3rdnlng Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 This guy was up to his neck in wrongdoing and corruption. Now he is controlling a budget of billions and 240,000 employees? http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/3/editorial-the-pay-for-play-accomplice/ Jeh C. Johnson, only recently confirmed as chief of the Department of Homeland Security, is off to an inglorious start. As our own Jim McElhatton and Kelly Riddell reported Monday, Mr. Johnson’s own right-hand man, Christian Marrone, was previously the right-hand man of a Philadelphia politician with a felonious bent. The most ethical administration in history — just ask Barack Obama — knows how to pick ‘em. As the chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Marrone now has 240,000 employees and a $60 billion budget to administer. That’s a lot of responsibility for someone tutored by one Vincent J. Fumo, a Democratic power broker in Philadelphia and master of pay-to-play politics. Mr. Marrone married his daughter and soon after was rewarded with a series of patronage jobs, including operations director of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Corruption has been epidemic, perhaps even pandemic, at the turnpike. One former operations manager pleaded guilty to corruption last month and implicated several other employees, contractors and politicians, including Mr. Fumo. The stealing at the toll road was bipartisan. According to prosecutors, the majority party got to award 60 percent of state contracts for the turnpike to campaign contributors, and the minority party could give away the remaining 40 percent. In Mr. Fumo’s own corruption trial in 2009, Mr. Marrone testified that he ran errands for Mr. Fumo, who diverted money from state contractors to pay for improvements to his home, a nice pad with a carbon footprint big enough to rival Al Gore’s sprawling estate in Tennessee. Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/3/editorial-the-pay-for-play-accomplice/#ixzz2sN69b1uO Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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