Feds Probe Christie For Use of Sandy Funds In Ads That Promoted Both NJ and Christie, Running During Campaign

Wait, Christie's in trouble in BridgeGate for using the machinery of government to punish his political enemies, right? Right, that's what I thought.

Obama does this every single day.

In the new probe, federal auditors will examine New Jersey's use of $25 million in Sandy relief funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore after Sandy decimated the state's coastline in late 2012, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone told CNN.

In an August letter, Pallone asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general to look into how Christie chose to spend the marketing money approved by the department.

The inspector general's office has replied to CNN's request for comment on the investigation.

So a bitter political rival asks Obama to dig dirt on a potential GOP presidential nominee and Obama's gangster government says "How high, sir?"

Obama is investigating whether money was improperly spent for Sandy relief in Christie's campaign. Not, say, his own.

Apparently Christie proposed the ads to the feds... and the feds approved them. (Warning: Autoplay ad.)

“The Stronger Than The Storm campaign was just one part of the first action plan approved by the Obama Administration and developed with the goal of effectively communicating that the Jersey Shore was open for business during the first summer after Sandy,” Christie spokesman Colin Reed said Monday.

...

The action plan that Christie’s office said was approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development included language calling for a media campaign to draw tourists back to the beaches.

It is a common practice for politicians to use taxpayer money to cut ads which simultaneously advertise the state or program they want to boost and advertise themselves as much. As much as we get annoyed by them doing this, it has long been done.

And it's hard to argue too hard against it: Why wouldn't, say, Rudy Guiliani show up for a NYC tourism ad in the year 1999? He was a fairly popular and famous figure. Who's to say he's not a good spokesman for the ad?

But now apparently we're going to pretend this might be a criminal matter. This investigation will of course not result in any charges. It exists simply so that the Democrats can say "Christie was investigated for misusing taxpayer funds."

posted by Ace at 11:06 AM

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