Sources: Nj Corruption Prosecutor Faces Inquiry
The probe marks a particularly embarrassing turn for federal authorities charged with weeding out corruption in scandal-scarred New Jersey: An internal affairs investigation has been launched into their handling of a major corruption case just days after they filed charges in the case.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the probe, told the AP the Justice Department was examining whether acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra made inappropriate public comments that boosted Republican Chris Christies political challenge to incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine. Before running for office, Christie was the US Attorney for New Jersey, and Marra was his top deputy.
Marra made the comments last month while announcing the corruption case against dozens of suspects.
Since the arrests, public corruption has become the dominant issue in the race for governor.
The investigation by the Justice Departments Office of Professional Responsibility is another potential embarrassment for the department, which already has acknowledged mishandling other high-profile public corruption cases, particularly the botched prosecution of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
Such internal investigations are rarely acknowledged publicly, and the results are usually unknown. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler declined to comment or even confirm the existence of the probe in New Jersey.
Greg Reinert, a spokesman for Marras office, said they were unaware of such an investigation and declined to comment. Officials with the Corzine campaign declined to comment, and the Christie campaign did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
At issue are comments Marra made at a news conference last month announcing the arrests of 44 people as part of a sweeping federal corruption probe. Of those arrested, 29 were elected or public officials – a high count even in a state with a reputation for official misdeeds.
Asked about the issue of corruption in the state, Marra said: “There are easily reforms that could be made within this state that would make our job easier, or even take some of the load off our job. There are too many people that profit off the system the way it is and so they have no incentive to change it. The few people that want to change it seem to get shouted down. So how long that cycles going to continue I just dont know.”
Justice Department guidelines say a prosecutor “shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
Lawyers often refer to the rule as keeping them within “the four corners” of the indictment.
Patrick M. Collins, a former federal corruption prosecutor in Illinois – another state with perennial corruption problems – said the rule is designed to prevent prosecutors from publicly declaring a defendants guilt before trial, but the concerns about Marras comments would likely be different.
Marras comments were particularly notable given his professional history with Christie, and the fact that Christie has centered his campaign on a vow to clean up the state and root out political corruption.
The corruption scandal gave Christie an opening to campaign on his strongest issue: law and order.
After the arrests, Christie laid out a plan to impose tighter standards on public officials, and said the arrests show “a failure of leadership.”
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Associated Press writer Angela Delli Santi in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.