According to Peter J. Boyer, writing for Newsweek's online political website, the Daily Beast, "Christie has never wanted for ambition. He has been running for office since he was a schoolboy, and once, when he was fourteen, he had his mother drop him at the door of a local legislator so he could ask him how to become a politician. 'I answer the door and there's this kid,' recalls former New Jersey governor Tom Kean, who was, at the time, an assemblyman. 'He said, very respectfully, "Sir, I really want to get into politics."' Kean, who was making his first run for governor, brought the kid to a political meeting that evening and became Christie's mentor."

Right out of the gate, Christie aimed high, and despite antagonizing fellow Republicans, in 1993 he launched a primary challenge to the popular State Senator and Majority Leader, John Dorsey. Christie failed to come up with the hundred signatures required to secure a spot on the ballot and embarrassingly never made it to the starting post. Undaunted, the following year, Christie ran for a seat on the Morris County Board of Freeholders. Christie teamed up with another self-styled reformer, Jack O'Keefe, to challenge the Republican incumbents in the June 1994 primary. Salon political writer Steve Kornacki surmised, "To Christie, the main appeal of the job was its launching pad potential."

Christie launched a good-government campaign promising an ethics code, a ban on gifts, cuts in freeholder salaries and an end to political patronage. "This is one of the major things I'm running on," he said at the time of his plan to restrict no-bid contracts. "It makes common sense. It's good government. Let the chips fall where they may, and get the best people at the best price. That's the freeholders' job," the New York Times reported.

But things would turn ugly fast and, in addition to promoting his political platform, Christie waged an aggressive negative campaign against his opponents. "Christie claimed that the GOP incumbents were 'under investigation' for their record-keeping of closed sessions — even though they weren't," Salon reported. The primary voters bought Christie's spiel and he secured the nomination, which in the predominantly Republican county was a virtual lock on the general election.

Following the election, Christie's opponents, Edward Tamm and Cecilia Laureys, hit him with a libel suit for his false assertion that they were under investigation. "The guy just lied!" Tamm told Gabriel Sherman, writing for New Jersey Monthly. "He'll do anything to get elected. He'll say anything, do anything." Christie, years later, consented to give a public apology and the case was settled.

So what about the robust ethics platform and ban on no-bid contracts candidate Christie had vowed? According to David Halbfinger of the New York Times, Christie "showed little persistence in pushing his proposal, which turned out to be anything but a ban: It did not apply to law firms, and freeholders would still be free to ignore bidding results and choose whomever they liked." The Times further reported that, in fact, "during his three-year term, Mr. Christie voted for more than 440 no-bid contracts with appraisers, architects, auditors, engineers, graphic artists, lawyers, even nurses. Some were at rates as low as $50 an hour, but dozens were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Records for many were not available, but 309 contracts for which costs were estimated when they were approved, totaled $10.5 million.

"Mr. Christie denied that he had abandoned the idea of a ban, saying that he 'fought very hard' for it but that 'it was very difficult as one person of seven.' He said he saw little merit in voting against other no-bid contracts merely to make a point. 'I was not a guy who was into protest votes and grandstanding,' he said."

Though not grandstanding, Christie certainly positioned himself in the cheap seats, accepting a total of $17,000 in campaign contributions from the recipients of more than 50 no-bid contracts.

Emboldened by his successful election to freeholder, Christie wasted little time in trying to further ascend the political ladder. Within months of his swearing in, Christie announced his candidacy for the State Assembly. Challenging well liked incumbent Republicans Anthony Bucco and Michael P. Carroll, Christie went on the attack again. This time, however, the results were disastrous — Republican voters eyed Christie as "a young man in too much of a hurry." Hanging the defamation suit around his neck, Republicans he had alienated were more than happy to pile on. Christie and his running mate were trounced at the polls by a 2-to-1 margin.

The sting of that beating would linger, and when Christie stood re-election for his Freeholder seat, still beset by the defamation lawsuit and his inability to deliver reform, he was trounced in the primary, finishing dead last. Christie exited from the elective office scene and soon resurrected himself as a registered lobbyist, representing some dozen corporate clients. Christie's appetite for politics was temporarily satisfied as a supporter and fundraiser of other candidates, mostly Republicans.

The Pioneer

A prominent supporter of George H.W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, Christie's confidant, Bill Palatucci, had developed a friendship with future President George W. Bush...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: TRINE DAY
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1937584895
• ISBN 13: 9781937584894
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 396
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar