An investigation of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and members of his administration has been launched by the U.S. Department of Justice this week.
The International Business Times reported that two criminal investigators from the department visited the home of Bennett Barlyn, a former Hunterdon County prosecutor fired in 2010, for an interview on Wednesday. Barlyn alleges that he was fired in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the Christie administration.
In 2008, Barlyn began a probe into the conduct of then-county Sheriff Deborah Trout, and said he discovered she had abused the powers of her office in a number of ways.
In 2010, Barlyn secured a 43-count grand jury indictment against Trout and her two deputies.
"It accused Sheriff Deborah Trout of hiring deputies without conducting proper background checks, and making employees sign loyalty oaths. Her deputies, the indictment charged, threatened one of their critics and manufactured fake police badges for a prominent donor to Gov. Chris Christie,"
the New York Times reported in 2013.
After securing the indictments, Paula T. Dow, Gov. Chris Christie’s appointee as New Jersey attorney general, took over the prosecutor's office, and threw out the indictments with the help of a judge.
During the quashing of the indictments, Barlyn claims he was fired without explanation. He then filed a lawsuit against the state.
Christie has said previously that he had no role in Berlyn's termination, and does not know the people he's accused of aiding.
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