Christie brushes aside distant link to mobster

New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher J. Christie is shrugging off a distant familial tie to a convicted mob figure.

The New York Times yesterday reported a link made publicly several years ago: Tino Fiumara, a ranking member of the Genovese crime family twice convicted of racketeering, is a brother-in-law of Christie's aunt.

When Christie was U.S. attorney, his office prosecuted Fiumara, who admitted to aiding the flight of a fugitive. Christie said he recused himself from the case, though he did not disclose that publicly at the time.

Christie said he visited Fiumara in a Texas prison at his uncle's request in 1991, but said he had had almost no other contact with him as an adult. - AP