Federal Records: Christie Spent Big On Government-Funded Business Trips

The Corzine campaign appears to have found some dirt in their searches through Chris Christie's records during his time as U.S. Attorney -- relating to some apparent lavish spending on the taxpayer's dime:

The Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, who has campaigned on a platform of ethical integrity and cutting government waste, regularly spent beyond federal guidelines on business travel while U.S. attorney, records show.

The newly released travel records show that Chris Christie occasionally billed taxpayers more than $400 a night for stays in luxury hotels and exceeded the government's hotel allowance on 14 of 16 business trips he took in 2008.

Also from the AP write-up:

The limits are updated regularly to reflect inflation, seasonal price jumps and other economic realities of business travel, Schwartz said. Federal employees who exceed the allowance are required to explain why, though the justification merely requires an extra layer of approval that is routinely granted.

On trips in 2007 and 2008, his top deputy, Michele Brown, also exceeded the guidelines after Christie approved her requests for rooms in the same five-star hotels where he was booked.

The vouchers show Christie and Brown stayed at the NineZero Hotel in Boston on Oct. 16, 2007 and each billed taxpayers $449 plus taxes and fees for their rooms, more than double the government allowance for a Boston hotel room at the time, according to a General Services Administration travel reimbursement table.

Brown was the same Christie aide who received a $46,000 personal loan from Christie -- shortly after this very hotel stay, in fact. The loan was not reported in federal or state ethics disclosures, nor did Christie file income from the interest on the loan on his taxes. Brown remained at the U.S. attorney's office until this past August, when she resigned in the wake of the loan becoming public.