Did Middletown Committeeman Violate State Campaign Pay to Play Laws By Contributing To Christie Campaign?

That's a question which should be answered by Tony Fiore, the Middletown Committeeman in question.

An article published online last week over at the International Business Times, "Chris Christie Maintained State Pension Investments In Prudential After Top Official Gave Contributions", is an eye opening examples of one reason as to why NJ's state pension system is in such disarray and financial trouble.  It seems that Governor Christie likes to reward those that lavish him with cash in the form of campaign contributions.

Over the past 5 years NJ has paid Prudential Financial to manage New Jersey pension funds, even after company officials made substantial contributions to Christie's 2009 gubernatorial campaign, according to International Business Times.

The IBTimes article names 2 senior Prudential officials, Jon Hanson and John Strangfeld who donated to Gov. Christie's campaign and/or nonprofits favored by Christie and who each served on various Christie transition teams and have been personal advisers to the governor.

The article also mentions one other senior Prudential executive that donated to Chris Christie's campaign for governor in 2009, Middletown's very own township committeeman, Tony Fiore:

"Campaign finance records show that at least one other Prudential executive donated to Christie’s 2009 campaign. Anthony Fiore, then a vice president with Prudential Investments, gave $2,000 to the governor’s campaign. Currently a Republican committeeman in Middletown and a senior vice president at Prudential, Fiore’s bio describes him as “a certified retirement and pension specialist.” Still, Prudential's spokesperson asserted that "Fiore did not meet the definition of an investment management professional" under New Jersey rules, though he provided no further explanation. Fiore did not respond to a request for comment about his contributions to Christie."

The article states that, New Jersey’s pay-to-play rules very are clear and restricts contributions from firms managing state pension money. The rules "explicitly define a covered “investment management professional” as “any person associated with an investment management firm, its parent company, or any other entity that controls the investment management firm, who is a member of the executive or management committee of such firm or controlling entity, or similarly situated officials.”, IBTimes stated.

You can read the full article ... Here