Thank you for that completely voluntary and generous contribution to the new ethics center at my alma mater! You can leave your cell now.”

In a long report published in the Washington Post a week ago, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s conduct as a federal prosecutor was examined, under the headline, “Chris Christie’s long record of pushing boundaries, sparking controversy.” This is euphemistic, to say the least. What the report describes is clear-cut, undeniably unethical practices by Christie. They were arguably legal and technically permitted at the time (though no longer), but never mind: they were unethical, and would quickly set off the ethics alarms of any ethical lawyer or politician. For Christie, they did not.

I’ll focus only on the main practice in question. The Post’s Carol Morello and Carol D. Leonnig write,

“As the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Chris Christie struck an unusual deal with Bristol- Myers Squibb. In exchange for not charging the drugmaking giant with securities fraud, Christie’s office would require it to fund a professorship at Seton Hall University’s law school — Christie’s alma mater.The $5 million gift, one component of a larger agreement between the company and prosecutors, was hailed by the school, in South Orange, N.J., as a cornerstone of its new center on business ethics.”

Now there’s irony for you: a center on business ethics funded with an unethical gift from security fraudsters. For the passage above just as easily, and more accurately, might have read:

“Rather than punish white collar criminals in the management of Bristol- Myers Squibb for cheating investors and breaking federal law, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie extorted $5 million from them to support his alma mater.”

What’s going on here? That’s what was going on here. This is an abuse of power, and blatantly so. It is also corrupt, though this has been a favorite “ethics” ploy by politicians since the dawn of time. Want special access to the Clinton administration, Mr. Korean lobbyist? The Secretary of Energy will help you out—just make out a check to this pet charity of hers. Want the Congressman to consider amending that bill, Mr. Lobbyist? Just make sure your company gives a “voluntary” $20,000 contribution his celebrity gold tournament to cure some dread disease.

Any time money is directed to a family member, an alma mater, a favorite charity or any source that the distributor of a favor, a plea deal, a contract, or political advantage has a personal interest in as reciprocity for the benefit, the transaction is corrupt: bribery, a kickback, quid pro quo. Such practices in the law enforcement context are also unfair and an example of unequal justice, as in the Bristol- Myers Squibb case. Criminals without the resources of multi-billion dollar companies at their disposal can’t avoid  deserved jail time with contributions to “ethics centers.”

The Post article goes on…

“In Washington, however, Christie’s superiors in the George W. Bush administration were uneasy about it, worried that it could look to the public like a U.S. attorney using his authority to benefit a pet cause.”

Gee, why would they worry about that, other than the fact that it was a U.S. attorney using his authority to benefit a pet cause?

Imagine the unethical loopholes such an individual can find and use once he access to real power!

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Facts: Washington Post