Christie shuffles his top staff mid-term

    N.J. Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday announced some charges in his top staff halfway through his first term.

    Chief of staff Richard Bagger is leaving to take a job in the private sector on Jan. 31. Deputy Counsel Kevin O’Dowd will take Bagger’s place.

    Homeland Security director Charles McKenna will move over to become Christie’s chief counsel. He’ll replace Jeff Chiesa, whom Christie is nominating for Attorney General.

     

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    O’Dowd and McKenna used to work for Christie at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. O’Dowd was chief of the securities and health care fraud unit. McKenna led the criminal division, working on high profile cases that included the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the case of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

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