BridgeGhazi!! Chris Christie's Bridge to Nowhere

Scorpion wrote:

The longer this goes on, the more it begins to look like a witch hunt...

Yup. He can totally come out of this better off than going in. The GOP loves the victim card. It feeds into the entire us vs them/conspiracy narrative of the party. If he continues to take a beating in the press despite any evidence linking him to this, it will only take a few sob stories of betrayal and complaints about the "liberal media" during a few interviews and he'll come out of this looking like a fucking battle-hardened hero to them. Palin was able to do much more with far less. Someone as smart as Christie won't have any problem pulling their strings.

Scorpion wrote:

The longer this goes on, the more it begins to look like a witch hunt, if no wrongdoing by the governor is brought to light. Voters know what a witch hunt looks like when they see it, and they won't like it. They'll eventually tune out and begin to actually feel sympathy for Christie. If that happens, the political ads won't work, either.

I don't see a witch hunt at all. It was Bridgit Anne Kelly's emails that finally triggered the investigations. The NJ legislature has already combined the 2 separate investigations into one which is a good thing and AFAIK there have been no leaks so far. The US Atty's investigation is a different investigation into a different matter and I doubt we'll see any leaks there either.

Mittens Romney vetted him for VP and didn't like what he saw.
If anything,Christie has been the media's darling up until now banging the drum for his POTUS run every chance they got. The present scandals are the result of Christie's own actions and lack of judgment,certainly not the result of any media witch hunt.

It's gonna be difficult for Christie to gain sympathy because he's been such an in your face bully in the past and I expect him to attempt to stonewall the investigations at every opportunity. I look forward to his future press conferences,if there are any.

More bad news for Chris Christie

Quote :

A new report further corroborates Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer's bombshell allegations

The investigation over “bridgegate” is by no means over, but it’s increasingly looking like a second, less-publicized scandal could be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s biggest problem yet.

According to a report in the New York Times, federal officials in the Garden State have interviewed multiple witnesses about Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegation that the Christie administration threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy relief funds unless she agreed to approve a development project Christie supported.

These witnesses have reportedly not only confirmed that Zimmer told them previously of Team Christie’s demands — but that she did so all the way back in May, well before bridgegate forever changed Christie’s public image.

Further, in an interview with the Times, Hoboken City Councilman David Mello said Zimmer had previously told him about the Christie administration’s threat. Mello said he was “upset” when he first heard of “this quid pro quo ultimatum” from the governor’s office.

Zimmer’s allegations were first reported by MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki.

So we now have corroborating witnesses on top of the Mayor's diary. It's time for a full-scale audit of how Christie's office distributed the funds.

Artie60438 wrote:

More bad news for Chris Christie

Quote :

A new report further corroborates Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer's bombshell allegations

The investigation over “bridgegate” is by no means over, but it’s increasingly looking like a second, less-publicized scandal could be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s biggest problem yet.

According to a report in the New York Times, federal officials in the Garden State have interviewed multiple witnesses about Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegation that the Christie administration threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy relief funds unless she agreed to approve a development project Christie supported.

These witnesses have reportedly not only confirmed that Zimmer told them previously of Team Christie’s demands — but that she did so all the way back in May, well before bridgegate forever changed Christie’s public image.

Further, in an interview with the Times, Hoboken City Councilman David Mello said Zimmer had previously told him about the Christie administration’s threat. Mello said he was “upset” when he first heard of “this quid pro quo ultimatum” from the governor’s office.

Zimmer’s allegations were first reported by MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki.

So we now have corroborating witnesses on top of the Mayor's diary. It's time for a full-scale audit of how Christie's office distributed the funds.

Yeah, well I saw no reason to doubt that the Mayor's diary entries, which are arguably based on her own perceptions, weren't genuine.  The real question is if Christie was actually tying the distribution of Sandy Funds to the proposed development of the Rockefeller property.

The fact that the mayor told someone about her perceptions certainly proves that she didn't falsify entries in her diary.  Unfortunately, that's all it proves.

If Christie was using the non-distribution of Sandy funds to extort concessions from the mayor, that's serious corruption.  It's going to be awfully tough to prove, especially now that the Lieutenant Governor has categorically denied that she said the things that Mayor Zimmer claims that she said...

Scorpion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

So we now have corroborating witnesses on top of the Mayor's diary. It's time for a full-scale audit of how Christie's office distributed the funds.

Yeah, well I saw no reason to doubt that the Mayor's diary entries, which are arguably based on her own perceptions, weren't genuine.  The real question is if Christie was actually tying the distribution of Sandy Funds to the proposed development of the Rockefeller property.

The fact that the mayor told someone about her perceptions certainly proves that she didn't falsify entries in her diary.  Unfortunately, that's all it proves.

If Christie was using the non-distribution of Sandy funds to extort concessions from the mayor, that's serious corruption.  It's going to be awfully tough to prove, especially now that the Lieutenant Governor has categorically denied that she said the things that Mayor Zimmer claims that she said...

My point is that besides the diary,the corroboration of other city officials offers probable cause to fully investigate the Mayor's allegations.

Artie60438 wrote:

My point is that besides the diary,the corroboration of other city officials offers probable cause to fully investigate the Mayor's allegations.

Yeah. Well I think that goes without saying, don't you think?  In fact, just the mayor's word alone is enough to warrant a closer look.  But the distribution of the funds isn't some big secret.  I'm sure that the information regarding the funds is readily available to anyone who wants to take a look.  

But Mayor Zimmer's allegation is that funds were denied to her city because of her refusal to go along with a real estate deal.  The fact that she told somebody about what she wrote in her diary doesn't seem very relevant. Real "corroboration" would have to involve someone else that was told the same thing by somebody in the Christie administration.

Scorpion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

My point is that besides the diary,the corroboration of other city officials offers probable cause to fully investigate the Mayor's allegations.

Yeah. Well I think that goes without saying, don't you think?  In fact, just the mayor's word alone is enough to warrant a closer look.

No way would a Federal investigation be opened on just her word alone.

I know it's not over till the fat lady sings,but Tubby might want to start thinking about shopping for a dress.  
Christie Knew About Lane Closings, Ex-Port Authority Official Says

Quote :

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.

In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.

The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie may have been aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during thenews conference.

In early January, documents revealed that a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, Bridget Anne Kelly, had sent an email to Mr. Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the town at the New Jersey end of the bridge, where Mr. Christie’s aides had pursued but failed to receive an endorsement from the mayor.

Mr. Christie has steadfastly denied that he knew before this month that anyone in his administration was responsible for the lane closings, and his administration has tried to portray it as the actions of a rogue staff member.

The governor fired Ms. Kelly. Mr. Wildstein, the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority, resigned.

Hey Artie, could you please call Ann Coulter and give her my condolences?


...and where is Don Meredith?

edge540 wrote:

Hey Artie, could you please call Ann Coulter and give her my condolences?


...and where is Don Meredith?

You mean Dandy Don?  


I was thinking more about this latest development. David Wildstein must really have it in for Christie. He releases this letter on the Friday before the Super Bowl in NJ,thus almost guaranteeing that it will be a topic on all the Sunday shows and drowning out any positive press for CC.

Artie60438 wrote:

I was thinking more about this latest development. David Wildstein must really have it in for Christie.

Heh, this could have something to do with it:

"David and I were not friends in high school. We were not even acquaintances in high school, we didn't travel in the same circles in high school. You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don't know what David was doing during that period of time."

Translation:
"You know, I was the big popular stud in high school, Wildstein was a geek and I had nothing to do with him."

edge540 wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

I was thinking more about this latest development. David Wildstein must really have it in for Christie.

Heh, this could have something to do with it:

"David and I were not friends in high school. We were not even acquaintances in high school, we didn't travel in the same circles in high school. You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don't know what David was doing during that period of time."

Translation:
"You know, I was the big popular stud in high school, Wildstein was a geek and I had nothing to do with him."

Now that Christie is trying to smear Wildstein via some nonsense that occurred in High School.one has to wonder....If Christie thought Wildstein was such a bad guy then why did he hire him to be his "eyes and ears" at the Port Authority?

Christie is scheduled to take questions tonight on his "Ask the Governor" show tonight at 6PM Eastern.

The frying pan just got a little bit hotter...
Star-Ledger: Chris Christie must quit RGA

Quote :

The New Jersey Star-Ledger is calling for Gov. Chris Christie to step down from his post as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, citing a fiscal crisis in the state.

