Christie Administration Awards $250,000-Plus Contract To Brother's Firm

Gov. Chris Christie’s administration has awarded a government contract to a financial services firm that employs the governor’s brother, according to reports.

The Christie administration plans to pay Ernst and Young more than $250,000 to provide a financial analysis of Atlantic City, the International Business Times reported.

Ernst and Young hired Christie’s brother as a New Jersey-based director in March 2013 and works on the firm’s “business development,” according to The Press of Atlantic City.

Accoring to the state’s executive branch ethics standards guide:

“You may not act in any official matter in which you, your family, or your close friends have a direct or indirect personal or financial interest.”

The firm said Todd Christie has no involvement in any work with the government as a matter of the company’s policy.

The firm said in a statement:

“The Atlantic City contract was awarded to a highly qualified EY team, who have performed similar work for several other municipalities, most notably the City of Detroit.”

Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said Ernst and Young was selected “based on its expertise in the area,” according to the report.

Christie’s opponents, however, immediately questioned whether the governor violated the state’s ethics codes, noting that the consulting firm has won three state contracts since Todd Christie started working for it two years ago, according to Gannett New Jersey.

In those same reports, state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat, questioned how much influence the governor’s brother will have on future financial policy:

“I hope the governor’s advocacy for the state takeover of Atlantic City was not simply to repay a favor to his brother, Todd Christie, for all of the support Todd has given him over the years .... It is fair to ask questions any time you have the executive branch taking actions that at least on the surface appear to uniquely benefit somebody very close to the governor.”

The news came the same week New Jersey’s First Lady decided to quit her day job, just a day after Christie said he’d be announcing his run for president – or not – in either May or June.

Mary Pat Christie, the managing director at Angelo, Gordon & Co. hedge fund, is leaving behind her $475,000 annual salary to “spend more time with her children,” according to app.com.

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