Showing posts with label #Christiegate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Christiegate. Show all posts

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Bridgegate: Christie Cronies Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein Indicted

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Previous Related Posts:
Christie Talks, Bridget Strikes Back, Samson Quits, Wildstein Still an Outcast
Christie's Bridgegate Report - Time for some Slut-Shaming in New Jersey
Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein
Chris Christie and the #BridgeGate #BridgeGhazi #BridgeNado
Chris Christie Explains But Holes Remain
David Wildstein Implicates Chris Christie in Bridgegate Scandal
Christie's Well-Named Minion Bridget Kelly


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Federal prosecutors have indicted three of Chris Christie's cronies in the Bridgegate scandal: David Wildstein and Bill Baroni who were appointed by Christie to the Port Authority, and Bridget Ann Kelly, one of Christie's underlings in the Governor's office.

Wildstein is cooperating with Federal Prosecutors and is not expected to serve a long sentence in exchange for information. Baroni and Kelly are still holding out that they didn't conspire with Wildstein or Christie himself to close the George Washington Bridge on the first day of school in September in order to punish mayor of Fort Lee, NJ (a Democrat) for refusing to back Governor Christie in his election.

Originally, the trio and others in the Governor's inner circle swore that there was a "traffic study" to blame for the lane closures, but that was a bogus claim. On the first day of the closure, Kelly herself wrote to Wildstein in a now-infamous email which stated "Time for a few traffic problems in Fort Lee." Traffic was so snarled that some first responders and emergency vehicles were delayed in getting to places where people needed help. It is speculated that Federal Prosecutors are are involved because the Port Authority is shared by New York City, and blocking such a major thoroughfare in or out of New York is considered a danger to Homeland Security.

View David Wildstein's Plea Agreement Here
 View Baroni-Kelly Indictment Here via NYTimes

From NewJersey.com
In emails previously made public, Kelly appeared to give the go-ahead for the lane closures on Aug. 13, 2013, when she wrote: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” and Wildstein replied, “Got it.” Later emails showed what appeared to be an indifference to the plight of borough children stuck in the massive traffic jam on their way to school.
. . . “Is it wrong that I’m smiling,” Kelly wrote, later adding that “I feel badly about the kids. … I guess.” Wildstein responded dismissively that “they are the children of Buono voters.” After Sokolich sent a text message to Baroni complaining that children were late getting to school, Kelly emailed Wildstein: “Bottom line is he didn’t say safety.”
. . . Prosecutors said the plan wasn’t put into effect until Sept. 9, the first day of school, to “intensify Mayor Sokolich’s punishment,” and that the idea to push it back came from Baroni, who had “recommended against implementing the plan in August when travel was traditionally lighter and the punitive impact would be lessened.”

This week Bridget Kelly made a public statement pleading innocence:



From NewJersey.com
"I am not guilty of the crimes for which I have been accused," Kelly said during a press conference with her attorney, Michael Critchley, after prosecutors unsealed a federal indictment. . . . "David Wildstein is a liar," Kelly said.

Baroni did not speak, but his attorney made a statement also labeling Wildstein a "Liar" who led his client astray with false "traffic study" documents:

NJ.com
. . . one of Baroni's attorneys, Michael Baldassare, asserted that Wildstein provided him with scores of documents that "would lead anyone to believe" that a legitimate traffic study was being conducted.
"No one disputes that David Wildstein is a criminal and a liar," Baldessare said during a news conference Friday afternoon outside the courthouse. "If David Wildstein was willing to repeatedly lie to settle a petty political grudge, no one should be surprised at his eagerness to concoct any story he thinks will help him stay out of federal prison."
























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Saturday, March 29, 2014

#Bridgegate News: Christie Talks, Bridget Strikes Back, Samson Quits, Wildstein Still an Outcast

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Chris Christie held a lengthy presser today, showing some of his old arrogance with the media, before flying off to Las Vegas to meet with Sheldon Adelson, one of Mitt Romney's top donors in 2012. Because yeah, somehow Christie thinks he can slough off this controversy and run for President in 2016 now that his own lawyers have attempted to clear him. Good luck with that.
At the same time, his crony at the Port Authority, David Samson, resigned his cushy job, possibly because he is under a Federal Investigation for all the sweetheart deals he got for clients of his private law firm. And maligned mother-of-four Bridget Kelly came out swinging through her attorney after the Bridgegate Report called her "too emotional" and referred to her private life as a cause of the George Washington Bridge Closure. Big day in New Jersey for sure!

