Chris Christie’s long record of pushing boundaries, sparking controversy [View all]

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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.

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.

Christie said the idea was not his but rather part of a negotiation between his prosecutors and the firm. In any case, spurred on by the Seton Hall deal and several other out-of-court settlements negotiated by Christie’s office, Justice Department officials ultimately enacted new rules limiting prosecutors’ discretion in reaching such agreements.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/chris-christies-long-record-of-pushing-boundaries-sparking-controversy/2014/02/10/50111ed4-8db1-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html