The RGA post is a “major distraction,” which on top of the Bridgegate scandal, has led Christie to neglect the job he was hired to do, the newspaper’s editorial board writes.

The state’s credit rate is falling and its structural deficit is rated the worst in the nation, the board notes. Jersey’s Senate Budget Committee has also warned of major revenue shortfalls, and the funds committed to transit and open-space projects are both bankrupt. “Christie has proposed no fix,” they write.

(Also on POLITICO: N.J. Star-Ledger regrets Christie endorsement)

“Keep in mind that the bulk of Christie’s senior staff is ensnared in the Bridgegate scandals as well. So who is minding the store?” the board asks.

Heckuva job,Gov Toast!

Chris Christie's Entire Career Reeks It's not just the bridge

Quote :

Has there ever been a political reversal of fortune as rapid and as absolute as the one just experienced by Chris Christie? At warp speed, the governor of New Jersey has gone from the most popular politician in the country to the most embattled; from the Republicans’ brightest hope for 2016 to a man with an FBI target on his back. One minute, he was releasing jokey vanity videos starring Alec Baldwin and assorted celebrity pals; the next, he was being ridiculed by his lifelong idol, Bruce Springsteen. Mere weeks ago, Christie was a straight-talking, corruption-busting everyman. Now, he is a liar, a bully, a buffoon.

What is remarkable about this meltdown is that it isn’t the result of some deep secret that has been exposed to the world, revealing a previously unimagined side to the candidate. Many of the scandals and mini-scandals and scandals-within-scandals that the national media is salivating over have been in full view for years. Even the now-infamous Bridgegate was percolating for months before it exploded into the first major story of the next presidential race.......

-snip-
This is a fascinating read,IMO. Anyone who was thinking about supporting CC for POTUS might want to think about taking a shower after reading this.

More Scandal for Gov. Christie

Quote :

Two of Gov. Chris Christie appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey led a secretive campaign to quickly push through toll hikes on the Hudson River bridges and tunnels, according to a published report.

Citing interviews it conducted with eight people who were familiar with the operation, The Record reports the campaign was run by Bill Baroni, the authority's former deputy executive director, and his aide, David Wildstein.

The goal was to have the bistate agency propose an enormous toll hike so the governors could scale it back and appear to be fiscal hawks, according to the report.

Smaller toll increases were eventually approved in 2011.

The newspaper says Cuomo's office didn't return requests seeking comment. Baroni, Wildstein and Christie's office all declined comment.

Neither Christie's office nor Cuomo's office responded to requests for comment made by The Associated Press on Sunday afternoon.

FBI contacts figure in Christie scandal

Quote :

(CNN) – Court papers show the FBI has contacted Chris Christie's former campaign manager as part of a federal probe of a traffic scandal that has upended the New Jersey governor's administration.

Bill Stepien, in arguing why he cannot comply with a subpoena issued by a state legislative committee also investigating the scandal, said federal agents have visited his home and questioned people who know him, according to court papers.

"In recent weeks, federal criminal investigators have made their interest in him plain, traveling to his home and importuning his landlord and presumably others to provide information about his conduct and character," Stepien's lawyer, Kevin Marino, said.

Specifically, the court documents claimed that an agent called Stepien on his cell phone in January, and most recently questioned his landlord.

The FBI asked "if he was married, was a rowdy tenant, did he pay his rent on time," according to the papers.

It's the first indication that federal investigators have actually been on the ground as part of its probe of the Christie administration.

Stepien managed both Christie gubernatorial campaigns, but Christie asked him to leave his political organization in January after his name surfaced in emails around the scandal involving abrupt traffic lane closures near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee last September.

Both federal and legislative investigators are probing suggestions that top Christie appointees orchestrated the lane closures as part of a political scheme to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie for reelection.

Finally some good news for Chris Christie. Sort of.

Quote :

I'm not sure that this really counts as good news, but for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie it must feel like it, at least relatively speaking: In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, more Americans—47 percent—say they would at least consider voting for Christie in 2016, more than any other Republican tested.

The bad news for Christie is obvious: 47 percent does not a majority make. If less than half of voters say they are willing to consider voting for you, you're in a world of hurt. Compare his numbers to Hillary Clinton's: 66 percent of Americans said they would consider voting for her. Still, Christie is in better shape than any other Republican, so if he's looking for something to cling to, that's it.

