A lawyer who once worked in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) counsel’s office has been named the new executive director of the state’s Ethics Commission. Here’s the thing: as the website NJ Spotlight points out, the commission would rule on any ethics complaints that arise in connection to the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandal.
NJ Spotlight reported on Wednesday that the lawyer, Susana Guerrero, previously served in the governor’s office with all nine of the Christie aides that have been subpoenaed in connection to the bridge scandal. Guerrero also spent eight years at the law firm with close ties to Christie, and where Christie once even worked before becoming U.S. attorney. (Christie and Guerrero overlapped at the firm by four months.)
The seven-member commission voted Tuesday to approve Guerrero’s appointment, according to NJ Spotlight.
According to The Newark Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran, New Jersey’s Ethics Commission was rebuilt in 2005, following the resignation of Gov. Jim McGreevey (D). Before Christie took office, the commission would pick its own executive director. But Moran wrote Wednesday that Christie recommended Guerrero, and that the committee voted her into the job without interviewing any alternative candidates.
This post has been updated.
