Aides to New Jersey Gov. CHRIS CHRISTIE said that Cowboys Owner JERRY JONES' gift of a prime seat at Sunday's NFC Wild Card game and transportation to and from Dallas "was legal," according to Dawsey, Haddon & Mann of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The aides said that an '03 executive order, under versions of which Christie and previous governors have operated, "allowed gifts from relatives and 'personal friends' without disclosing them." The situation "was made more complex by Mr. Jones’s business before the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an agency Mr. Christie jointly controls with New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO." Legends Hospitality -- owned jointly by the Cowboys, Yankees and Checketts Partners Investment Fund -- in '13 "won a contract to run the observatory at One World Trade Center, owned by the Port Authority." The Port Authority yesterday "stood by its selection of Legends, saying it was the result of a 'highly competitive procurement process.'" Legends officials have said that Jones "wasn’t involved in the bid" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/7). Port Authority Chair JOHN DEGNAN said that during the 15 months that the agency "mulled awarding" the contract, Christie "never solicited input from an advisory ethics panel specifically created to help governors avoid conflicts of interest." The Port Authority in a statement said that Legends "was selected as 'the highest value proposer from among six qualified respondents' and that Legends’ proposal 'provided for the highest lease payments of any bidder' resulting in its final approval" in March '13. In Newark, Claude Brodesser-Akner reports a Christie spokesperson "did not respond to calls seeking comment about whether the governor's Advisory Ethics Panel would review the Jones bid or make a public determination about its propriety" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/7). Meanwhile, a source said that the Cowboys and Jones "weren’t even aware that Christie was a Cowboys fan until June 2013, three months after the Legends deal was approved" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/7).