But that's where the "good" news for Christie ends, because among Republicans, he is the least popular 2016 hopeful. Thirty percent of Republicans say they would definitely not vote for him. The next closest were former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at 24 percent, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, at 21 percent.

Who among Republicans has the most support? The answer may surprise you: 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, with 34 percent saying they would definitely vote for him. But Mitt's not running. Tied for second were former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Huckabee with 15 percent apiece, but with more Republicans saying they would definitely not vote for Huckabee (24 percent) than Bush (18 percent), Bush gets the edge as the most popular potential GOP hopefully not named Mitt Romney, at least among Republicans.

But when you take a look at the country as a whole, the situation is the opposite: Bush is the least popular candidate Republicans could put forward. Forty-four percent say they would consider voting for him—but 48 percent say they definitely would not. That's a net swing of 12 points from Christie's numbers, and encapsulates the GOP's 2016 predicament in a nutshell. Not only is their "best" candidate in bad shape, but their base doesn't want to have anything to do with him, yet welcomes their worst candidate with open arms.

The fat man has been cleared of any wrongdoing by his very own lawyer!!  Move along now..nothing to see here  
Probably not the headlines Chris Christie was hoping for

Quote :

Now that Chris Christie's lawyer has miraculously cleared Chris Christie of any and all wrongdoing in the politically motivated traffic jam in Fort Lee, New Jersey, last September, Bruce Springsteen's best friend must be breathing a major sigh of relief ... right? Not so fast, governor.

Here's just a taste of the headlines from around the web:

Quote :

   Chris Christie cleared of bridge traffic role by attorneys he hired (Los Angeles Times)
   Official Said He Told Christie of Lane Closures: Bridge Scandal Review ... Governor Doesn't Remember Conversation (Wall Street Journal)
   Report: Christie informed of lane closures in September (MSNBC)
   Chris Christie’s Lawyer Says Chris Christie Did Nothing Wrong (Buzzfeed)
   New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's lawyer says governor not involved in traffic jam plot (Associated Press)
   Christie’s Lawyer: Governor Not Involved In ‘Bridgegate’ Plot
   (CBS)
   Christie’s Lawyers Clear Governor, Expand Bridge Scandal Blame (WTMA)
   Christie 'played no role whatsoever' in bridge lane closures, says Christie's investigator (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Probably not the now-let's-move-along-and-elect-me-president headlines Chris was hoping for.

Even more egregious is the slut shaming by Tubby and his lawyerr of Bridget Anne Kelly... Slut-shaming Bridget Kelly: How she ranks among history’s greatest political sluts

Quote :

Thursday night, Rachel Maddow marveled at the $1 million price tag shouldered by New Jersey’s taxpayers for an “investigation” of Governor Chris Christie by a law firm hand-picked by the governor himself. By now you’ve heard the boring stuff — Christie’s lawyers found that he had nothing to do with the George Washington Bridge scandal, yadda, yadda, yadda. But Maddow pointed out that the really juicy stuff to come out of the 344-page report was aimed at two women, neither of whom cooperated with the investigation.

The investigation found that Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer’s claims that she was strong-armed over Hurricane Sandy relief funds were “demonstrably false.” How did the sleuths working for Christie determine that? As Maddow pointed out, the investigative team dug up photos of Zimmer at a public event which took place shortly after she had been reminded by one of Christie’s commissioners that she was expected to “play ball” and support a development deal in return for more relief funds. After being reminded that she was expected to come through on the scummy quid pro quo, Zimmer took part in a taped PBS political panel. And then, photo evidence proved, she yawned.

Imagine that. During a PBS taping.

This, Christie’s crack squad decided, was clear evidence that Zimmer was a lying sack of shit.

“A person does not normally yawn when being threatened, coerced, or spoken to improperly,” the report said.

Maybe it’s just us, but we have a hard time seeing a male politician treated this way.

And that becomes abundantly more clear when you see how the report treated another woman who refused to be interviewed by the investigative team — Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff famous for her August 2013 e-mail that said, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” A month later, access lanes from Fort Lee to the GWB were shut down for four days, leading to gridlock in the town of Biblical proportions.

However, despite all the subpoenas and hearings and barrels of ink spilled over the scandal since then, we’re no closer to finding out why Kelly thought it was a good idea to create such a traffic mess for Fort Lee. Who was being targeted, and on whose behalf?

