Surprise Subpoenas
EDITORIAL, NYTimes on
the Web, February 25, 2007
New Jersey -- Just as the
movers and shakers in Trenton were about to close up the State House for the
Presidents’ Day weekend, federal investigators arrived with a set of subpoenas
that could open up the way business is done in the New Jersey capital.
Nobody is saying what the subpoenas are about. But they were served on the
Senate president, Richard Codey; the Assembly speaker, Joseph Roberts; and most
other Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, and it is almost certain
that they involve the secret “Christmas tree” items legislators slip into
appropriation bills to benefit local projects and reinforce relationships with
constituents.
These items are not illegal — unless, of course, the legislators or their
families get something of personal value in return. Christopher Christie,
the United States attorney for New Jersey, is known to be investigating exactly
that possibility in the case of State Senator Wayne Bryant, a Camden Democrat,
who channeled millions of taxpayer dollars to the state’s medical school, where
he just happened to hold a $38,000 job with no apparent duties.
That subpoenas have now been issued to so many legislative leaders suggests that
federal prosecutors suspect that Mr. Bryant may not be alone in profiting from
this ancient practice.
It is impossible to say whether a pattern of corruption will ultimately emerge.
But at the very least the inquiry could shed sunlight on a murky process.
Considering the lack of openness in Trenton, and the corruption that secrecy
fosters, this would be a significant accomplishment.
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