The AP reports:
Is he a generous multimillionaire helping the needy, or a rich guy using his fortune to elude political trouble?Jon Corzine is writing a whole new chapter in "contributions".We wonder how much longer the IRS and the Justice Department can look the other way on some of this.
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine's spending habits , often questioned since he entered politics in 2000 , are receiving renewed scrutiny after the Democrat acknowledged giving $15,000 to his ex-girlfriend's brother-in-law. The gift came after Corzine's staff asked the in-law to quit a state job the administration helped him get.
"Jon Corzine has a long history of using his personal wealth to solve his political problems," said Tom Wilson, the New Jersey Republican Party chairman.
Corzine's spending has attracted attention since he spent $65 million of his own money to win the 2000 U.S. Senate election. He followed that by spending $40 million of his own money on his 2005 gubernatorial bid, but he also:
, Paid $5,000 in February 2006 to bail a lobbyist out of jail.
, Gave his former girlfriend, Carla Katz, president of the largest state worker union local, large sums of money as he began his gubernatorial run. Neither Corzine nor Katz has detailed an exact amount, but Corzine gave her at least $470,000 to buy a house.
, Forgave a $50,000 loan to a black minister who was campaigning to become a bishop. The minister endorsed Corzine's gubernatorial bid and Corzine forgave the loan on Jan. 1, 2005. Had he forgiven it earlier, it would have shown on 2004 tax returns reviewed during the gubernatorial campaign.
, Gave the $15,000 to Katz's brother-in-law, Rocco Riccio.
But the 60-year-old Corzine, wealthy from his tenure at investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, where he was chairman from 1994 to 1999, has also given $45 million to charity in the past eight years, sending money to urban programs, the arts and health care causes.
"The goal of what I have done with my charitable contributions is the same as it is in my public life , to try and make the world a little bit better," said Corzine, a U.S. senator from 2001 to January 2006.
But such giving has been overshadowed by repeated questions about what he's done with the rest of his money.