Previous Related Posts:
Christie #Bridgegate Report: Time for Some Slut-Shaming in New Jersey
Christie's Well-Named Minion Bridget Kelly
Port Authority Under Scrutiny in #Bridgegate
Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein
Monday Morning Joe Quarterbacking for Christie

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Late today in a Trenton conference room, Chris Christie re-entered the media arena. In his version of "Facing the Lions" the only things missing as he intimidated and taunted the members of the press corps were a chair and a whip. All the rest was on display as he poked and derided the Capitol reporters invited to ask him about his million-dollar defense report he used to day as both shield and weapon. Unfortunately he may not have gotten all that the taxpayers of New Jersey paid for.
~ Chris Matthews on Hardball

He said having David Wildstein at the Port Authority “was a mistake. Let’s leave it at that.” Wildstein is suspected of being a key player in the lane closures. He also denied again that he and Wildstein were friends from high school. Christie appointed Wildstein to the post, though, and the governor’s office praised Wildstein’s skills at the time he took the job.
. . . "What you get with me is what you get. I cannot shed who I am," Christie, a former prosecutor, says, explaining why he didn't question former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly before he fired her.
. . . It took just eight minutes for Christie to snap at a reporter and warned him to “cut the commentary.”
~ MyCentralJersey.com

Christie at one point referred in the Friday press conference to his aides, who were fired or resigned, but he might be talking about himself when he said:
“People need to understand that if you participate in this kind of conduct, you will not be permitted to hold the public trust, and the authority that goes along with a senior position in this government that comes with it.”
~ NY Daily News



















Ahead of a trip out West laced with 2016 implications, Christie made a great, heave-ho attempt this week to push past the political nightmare known as “Bridgegate.” He is due to speak at a Republican Jewish Coalition event this weekend in Las Vegas, followed by Republican Governors Association fundraising retreat in Park City, Utah.
. . . The former federal prosecutor even reiterated, at some length, that he will decide whether or not to run for president independently of this whole unpleasant saga. Christie said he didn’t think the George Washington Bridge fiasco would weigh heavily on how voters consider “my candidacy, if there even is one.”
~ Politico

“There’s no baggage here because I didn’t do anything,” the Republican governor told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on “The Kelly File” when asked whether the scandal would hinder a presidential run.
Asked whether Bridget Kelly would back up the governor’s story under oath, Christie said: “I have no idea, but all I can tell you is it's the truth.”
Christie pledged that no emails or phone records or taped calls will emerge showing he knew about this, “because I didn’t.”
~ Fox News

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The lawyer for Bridget Anne Kelly fired back today against allegations that largely blamed her for the George Washington Bridge lane closings, blasting a $1 million report commissioned by Gov. Chris Christie’s office as containing “venomous, gratuitous, and inappropriate sexist remarks.”
Michael Critchley, Kelly’s lawyer, said in a statement, “The report's venomous, gratuitous, and inappropriate sexist remarks concerning Ms. Kelly have no place in what is alleged to be a professional and independent report.”
. . . Calling the report “a preemptive strike” meant to “isolate Ms. Kelly and impugn her credibility,” Critchley said, “Ms. Kelly is not a liar. She is a single mother of four children who was deeply devoted and committed to her job at the Office of the Governor. She worked tirelessly to pursue the goals of the Office during her tenure.”
~ NJ.com













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Governor Christie's Crooked Pals' Club Band



Gov. Chris Christie announced today that David Samson, whose chairmanship of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has come under fire in recent months, has resigned.
In a statement released today, Samson said: "Over the past months, I have shared with the Governor my desire to conclude my service to the PANYNJ. The timing is now right, and I am confident that the Governor will put new leadership in place to address the many challenges ahead."
Christie said that "in line with that belief, David tendered his resignation to me this afternoon effective immediately."
~ NJ.com

Asked why Mr. Samson was leaving, Mr. Christie cited his age. "He's tired," said the governor, who thanked Mr. Samson, an ally he has defended as the scandal unfolded.
Mr. Samson is the fifth Christie ally to depart the governor's circle since the scandal over lane closures escalated in January. Mr. Christie also fired his deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and cut ties to his former campaign manager, Bill Stepien, whose roles in the closures are scrutinized in the report. David Wildstein, the Port Authority official who engineered the closures, and another top Christie appointee there, Bill Baroni, have also resigned.
. . . With Mr. Samson resigning, Mr. Christie turned to the Gibson Dunn report's call for changes at the Port Authority, and suggested he would even support dismantling its operations, a drastic step that would represent a sea change in New York and New Jersey government.
~ Wall Street Journal

