With much discussion in the news currently surrounding the millions of dollars in mysterious income that has apparently poured into Biden family coffers, another story in which potential political corruption is being alleged has emerged – this time involving current Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as the New York Post reports.
The controversy at issue has to do with a property purchased by Christie back in 2018 for $2.9 million which has since undergone years of costly demolition, expansion, and renovation work.
Many of those in the immediate vicinity of the Bay Head oceanfront residence – as well as observers elsewhere – are at a loss to understand precisely how Christie has the financial wherewithal to cover such exorbitant expenses, given the jobs he has been known to have held in recent years.
Speculation swirls
The house, for which Christie paid just shy of $3 million, now has an estimated value of over $5.5 million, at least according to Zillow.
As such, questions have begun to swirl about where a former governor – who stopped earning the accompanying $175,000 annual salary several years prior – is getting the resources needed to bankroll such a project, which has seen a roughly 4,000 square foot house grow into one spanning nearly 7,000 square feet.
The inside source who spoke to the Post on the topic incredulously mused, “I don't even know what the guy is doing now... How is he affording this lifestyle?”
Honest work?
Though it is unclear whether any of Christie's recent professional endeavors are lucrative enough to support the construction and maintenance of such a mansion, he has been involved in public-facing work over the years through which he has undoubtedly generated at least some revenue.
Following his departure from the governor's office, Christie spent time as a contributor with ABC News.
January of 2019 witnessed the publishing of a Christie-authored book entitled Let Me Finish, and 2021 saw another volume, Republican Rescue hit the shelves, as the Post notes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Christie was a registered lobbyist, taking in $240,000 for work done on behalf of a group of addiction treatment facilities and a trio of New Jersey hospital systems.
Eerie similarities?
The curiosity about Christie's luxury home echoes some of the questions that surround the apparently sizable wealth that has been built by President Joe Biden over the decades, despite having spent his entire career in government.
That a man can amass a portfolio that includes two ritzy homes in Delaware and a host of other symbols of affluence all on a senator's salary does beg the question of whether the dealings of some of the country's most prominent politicians really are fully above board.