The report did contain one new solid piece of information which might help answer the first part of that question. The night before she sent that fateful August e-mail, Kelly got confirmation that Fort Lee mayor Mark Sokolich would not be endorsing her boss for re-election. That timing helps bolster what has been from the beginning the prevailing theory for the lane shutdown — it was political payback for Sokolich’s refusal to endorse Christie. But it still doesn’t really tell us why Kelly thought it made sense to punish Sokolich this way when his endorsement meant so little and Christie was just trying to run up the score in an election he had in the bag.

Again, what was Kelly thinking? Now, Christie’s hired guns believe they have the answer: She was a woman scorned.

Repeatedly, in the voluminous report, there are mentions that Kelly briefly dated Bill Stepien, Christie’s former campaign manager, and that the relationship had ended by August, “apparently at Stepien’s choice.” (Kelly and Stepien didn’t talk to Christie’s lawyers, and the report doesn’t say who supplied the investigative team with their information.)

The message is loud and clear from Christie’s hired exonerators: This was all Bridget Kelly’s idea, because she was out of her mind after being dumped.

“This is called ‘slut-shaming’,” Maddow said on her program Thursday night. And she’s absolutely correct.

Chris Christie’s whitewash report exonerates him by slut-shaming the woman who, so far, has not said a word about the scandal and who could, presumably, open up and make things pretty uncomfortable for the governor. On Thurday, ABC’s Diane Sawyer asked Christie if Kelly could ‘blow the report out of the water’ if she opened up.

“Not credibly, no,” he answered.

Well of course not, who’s going to take a slut like Bridget Kelly seriously after the shaming she got from Christie’s hired guns?

The only question that remains is, how does Bridget Kelly stack up against history’s other women slut-shamed for political gain.

Sandra Fluke testified to Congress early in 2012 that a health insurance program like Obamacare should include birth control. For that, Rush Limbaugh labeled her a prostitute and a slut: “She essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.” Limbaugh paid a price for that utterance. His advertised flew like rats from a sinking ship. Fluke, meanwhile, is now running for a state senate seat in California.

Wendy Davis became an overnight sensation when the Texas state senator filibustered a restrictive abortion bill for eleven hours. The bill eventually became law anyway, but Davis is now running for governor based on her new fame. Her stand for women’s rights, however, predictably made her the target of ugly personal attacks: conservative clown Erick Erickson dubbed her “abortion Barbie,” and her personal story — raising two children while finishing grad school and going through a divorce — has been twisted to make her out to be a heartless opportunist.

Anita Hill was called to testify during the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated to the Supreme Court by President George H. W. Bush in 1991. Hill had been interviewed by the FBI about Thomas, and now Congress demanded to hear her testimony: That her boss, Thomas, had sexually harassed her. What the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t hear — thanks in part to its chairman, Joe Biden — was the testimony of four other women who all backed up Hill’s version of events. Instead, Hill had to go through the usual “woman scorned” bullshit as Thomas bellyached about a “high-tech lynching” and was ultimately confirmed.

GOP War on Women is alive and well  

Exclusive: Christie Prosecutor Gets Its Star Witness to Start Talking

Quote :

Bad news for Chris Christie -- and very good news for the citizens of New Jersey: Esquire has learned from sources close to the investigation that David Wildstein, the former Port Authority operative who helped plan and execute the Great Fort Lee Clusterfk, is now cooperating with Paul Fishman, the federal prosecutor investigating the soon-to-be-ex-governor and his minions for criminal conduct. Fishman has also increased the number of investigators at work on the case, and has begun presenting evidence and witnesses to a grand jury in Newark.

Wildstein was forced to quit his PA job in December, before Fort Lee’s corpses bobbed to the surface. Christie, who went to high school with Wildstein and put him at the PA as “director of interstate capital projects” -- a job created just for him -- helped edit the media statement thanking Wildstein “for his service to the people of New Jersey and the region.”

In January, Wildstein refused to testify before a New Jersey legislative committee investigating last September’s George Washington Bridge lane closures, citing his 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination. It was Wildstein’s cache of e-mails and texts, provided to the committee, that featured the instantly immortal exchange between Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly (“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”) and Wildstein (“Got it”).

