A report released today by the Center for Public Integrity says New Jersey has the lowest risk of corruption among all 50 states, thanks to laws enacted in response to its tainted past.
Who woulda thought?
But Governor Christie says it’s all his doing: “What it means is that we’ve done a great job,” Christie said in an interview. “In the seven years I was U.S. Attorney and now the last two years as governor you haven’t heard in our two years in office any hint of scandal or criminal activity anywhere throughout the government. And if New Jersey is getting better and less corrupt that’s great news. Listen, if there’s one thing I know I can take credit for, it’s that.”
Maybe. The massive arrests in the New Jersey political corruption scandal happened after Christie resigned as US Attorney. So maybe that’s not to his credit. On the other hand, they occurred before he was elected governor, so you can’t blame him for it either.
via Report: N.J. has lowest corruption risk of any state | NJ.com.
Now that the GOP is claiming that Chris Christie is responsible for New Jersey having the lowest risk of corruption in the nation, Politifact examined the claim. They came to the same conclusion that we did, though they had more facts than us. _Sic transit gloria mundi._
See http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2012/apr/02/new-jersey-republican-state-committee/new-jersey-gop-credit-chris-christie-new-jersey-ha/ or http://tinyurl.com/85ld94u
And StateIntegrity.Org addresses the question of “How did New Jersey finish first?”:
http://www.stateintegrity.org/state_integrity_investigation_new_jersey_corruption_risk