TALKING POINTS MEMO: The Justice Department Inspector General released a report yesterday showing that a select number of U.S. Attorneys sought reimbursement above government lodging rates. At the top of the worst offenders list: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who was U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2008. […] The fiscally conservative Republican governor was one of a “relatively small number of U.S. Attorneys” who did not comply with federal travel regulations or provide appropriate justification for his lodging costs which exceeded the government rate. He was just one of five U.S. Attorneys identified “who exhibited a noteworthy pattern of exceeding the government rate and whose travel documentation provided insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification for the higher lodging rates.” One footnote mentions that Christie set up and had the government pay for a prearranged car service for a four-mile trip back and forth from the Boston airport at a price of $236 round trip. “In another example of excessive transportation costs, his car service from a London airport to his hotel in central London cost $562 round trip,” the report added. MORE