Samson is also connected to the controversy that flared in the wake of the "bridgegate" scandal, involving distribution of hurricane Sandy relief funds. Dawn Zimmer, the mayor of the New Jersey city of Hoboken, alleged in January that the Christie administration leaned heavily on her to pave the way for a lucrative development project by the Rockefeller Group, which was represented by Wolf and Samson.
Samson is not accused of directly intervening in the affair. But Zimmer claimed other Christie officials quietly warned her that Hoboken would be starved of aid money unless she got behind the development project backed by Samson's law firm.
~ The Guardian

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Thursday, February 20, 2014

Port Authority Under Scrutiny in #Bridgegate



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New York/New Jersey Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye is one of the few heroes emerging from the #Bridgegate scandal. He's the guy who got fed up with excuses coming from the Christie Administration and did the right thing for by opening up the three closed lanes leading to Fort Lee on the George Washington Bridge. Yesterday was the first time the Port Authority has met for a public meeting since all of this hit the fan.

Previous Related Posts:
New Christie Cronies Chip and Jeff
David Wildstein Implicates Christie in Bridgegate Scandal
Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein
Chris Christie Has Tumultuous Super Bowl Weekend

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From the Press Conference with the Port Authority Executive Director

Pat Foye: I believe I took the right action when I learned about the lane closures, promptly opened them. I stand by my email and my decision. I believed then and I believe now - and given the multiplicity of law enforcement investigations underway there's some question - that there was a question of violations of federal and state law.

Question: Has the Chairman (of the Port Authority, David Samson) ever apologized to you for his emails or whatever attacking you?

