New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was captured hugging Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on national TV after a playoff victory on Sunday. The incident has already sparked political debate, angered New Jersey-based football fans and now questions arise about how Christie wound up in the owner’s box in the first place.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Jones provided both transportation and game tickets to Christie, who is a long-time Cowboys fan.
The problem? Jones has a business relationship with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. You see, the Cowboys are part owners of the Legends Hospitality, the company that operates One World Trade Center. Port Authority controls One World Trade Center, and Christie jointly oversees Port Authority with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Governor Christie attended the game [Sunday] night as a guest of Jerry Jones, who provided both the ticket and transportation at no expense to New Jersey taxpayers,” Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the governor, told the WSJ.
This isn’t the last of this story, and it will be interesting to see if Christie joins his pal in Green Bay this weekend when the Cowboys take on the Packers. In the meantime, the hug was mocked by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann of “With All Due respect” on Bloomberg. Check it out, after the jump…