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Republicans assail Corzine casino investment
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AP Photo/Mel Evans
The Christie campaign and state Republicans continued to raise questions about Governor Jon Corzine's personal financial dealings in the wake of the revelation that Corzine holds a share in a private hedge fund administered by the corporate owner of four New Jersey casinos. State law prohibits the governor and other elected officials from having any financial ties to gambling companies.
Christopher Christie expressed outrage at the report and called on Corzine to make the extent of his holdings in the casino operation public. "Today's report that Governor Corzine has personal financial investments in the New Jersey casino industry is shocking and reveals a colossal error in judgment that appears to be a violation of the law under the Casino Control Act," Christie said. "In the interest of transparency, Governor Corzine must reveal exactly how much money he has invested in TPG, precisely how much money he has personally made from his casino investment, and then he should immediately divest the funds."
TPG stands for Texas Pacific Group, which became the corporate owner of Harrah's casinos when it bought Harrah's Entertainment in 2006. The hedge fund Corzine invests with is TPG-Axon, which is administered by the same company that owns the casinos. Corzine's attorney insisted that there is nothing improper in the financial arrangement. "No objective or authoritative source...can conclude that there is a 'question' that Governor Corzine has touched upon any statutory, regulatory, or ethical guidelines governing casino interests," Corzine attorney William Castner told the Newark Star-Ledger.
But the Christie campaign continued to hammer Corzine on the hedge fund over the weekend, releasing statements from the top Republicans in the state Senate and Assembly raising questions about Corzine's holdings in TPG. Assemblyman Alex DeCroce (R) said Corzine should have known better than to have investments with the group, and Sen. Joe Kyrllos (R) said the investment was, "at best a conflict of interest and at worst a violation of the law."
According to financial disclosure statements, Corzine has earned interest income of at least $700,000 from the fund since first reporting his holdings in it in 2006. An exact figure may never be known since officials are only required to disclose income in ranges rather than exact amounts.
The controversy over the investment is another blow to the Corzine campaign, which is struggling to stay above water with time running out in the governor's race. And unlike this past July, when Christie threw Corzine a life line over the widespread corruption arrests in New Jersey, the Christie campaign seems determined to pressure Corzine over this scandal for as long as it possibly can.
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