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Christie acknowledges tax error, to make revisions
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AP Photo/Mel Evans
Governor Jon Corzine's "August surprise" campaign of attacks and smears against Republican Christopher Christie may have caught a break today, as Christie acknowledged that he failed to pay federal income tax on interest income from a personal loan he held. Earlier, the Corzine campaign questioned a $46,000 personal loan Christie made while U.S. Attorney for Newark to a deputy in his office. Corzine said that it gave the appearance of impropriety for a political candidate to have a financial relationship with a non-partisan federal prosecutor.
Christie denied there was anything improper about the loan, which he said was simply, "two friends helping two other friends. Nothing more and nothing less."
Christie said that the tax omission was, "an oversight," and added that he did not think of the loan, technically a second mortgage on the aide's home, as an asset. Christie said that he will update his taxes and all disclosure forms.
The admission is a potentially serious one for Christie, as Corzine and the Democratic Party well knows. Several of President Barack Obama's nominees for cabinet level posts were found to have tax problems, costing some of them their appointments. Others, like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, made it through the confirmation process, but are serving under a cloud as a result.
But it remains to been whether the Corzine campaign will benefit from Christie's admission. New Jersey voters may remember that Corzine himself has had questions raised about personal loans he has made. During his successful 2005 run for governor, Corzine gave his former girlfriend, Carla Katz - leader of the state employees' union - a $470,000 dollar that he later forgave entirely. At the time, Republicans questioned whether the loan was part of a quid pro quo in return for the union's support in the campaign.
That may be why Corzine was downplaying the Christie loan and tax errors after his campaign had initially been critical of the arrangement. By the afternoon, Corzine was back to raising questions about Christie's conversations with former White House political operative Karl Rove. Despite the fact that Corzine has not offered any evidence of alleged political interference at the U.S. Attorney's office under Christie.
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