Foye: The answer is no, don't expect one.

~~~

About that "special" job created by Chris Christie just for David Wildstein, which has now been eliminated by the Port Authority:


Steve Kornacki: The title that David Wildstein had created for him - Director of Interstate Capital Projects - what was your understand of what his job was? And now apparently that role isn't going to exist in the future, so functionally how will the Port continue without a Director of Interstate Capital Projects?

Pat Foye: Well, look - the decision to eliminate the position was a joint one....we made that decision. I think it was the right one. The absence of someone in that position, whether David Wildstein or someone else, will have zero, nada effect on the Port Authority.

Kornacki: What was his (Wildstein's) job, since there was no formal job description that we have been able to find? What in your understanding did you think his job at the Port Authority was?

Pat Foye: I understood he was primarily interested in politics. Next . . . 





On behalf of the board of commissioners, we are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused to our travelers.
. . . Recently, there have been many comments and concerns about how the Port Authority operates. I cannot allow this agency to be mischaracterized by the actions of a few individuals when the day-to-day work of so many, including this board, is so important.
. . . While I would like to comment more specifically about some of the outstanding issues, I recognize there are established efforts to examine the events that occurred. I defer to these procedures and I trust when the facts unfold, and they will unfold, the public will have a complete picture.
~ Port Authority Chairman, David Samson, via the Star-Ledger

While Samson's law firm worked for NJ Transit, he cast a vote authorizing the Port Authority to lease a park-and-ride lot in North Bergen to the transportation agency for $1 a year, the report said.
. . . Before the 49-year lease was approved, NJ Transit paid the Port Authority $900,000 a year for the Hudson County lot. Commuters pay $9.50 per day for a parking space and a round-trip bus ticket to the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan.
NJ Transit paid Wolf & Samson as much as $1.5 million to "advise" it how to generate additional revenue from its parking facilities, the Record reported.
~ From NJ.com

Over the years, the Port Authority has often served as a political candy jar, providing patronage jobs for political allies. Mr. Christie has been particularly skillful at doling out well-paid jobs at the authority to his supporters. By most counts, there are at least 50 agency employees who owe their jobs to the New Jersey governor.
The traffic scandal that has resulted in numerous investigations and two resignations of Christie appointees is just the latest example of how governance of the Port Authority is tainted by personal politics. And because two states share executive control, and thus responsibility, there is no meaningful oversight.
~ New York Times Editorial

(State Attorney Philip) Kwon, it has been reported, spent four or five days counseling one of Bridgegate’s chief players, Bill Baroni, the Port Authority’s deputy executive director, when Baroni was preparing to testify before a New Jersey state legislative committee investigating the lane-closing affair last November. That’s important because Baroni, a close ally of Christie’s, told the legislators that the closings were due to a “traffic study” being conducted by the Port Authority, which manages the bridge. But if there was no traffic study—and by now it’s widely known that there wasn’t any such thing—then what did Kwon tell Baroni to say? Did he counsel him to lie? Was he unaware that there was no study underway?
~ From "Christie Watch" on The Nation
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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

New Christie Cronies Chip and Jeff

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Previous Related Posts:
Christie's Well-Named Minion Bridget Kelly
Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein
Chris Christie Has Tumultuous Super Bowl Weekend
David Wildstein Implicates Christie in #Bridgegate Scandal

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So now more cronies have emerged in the never-ending Bridgegate Brouhaha. A high school buddy of Governor Christie was the policeman who helped Port Authority insider David Wildstein tour the bridge after the lanes were closed. And that same cop just happens to be the brother of a wealthy Republican donor who supported Christie's election campaigns. Also there are reports that it was the Port Authority Police who told angry drivers to call the mayor of Fort Lee and complain, as though it was part of a rehearsed plot.

Via Dartagnan on Daily Kos
The "Port Authority Police Officer," Lietenant Thomas "Chip" Michaels, was Christie's childhood buddy, coach of Christie's son's Little League hockey team and his brother Jeff Michaels is (or was) a top Christie donor and one of the most powerful Republicans in the state. Jeff Michaels purportedly delivered the news to Christie that he had won the election of 2009.
Essentially the guy was assigned to monitor the bridge, texting Wildstein at the Port Authority over and over, apparently about how "the plan" was going. According to MSNBC, he took Wildstein for a drive around the area so Wildstein could see for himself.

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From Steve Kornacki on MSNBC
On Sunday, MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki reported that a Port Authority police officer with long-time ties to Gov. Christie drove and exchanged text messages with one of the political appointees, David Wildstein, as he was overseeing the traffic snarl last September. Port Authority police Lt. Thomas “Chip” Michaels grew up with Christie in Livingston, N.J., and in recent years coached one of the governor’s children in youth hockey. Michaels is posted to the PAPD’s George Washington Bridge command. Michaels’ brother, Jeffrey, is a powerful Republican lobbyist in Trenton who was a high-level adviser to Christie’s successful 2009 campaign.

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Port Authority executive director Pat Foye, appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ordered the latest investigation after learning of the connection between Michaels and Christie. Foye was also concerned by a Bergen Record report Sunday on comments Port Authority police officers made to those stuck in the traffic jams. Multiple commuters recalled being told to call Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich to complain, something Sokolich wrote about in a September 12 letter to then-deputy director Bill Baroni, another Christie appointee who has since resigned.

The Governor has never had any conversations with either Jeff or Chip Michaels on this topic.
~ Email from Chris Christie's Office to MSNBC












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Monday, February 3, 2014

Monday Morning Joe Quarterbacking for Christie as Subpoenas Come Due

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Previous Related Posts:
Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein
David Wildstein Implicates Christie in #Bridgegate
Chris Christie has Tumultuous Super Bowl Weekend

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Today the New Jersey Legislative Committee is expecting an influx of documents from the subpoenas of Christie's minions. But they probably won't release anything right away.

From New Jersey Star-Ledger
State Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who co-chairs the committee with state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), said Saturday that the delivery of documents is likely to be a drawn-out process because nearly all of those targeted have asked for extensions.
"We have instructed counsel to make reasonable accommodations where appropriate," he said. "Some want a few extra days. Some want to deliver them on a rolling basis."
Once in hand, the documents will be cataloged by the Office of Legislative Services and checked for completeness, Weinberg said. They are not expected to be made public until the people who supplied the records testify before the committee.

Because of the "Abuse of Power" investigation, the Christie gang is in need of legal funds, and sent out a plea to use their campaign war chest to bail themselves out:

From NJ.com
Gov. Chris Christie's re-election campaign is seeking permission to use the remaining funds -- as well as raise additional money -- to pay the legal bills arising from its cooperation with the state and federal investigations into the controversial George Washington Bridge lane closures in Fort Lee.
Without approval from the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Christie for Governor campaign will run out of money and be unable to comply with subpoenas to turn over documents sought by the U.S. Attorney and the joint legislative panel investigating the matter, according to a letter Thursday from the campaign's attorney, Mark Sheridan.



From Huffington Post:
Christina Genovese Renna left the governor's office Friday, the same day former Christie loyalist David Wildstein claimed to have evidence contradicting the governor's account of a lane closing operation, apparently to create traffic chaos as a political vendetta.
Renna reported to Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly, who apparently set the lane closings in motion with an email to Wildstein.


I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to bathe in the tears of Joe Scarborough.
~ Sam Seder




On Monday's Morning Joe, most of the crew tried to bolster Christie. In the first segment, first Mike Barnacle then Joe Scarborough blamed the "Not Ready for Prime Time" staff for writing the Friday memo, apparently forgetting that many of them have resigned or were fired by Christie himself. Later Mika, Joe, and Nicole Wallace say that Christie never said he "didn't know" about the lane closures, when we have video of the two-hour presser at which Christie denied knowledge over and over until "after the fact." So really, Morning Joe brings up an interesting question - how could Christie NOT know the lanes were closed if he drove anywhere? Luckily there were journalists on the show who explained the actual facts to the Morning Joe crowd.