Christie fired Kelly in early January. Both her lawyer and Wildstein’s have said their clients would cooperate with investigators in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The recently released, 360-page “Christie Report” -- commissioned by Christie, crafted by the same law firm Christie hired to answer investigators’ subpoenas of his own office, touted by Christie as “vindication,” and paid for by New Jersey taxpayers -- found that of all of the folks working in the governor’s, and all the others he appointed to executive positions at the PA, only Wildstein and Kelly had any knowledge that Fort Lee’s nightmare was caused by anything other than an ill-conceived but genuine Port Authority traffic study.

The Christie Report investigators damned both Wildstein and Kelly without speaking with either of them. Unlike Kelly, Wildstein was perfectly positioned at the PA to proffer evidence that could implicate two other Christie henchmen at the Port, both departed -- deputy executive director Bill Baroni, and chairman of the PA’s Board of Commissioners, David Samson. (Quelle coincidence! Neither of those two deigned to speak with the authors of the Christie Report.) The report in its entirety is a steaming pile of crap, a classic Christie smear job, designed to reach the only result that might spare his political life: Christie knew nothing.

Chris Christie’s White House fever dream died at his January press conference, where he spent two hours wallowing in self-pity over how his aides had deceived him. Now that David Wildstein’s talking, his days as governor are numbered -- in weeks and months, not years.

Christie-clearing law firm donated $10K to Christie-led group before releasing Christie-exonerating report

Quote :

Remember that internal investigation Chris Christie commissioned to look into his involvement in the Bridgegate affair?

The one that reportedly cost taxpayers somewhere around $1 million and found Christie to be totally innocent, while placing the blame on former Christie aide Bridget Kelly (and doing so with the use of a few not-so-veiled sexist tropes)?

The one that Christie and his allies promoted zealously and defended tenaciously, insisting that there was no conflict of interest despite the fact that the firm Christie chose — Gibson Dunn & Crutcher — has a close friend of his, Debra Wong Yang, as a partner?

Well, according to a report from the Bergen Record, it turns out that the law firm donated $10,000 to the Christie-chaired Republican Governors Association less than two weeks before the report was released. The firm did not donate to the Democratic Governors Association during the same timeframe, nor during all of 2013 or 2012.

But, again: No conflict of interest to see here. Move along, folks. Move along.

And taxpayers of NJ got the privilege of footing the bill and paying these shills $340.00 an hr for their services  

Exclusive: Prosecutor Is Closing In on Gov. Christie

Quote :

Indictments against four cronies are near certain, sources say. Only question is if David Samson, Christie's longtime mentor, will flip.

Quote :

“It’s over, it’s done, and I’m moving on.” -- Chris Christie, reassuring potential donors in Utah on June 14th

Back on planet Reality, meanwhile, Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, wades through the sewage of Christie’s stewardship. Two sources with intimate knowledge of the case say Fishman’s pace is quickening -- he has empaneled a second grand jury, and the U.S. Justice Department has sent assistant prosecutors and FBI agents to work the case.

“What’s taking the most time,” according to one source, “is separating what's viable from all the bad stuff they’re finding that may not be viable.”

Fishman’s challenge is to nail down specific criminal charges on several fronts -- the diversion of Port Authority money to fund New Jersey road and bridge projects; the four-day rush-hour closures of George Washington Bridge lanes in Ft. Lee; and a web of real-estate deals spun by David Samson, long a Christie crony, when he chaired the PA’s Board of Commissioners as Christie’s appointee. (One such deal, a stalled office-tower development in Hoboken, New Jersey, is central to a claim that Christie’s lieutenant governor told the town’s mayor that the state would withhold Hurricane Sandy relief aid from Hoboken if the mayor didn’t sign off on the development project.)

Whatever Christie says or does -- and whatever potential donors or Jimmy Fallon and his viewers think -- the question that truly matters is whether Fishman’s pursuit leads to the governor himself. Christie’s Port appointees -- not only Samson, but former PA Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni and his oddball sidekick David Wildstein -- all face near-certain indictment and are being pressed to hand up Christie, as is the governor’s former chief counsel, Charlie McKenna.

Wildstein, portrayed as the mastermind behind Ft. Lee’s traffic problems, has made proffers to Fishman’s investigators -- hoping to trade information to the prosecutor in exchange for gentler legal treatment -- but Fishman has cut no deals with anyone so far, and the looming indictments have encouraged Christie’s PA appointees to sing.

