Fox News ignored growing evidence of a culture of political retribution in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office while instead attacking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for keeping an “enemies list” -- in reality, a list of endorsements Clinton sought in 2008 -- something Fox's own senior political analyst described as “perfectly reasonable,” and dismissed as “not a huge deal.”

Thousands of e-mails released last week revealed examples of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) administration exacting political retribution from a list of those people whom the governor or his aides believed had crossed him in some way. According to The Star-Ledger, a circle of Christie staff and allies appears to have taken political retribution to a new level when it conspired to send the borough of Fort Lee into traffic chaos by closing lanes to the world's busiest bridge." And a new Wall Street Journal report detailed how Christie allegedly treated Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop (D) by cutting him off from state administrators after Fulop declined to endorse Christie in the gubernatorial election.

In a segment on Fox's America's Newsroom, host Martha MacCallum neglected to report those updates in the Christie scandal, choosing instead to juxtapose Christie's problems with a report that ran in both Politico Magazine and The Hill that detailed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign and its efforts to gain lawmakers' endorsements. Both the original report and Fox News labeled the list of endorsements as “Hillary's Hit List.”

Fox senior political analyst Brit Hume compared the Politico report to the Christie Scandal, claiming it “raises to some extent the question [about Clinton] you're now hearing raised about Chris Christie,” asking whether or not she “fostered a climate” that encouraged aides to seek political retribution. Despite Hume's direct comparison, the reports regarding Christie detail numerous incidents of alleged abuse while the Politico report mentions no actual allegations of political retribution, only that the Clinton campaign tracked its political endorsements -- an act that Hume himself described as “perfectly sensible” and “not a huge deal.”

When news of the Christie scandal originally broke, Fox News largely ignored it - an omission that CNN media critic Brian Stelter said may have been due to political considerations and Fox News chairman Roger Ailes' role as “Republican kingmaker” who “has in the past tried to enlist Chris Christie to run for president” and “has been said to be a big fan of Chris Christie.” When it did cover the scandal, Fox pointed to Christie's handling of the scandal as a “lesson in leadership” while attacking Clinton and President Obama for their handling of what Fox perceives as similar scandals.

Hume attributed competing media organizations' coverage of Christie to political bias, explaining that “journalists look at a story and if it's somebody they don't particularly care for or whose politics they don't agree with -- when that person slips up it just seems, as they look at it, like a bigger story.” Ironically, that explanation may explain Fox News' focus on Clinton.

Image via Flickr user Gage Skidmore