~~~

It's going to be what we in the news business call the "Drip Treatment." And it's going to be there every day, and extended into a period of weeks and into months. And his response over the weekend, if that is his staff at their best work, then he's done nationally.
~ Mike Barnacle

Let's speak the uncomfortable truth that he didn't have people around him who were ready for Prime Time before this happened, obviously. Why is it that he still has people around him that would let something like that go out? And office like that with a boss that people still don't have control over. Why doesn't he bring in a national Republican figure or somebody solid that can tell the kids to just sit in the back when they want to talk about social studies teachers.
. . . The Christie people are saying that Chris Christie knew, while the lanes were closed, that the lanes were closed. Of course. How could you not know that lanes were closed while the lanes were closed, when anybody that was driving, like myself, from New York to — in my case, Connecticut, or people going from New Jersey to New York or Connecticut, it’s impossible not to know while the lanes were closed that the lanes were closed.
~ Joe Scarborough

I was speaking to a source that knows the close internal workings of the Port Authority over the weekend and they describe Wildstein as the Governor's 'operative' at the Port Authority and also said that Wildstein wouldn't be shopping for immunity if he didn't have something . . . that's disparaging to the Governor.
The issues with the Chris Christie Press Conference, which he gave for two hours and everybody thought he did a great job, which he did, but all those statements might come back to haunt him now. Especially if Wildstein has an ax to grind, or Bridget Kelly has an ax to grind. The woman who left on Friday, Christina Renna, is also the one who reported directly to Bridget Kelly; there's an email going on with them where Mayor Sokolich (of Fort Lee) actually called in and Renna sent an email on to Bridget Kelly telling her the fact that the Mayor called. So there's a lot more to come.
~ Thomas Roberts on Morning Joe

A lot of Republicans, especially those sympathetic to Gov. Christie and those among us who want to allow him a presumption of innocence feel like Friday night's story may have been overblown.
~ Nicole Wallace on Morning Joe




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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Christie Faces Bad Karma for Dissing Wildstein

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Previous Related Posts:
David Wildstein Implicates Christie in #Bridgegate
Chris Christie has Tumultuous Super Bowl Weekend

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Well, let me just clear something up, OK, about my childhood friend David Wildstein. It is true that I met David in 1977 in high school. He's a year older than me. David and I were not friends in high school. We were not even acquaintances in high school. I mean, I had a high school in Livingston, a three-year high school that had 1,800 students in a three-year high school in the late '70s, early 1980. I knew who David Wildstein was. I met David on the Tom Kean for governor campaign in 1977. He was a youth volunteer, and so was I. Really, after that time, I completely lost touch with David.
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…We went 23 years without seeing each other. And in the years we did see each other, we passed in the hallways.
~ Governer Chris Christie of New Jersey at his Press Conference on January, speaking of David Wildstein, his personal appointee for job at the Port Authority

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From a Memo released by the Christie Administration Saturday evening, Feb 1, to counter an email sent by David Wildstein on Friday, Jan. 31 read Previous Post Here

As he has said repeatedly, Governor Christie had no involvement, knowledge or understanding of the
real motives behind David Wildstein's scheme to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge
. . . In David Wildstein's past, people and newspaper accounts have described him as "tumultuous" and someone who "made moves that were not productive."
• As a 16-year-old kid he sued over a local school board election.
• He was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior.
• He had a controversial tenure as Mayor of Livingston
• He was an anonymous blogger known as Wally Edge
• He had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people's names without telling them
. . . David Wildstein has been publicly asking for immunity since the begin
ning, been held in contempt by the New Jersey legislature for refusing to testify, failed to provide this so-called "evidence" when he was first subpoenaed by the NJ Legislature and is looking for the Port Authority to pay his legal bills.
. . . Bottom line David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein

From Philly.com
Before his Port Authority post, Wildstein was known to many as Wally Edge, a pseudonym nod to former New Jersey Gov. Walter Edge. Wildstein used the name as editor of politickerNJ, an insider website. Wildstein's identity was revealed when he took the helm of the Port Authority in 2010.
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R., Morris) described Wildstein - whom he knew only by the pseudonym - as having "just a spectacular grasp of New Jersey political history."
In an interview this week, Carroll, who had himself been accused of being Wally Edge, said the two would correspond via AOL Instant Messenger.
"He would be up at 2 o'clock in the morning asking political trivia questions you couldn't even Google, they were that extreme," Carroll said. "He should have been writing for Boardwalk Empire," the HBO show about Atlantic City crime and politics.