Quote :

“Don’t underestimate what Wildstein has on Christie,” says one source. “And Wildstein and Baroni have both turned on Samson. If Samson doesn't give Fishman Christie, Samson is toast.”

Federal charges in the bridge closures potentially include both intentional interference in interstate commerce and -- in the cover-up that ensued -- obstruction of justice. The use of Port Authority money, raised by issuing bonds, to pay for non-PA projects will likely result in charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit same; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating on this front, along with the Manhattan District Attorney, who’s seeking evidence to support state charges of falsifying business records and official misconduct. Charges derived from David Samson’s numerous conflicts of interest while serving as a PA official could, in Hoboken’s case, include federal charges of extortion under the Hobbs Act, and New York state charges of official misconduct and corruption.

The clearest, quickest road to Christie, both sources agree, runs through David Samson, a former Attorney General of New Jersey who’s 74 years old and reportedly suffers from Parkinson’s disease. So: Will Samson flip?

Quote :

“They’ve got him cold,” says one source. “He got sloppy, arrogant, and greedy. Samson will want a deal. This way, he’d get one or two years. He’d have a future on the other side. He won’t want to die in jail.”

Fishman’s timetable is unclear -- he has yet to send out target letters even to the lower-hanging fruit: Wildstein and Baroni, and Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien, Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff and his former campaign manager, each deeply implicated in the Fort Lee/GWB debacle. One source expects Fishman to return some indictments as soon as next month. Both sources say that all of those four certainly will be indicted -- and both further note that Fishman, an Obama appointee, hopes to see the entire matter resolved before this President’s term expires. “But Fishman is really focused on Christie,” says one source. “Ultimately, he believes he'll get to the governor.

Big-ticket donors are gamblers; in politics, there are no certainties. The safest bet that is obvious: there’s no future for Chris Christie in the White House. The Big House is a safer bet, by far.

A second grand jury being empaneled? I can't wait to find out what other schemes they're uncovering.

AP sources: Christie facing 2nd bridge probe

Quote :

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Already embroiled in a criminal probe over lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, Gov. Chris Christie's administration is facing an investigation over a second bridge.

The Manhattan district attorney's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether $1.8 billion in funding to repair the Pulaski Skyway and related projects was misrepresented in bond documents by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a person familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity.

And a government official with direct knowledge said the Manhattan district attorney's office is investigating.

Besides federal laws and regulations, New York state has its own securities law, called the Martin Act. It allows for criminal charges for making false statements when selling bonds and some other financial instruments; the charges can be felonies. The law also allows authorities to bring civil suits.

In an emailed statement, the Port Authority said the agreement for the bridge project "was analyzed and negotiated by lawyers on all sides" and the bond disclosures were reviewed by a law firm that has served as underwriters' counsel for the Port Authority for 25 years.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. declined to comment Tuesday. Spokespeople for Christie and the SEC also declined to comment. The New York Times first reported the investigation.

Kiss your future goodbye,Tubby ...
Chris Christie Knew About Bridge Lane Closings as They Happened, Prosecutors Say

Quote :

NEWARK — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey knew that his close associates were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, prosecutors said on Monday.

It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded.
Photo
Gov. Chris Christie Credit Mel Evans/Associated Press

The prosecutors made the assertion during opening statements in the trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with closing the lanes in 2013 and then covering it up.

Mr. Christie has insisted that he had no knowledge of the plot to close the lanes, and said that he did not recall being told about the closings while they were happening.

Defense lawyers have also said that Mr. Christie knew. But the statement on Monday was striking in that it was prosecutors confirming that assertion.

HaHaHa...
Mortal Again: Christie Blocked at VIP Entrance to Newark Airport

Quote :

   Police officer sends him to Terminal B with rest of nobodies
   Three days out of office and Port Authority ends prized perk

The two-term Republican, who left office on Jan. 16, was blocked from a VIP entrance he had used for eight years, and directed to stand in Transportation Security Administration screening lines at Terminal B like anyone else, according to a person familiar with the incident.

The order came from police for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about security matters. The Port Authority also operates the George Washington Bridge, the target of a plot by Christie aides and allies to tie up traffic for political punishment in 2013.

Christie, and the state trooper who accompanied him for his security detail, complied with the instructions, the person said.

If looks could kill Karma Anyone?