deferred prosecution

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie spoke at Fairleigh Dickinson University today: Scott Giglio Photo
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie, a likely candidate for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, was on home turf this morning at a speaking engagement at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Madison campus -- just a short drive from his house in Mendham.

It was another stop on the corruption busting prosecutor’s public circuit: once again he rattled off his 125 convictions, recounted stories of jaw amazingly blatant corruption and fended off what he said were politically-inspired attacks on his record -- without going into specifics.

Christie made no reference to the ongoing controversy over his appointment of John Ashcroft to a federal monitoring contract worth between $27 and $52 million, instead arguing more broadly that his office has been accused of acting with political motivations by both parties. After the event, Christie said that he would not answer any questions regarding Ashcroft or the contract.

At a news conference on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that the Justice Department continues to review the process prosecutors use to pick federal monitors in deferred prosecution agreements, and kept the door open to new guidelines that might make the selection process less political in the future.  Mukasey refused to criticize the $28 million to $52 million contract awarded to one of his predecessors, John Ashcroft.