Chris Christie said he barely knew David Wildstein. That was untrue. He said he hadn’t seen Mr. Wildstein in a long time. That was untrue. He’s repeatedly said that he had no knowledge of the lane closures. Today’s revelations raise serious questions about whether that is true.
~ Mo Elleithee, Spokesman for the Democratic National Committee

He was like a Christie groupie. He was like a teenager where the sun rises and sets on a rock band or something. He was admiring of the guy. To then be pushed to the side…
I bet every one of those words was a stab directly in the heart
~ Anonymous Port Authority Official, quoted by Daily Beast

What if Wildstein is sitting on some goods? Is he going to be happy being dismissed as too geeky for Christie to waste his time on back in high school?
. . . Depending on what Wildstein has, and on whom, he might set off a domino-effect of people flipping, and then who knows. But so far we don't know what his evidence is.
And even if this goes no further, it still damages Christie, fairly or not. Most people already think he's lying, and this popping up on their cable news channels over the weekend of his state's first Super Bowl is just going to pour salt on that wound. And undoubtedly there's more to come. The nerd is striking back.
Michael Tomasky from "Revenge of the Nerd" on Daily Beast

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Kent Dorfmann meets Greg Marmalard, Class President

The relationship with Christie is much more complicated than people understand. The line that Christie had at the presser on the 9th - "I was a scholar-athlete - I didn't mix with David Wildstein" - they weren't buddies, so it's true they weren't best friends. They knew each other, but they're two very different types of personalities.
David Wildstein is a details guy, and doing something that gratuitously insulted him at that press conference was a mistake. A big strategic mistake.
Christie's taking the Greg Marmalard 'scholar-athlete' thing and saying 'I would never hang out with Delta House."
~ Brian Murphy on Up with Steve Kornackie, referring to the movie "Animal House"



I worked for Wally Edge. I discussed it yesterday morning on MSNBC.
I enjoyed working for him. He was a fiercely loyal editor and advocate, and a very skilled observer of all things political. It is true I did not know at the time that Wally Edge was David Wildstein, but I took the job as a professional journalist, with a sense of the ethical obligations I had to sources and readers.
. . . He knew things. He had good sources. He was at least as fair as most other editors I’d worked with. He pushed back against people who gave me a hard time. He put me in a job where I was a daily reporter in one of the most politically cutthroat states in the federal union, and he helped me make it my own while I was there. And he never lied to me. So, yes, I liked Wally Edge. And it’s disappointing to me that we are where we are today.
But you know who else liked Wally Edge back then?
Chris Christie. The same man who earlier today denounced Wildstein for being an “anonymous blogger.”
~ Brian Murphy on Talking Points Memo



Of all the arrows fired at Gov. Chris Christie over the years, the one that inflicted the deepest wound came not from a rival, but from an ally.
David Wildstein, by all accounts, was thrilled to be part of the governor’s inner circle. He was known as a loyal member of the palace guard, the governor’s eyes and ears at the Port Authority, a buddy of Christie’s since their high school days.
. . . His reward for that loyal service? He was forced to resign from his job in disgrace.
And then the governor, for no good reasons, belittled Wildstein at a press conference when asked about their friendship in high school.
. . . Wildstein was not seeking money with this letter, and he was not flirting with prosecutors.
He was after Christie. And that explains the timing as well. With the nation’s eyes on New Jersey for the Super Bowl, Christie finds himself running from reporters, and waving away photographers. If you think that’s a coincidence, you haven’t been following Jersey politics for long.
~ Tim Moran, New Jersey Star-Ledger

That's right, folks. Christie's office is seeking to discredit Wildstein using evidence ... from high school.
Regardless of whether you think that's below the belt -- and several folks on the Sunday shows seemed to think it was -- it's definitely bare-knuckle politics.
Now, Wildstein was never going to be Christie's ally in this whole matter. Everyone involved is in self-preservation mode, and for Wildstein, providing information about Christie could potentially help him personally -- something Christie's office noted Saturday.
But in these kinds of situations, there's a difference between throwing someone under a bus and running them over with that same bus based on information from high school.
In Wildstein, Christie's take-no-prisoners style has created a bitter enemy who now has an extra incentive to take him down.
~ Aaron Blake, Washington Post









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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Chris Christie has a Tumultuous Super Bowl Weekend - Updated

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, for Chris Christie. New Jersey is hosting the Super Bowl, so the Governor is in demand to rub elbows with the rich and famous. On the other hand - his staff, campaign manager, and ex-best friends are under subpoenas that are due to the Legislature on Monday. Have a nice weekend, Gov.


Oh, the humanity. Today was meant to be Chris Christie’s Super Bowl party, literally. Instead, the Hindenburg, engulfed by flames, is crashing right before our eyes.
~ Scott Raab on Esquire

Friday, January 31, 2014,

After a scathing New York Times article appeared about Bridgegate and Christie was implicated by his old pal David Wildstein, the Governor appeared at an event for radio personality Howard Stern's birthday. He schmoozed and left early without answering questions from reporters.







Saturday February 1, 2014



Governor Christie was booed and heckled by New Yorkers on Saturday.









“You made it across the bridge?” howled one heckler as the problem-plagued Christie — in a navy Windbreaker and black scarf — sat impassively on the stage at Broadway and W. 43rd St.
~ New York Daily News

Super Bowl week was supposed to be another victory lap for Christie on his road to the White House. Instead it has turned into public booing and blink, and you’ll miss him public appearances. Christie’s approval ratings have plummeted both nationally and in New Jersey. The governor is now trailing Hillary Clinton by 12 points in the hypothetical head to head 2016 matchup.
~ From Politicus USA



Also on Saturday, February 1, 2014:

Christie's Office released an email about David Wildstein and the New York Times article that implied knowledge of the George Washington Bridge closure.
Read it Here: 5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell That's Not A Bombshell


















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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Mayor Zimmer Dishes to the Feds - Christie Camp Denies Allegations

photo Cranky-Christie.jpg

Previous Related Posts
Christie Strikes Back at MSNBC on Hoboken Story
Hoboken Mayor Throws Christie Down on UP with Steve Kornacki MSNBC
GOP Spin on Christie - Bad Bromance and Benghazi
Christie Tries to Deflect and Dissemble on #BridgeGate
Christie's Well-Named Minion, Bridget Kelly
Christie Bridge-Splains But Holes Remain
Chris Christie and the #BridgeGate #BridgeGhazi #BridgeNado

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From Yahoo News Interview "Christie Speaks" with Matt Bai
. . . He described his state of mind, after hearing about the incriminating emails from one of his closest aides, as “completely disorienting, like I got hit across the forehead with a two-by-four.”

. . . Christie went out of his way several times to assure me he was not angry and was not an angry person, even though I hadn’t suggested he was. “It doesn’t mean I don’t get angry – everybody gets angry,” he said. “But they confuse sometimes, if you’re blunt and you’re direct and you just say things the way you see them, that that’s anger. More times than not, it’s not anger with me. It’s just my personality.

“So I’m going to learn from this,” he went on. “I can’t tell you yet what it is I’m going to learn. But I am intent on learning from this.”

. . . “I don’t think anybody knows what it feels like to have the kind of attention that I’ve had in the last nine days until you go through it,” he said near the end of our interview, sounding spent. “It’s awful. Listen, it’s awful. I can explain to you as vividly as you like, but you won’t get it.

“I’m trying to get my arms around an awful situation,” he sighed, “and understand it, and then address it, and then resolve it.

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Clearly this is a very, very well orchestrated Democratic kind of onslaught. Kind of an organizational effort to try to hurt Governor Christie.
~ Ex-NY Mayor and Republican Rudy Giuliani

I'll tell you what it gives me concern about, that the news media is willing to leap at any farfetched story with the basis in fact is unbelievable. This is a lady mayor who asked for $127 million of hazard mitigation money from the governor to give that to her from the federal money. When the state was only receiving in its entirety $300 million.
~ Republican Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi

This afternoon I met with the U.S. Attorney’s office for several hours at their request and provided them with my journal and other documents. As they pursue this investigation, I will provide any requested information and testify under oath about the facts of what happened when the Lieutenant Governor came to Hoboken and told me that Sandy aid would be contingent on moving forward with a private development project.
~ A statement from Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken, who says the Christie Administration withheld Sandy relief money unless she went along with a land deal

Mayor Zimmer's version of our conversation in May of 2013 is not only false but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. Any suggestion that Sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in New Jersey is completely false.
. . . I proudly support and I will continue to support the creation of jobs in Hoboken and all of New Jersey. I deny any suggestion made by Mayor Zimmer that there was ever any condition on the release of Sandy funds by me.
~ Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno

It wasn't 'illogical' at all. It's actualy a progression leading up to something where they wanted to send me a very direct message because they felt like I wasn't getting the message clearly enough so she was sent in.
~ Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer
























List of Subpoenas Via NewJersey.com

• Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director, Port Authority

• Maria Comella, communications director, governor's office

• Philippe Danielides, senior adviser to chairman, Port Authority

• Michael Drewniak, spokesman, governor's office

• Nicole Davidman, GOP fundraiser and Michael Drewniak's wife

• Regina Egea, Christie's incoming chief of staff

• Christina Genovese, director of departmental relations, governor's office

• Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff

• Cristina Lado, director for government and community affairs, Port Authority

• Charles McKenna, former chief counsel to the governor

• Matt Mowers, a former aide to Christie

• Paul Nunziato, police officer and PBA president, Port Authority

• Kevin O'Dowd, Christie's pick to serve as the state's new Attorney General

• Colin Reed, spokesman, governor's office

• Evan J. Ridley, aide, governor's office

• David Samson, chairman, Port Authority

• Bill Stepien, former Christie campaign manager

• David Wildstein, former director of interstate special projects, Port Authority

• Office of the Governor

• Chris Christie for Governor, Inc. (Christie's re-election campaign)

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Saturday, January 18, 2014

Christie Strikes Back at MSNBC Hoboken Story ~ #Floodgate Update

photo BeMQDVbCUAAPSsc.jpg

Previous Related Posts
Hoboken Mayor Throws Christie Down on UP with Steve Kornacki MSNBC
GOP Spin on Christie - Bad Bromance and Benghazi
Christie Tries to Deflect and Dissemble on #BridgeGate
Christie's Well-Named Minion, Bridget Kelly
Christie Bridge-Splains But Holes Remain
Chris Christie and the #BridgeGate #BridgeGhazi #BridgeNado

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Governor Chris Christie isn't having a good weekend. Today he flew to Florida to talk to possible donors for his Presidential campaign but it all hit the fan anyway when MSNBC's Steve Kornacki interviewed the Mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer, who came forward with a brand-spankin' new scandal to dump on the Christie administration. Looking and sounding almost like a frightened refugee in her own state, Zimmer described a pattern of manipulation and extortion played out by everyone from Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno to David Samson, Christie's mentor and head of the Port Authority. Now we have even more players involved, and a widening net that will probably include future subpoenas as both federal and state officials seek answers. Christie is livid and blaming MSNBC for all his woes in a hissy fit of "shoot the messenger." Make popcorn and stay tuned.

From New York Daily News
A pair of bully-boy Gov. Chris Christie’s top lieutenants delivered a “Sopranos”-style shakedown message to the mayor of Hoboken, MSNBC reported Saturday.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer, in an exclusive interview with the cable channel, said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno told her that Hurricane Sandy relief funds for Hoboken were tied to the approval of a city redevelopment plan.
In true Jersey fashion, the conversation occurred last May 13 in the parking lot of a Hoboken ShopRite, according to Zimmer.
Guadagno “pulled me aside ... And she said, ‘I know it’s not right, I know these things should not be connected, but they are. And if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it,’” Zimmer said in a Saturday interview.

Hoboken Damage from Hurricane Sandy





In a nearly 1,600-word statement issued while Christie was in Florida on a fundraising trip, spokesman Colin Reed went after multiple MSNBC hosts for reporting on the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal that has plagued the governor’s administration for weeks.
~ MSNBC

Excerpt via Huffington Post
"MSNBC is a partisan network that has been openly hostile to Governor Christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him, even taking the unprecedented step of producing and airing a nearly three-minute attack ad against him this week.
Governor Christie and his entire administration have been helping Hoboken get the help they need after Sandy, with the city already having been approved for nearly $70 million dollars in federal aid and is targeted to get even more when the Obama Administration approves the next rounds of funding. The Governor and Mayor Zimmer have had a productive relationship, with Mayor Zimmer even recently saying she’s ‘very glad’ he’s been our Governor. It’s very clear partisan politics are at play here as Democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television."

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The lane closings were an abuse of power. These new revelations suggest a pattern of behavior by the highest-ranking members of this administration that is deeply offensive to the people of New Jersey. If true, they could be illegal. There is no place in public service for actions like this or for the people who are responsible.
~ Steve Sweeney, President of State Senate on UP with Steve Kornackie

It’s just another example of the pattern of bullying and intimidation and retribution that takes place if you don’t do what Chris Christie wants. My understanding was that 80 percent of Hoboken was underwater, that they desperately needed those recovery funds.
~ Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

This one is beyond ugly. Because in the end, Zimmer did get shorted. Hoboken got $342,000, a pittance for a town that was 80 percent under water after the October 2012 storm. She had requested $127 million.
This is a credible charge. Zimmer is describing the same kind of thuggish behavior from the Christie administration that we saw during Bridgegate.
But this one cuts deeper. Leaving people stranded in horrid traffic for four days is bad enough. But denying aid to victims of Sandy as a means of leverage against an elected official is simply revolting. And surely illegal.
~ Tom Moran, New Jersey Star-Ledger

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