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Showing posts with label George Washington Bridge. Show all posts

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Is Bridgegate Christie's Waterloo?

Report: Federal Grand Jury Probing Christie Bridge Scandal

Mike Drewniak

Friday, 04 Apr 2014 09:18 PM

By Cathy Burke

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A Gov. Chris Christie-commissioned probe cleared him in the Bridge-gate scandal, but the New Jersey governor's woes may not be over – a federal grand jury is reportedly looking into the case.

ABC News reported the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey has convened a panel to investigate the involvement of Christie's office in the scandal that has rocked his administration – and squeezed him out of the GOP presidential frontrunners.

Convening the grand jury shows the federal investigation has now moved to the "criminal phase," ABC News reported.

Christie press secretary Mike Drewniak took the stand Friday – and was inside the federal courthouse in Newark, N.J., for two hours – but lawyer Anthony Iacullo insisted his client isn't a target of the probe.

"We're here to answer questions and that's what Michael did today," he told ABC News.

"I'm not going to get into the specifics as to what would be discussed in the grand jury," he added. "I would say though that Mike is a witness and we have been assured that he continues to be a witness throughout these proceedings and Mike has continued to cooperate as requested by the government into this inquiry."

Iacullo also wouldn't comment about whether Christie knew of, or had a direct role in the shutdown of lanes leading to the busy George Washington Bridge last September that caused massive traffic jams.

The issue erupted into a major scandal when Christie acknowledged in January a top aide and an associate orchestrated the closure.

Christie, however, has repeatedly denied knowing about the plot or being involved in it.

ABC News also reported state prosecutors are monitoring the federal case, and would continue the probe if the feds turn it over to them. A spokesman for acting New Jersey Attorney General declined to comment.

Lawyers for Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien, two former Christie associates who are key figures in the scandal, said their clients have not been called to testify before the federal grand jury, The Associated Press reported. A lawyer for Bill Baroni, a former Christie deputy with the agency that runs the bridge, refused to comment.The legislative panel will meet next week to vote on issuing subpoenas for the interviews Christie's lawyers used as the basis for clearing the governor. A judge's ruling is also expected soon on whether Kelly and Stepien will be required to turn over documents to the legislative investigators involving the lane closings.
Kelly and Stepien are fighting to have subpoenas withdrawn by asserting their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Most of the people and organizations close to Christie that have received subpoenas are handing over the requested documents.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Monday, March 31, 2014

Bridgegate Just Scored Another Victim--Conservative Tom. We Can't Stand The Lies Anymore. Can You Believe They Hired A Firm That Represents The State?

Law Firm That Conducted ‘Bridgegate’ Review Paid $3.1 Million To Represent New Jersey

March 31, 2014 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.

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Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm that released its report last week on the “Bridgegate” scandal, received $3.1 million in 2013 for representing New Jersey.

The Star-Ledger of Newark said it has obtained records that show Gibson Dunn ranked second on a list of private firms paid by the New Jersey attorney general last year. The firm represented New Jersey in a battle to legalize sports betting.

Randy Mastro, a New York-based lawyer with the firm, released a report that blamed Governor Chris Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and David Wildstein, a Christie appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for the lane closings that snarled traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., for four days in September. The closing of approaches to the George Washington Bridge was allegedly an act of political payback.

Mastro’s report, which reportedly cost taxpayers $1 million, exonerated Christie.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the Democratic lawmaker heading a committee conducting its own investigation, suggested Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has a conflict of interest.

“They’re certainly going to be very careful about biting the hand that feeds them,” he said.

Wisniewski also said Monday he plans to subpoena the interviews done for the internal review. He said that if Christie has nothing to hide he has no reason to invoke attorney-client privilege.

Monday, February 3, 2014

If Bridgegate Involves Christie, After All The Denials, He Will Be Cooked!

Christie repeats: 'I had nothing to do with this'

By Rebecca Shabad

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) again denied Monday night having any involvement with authorizing the George Washington Bridge lane closures, but admitted the traffic problems could have been mentioned to him in passing at the time.

“I had nothing to do with this. I’m so disappointed that this has happened. But I’m so determined to get to the bottom of it, and to fix it once and for all if I haven’t fixed it already by the actions I’ve already taken, and to move on to do the job the people of New Jersey elected me to do,” Christie said on NJ1015’s “Ask the Governor” live show.

Christie said someone may have mentioned the traffic in Fort Lee, N.J. during the lane closures last September, but added “It wouldn't have been meaningful to me."

”Things could have been mentioned to me about traffic,” Christie admitted, but when asked why he didn’t investigate it, he then said, “I didn’t know about traffic.”

The governor’s comments come just a few days after the letter claimed “evidence exists” that Christie knew of the lane closures at the time that they were imposed.

Another staffer within the Christie administration also resigned over the weekend, reportedly because she had been directly involved with the scheme of political retaliation.

On the radio show Monday, Christie said he had “no knowledge, no planning, no authorization, nothing to do with this before this decision was made to close these lanes by the Port Authority.”

The governor confirmed the U.S. Attorney’s office has subpoenaed his administration’s office, and said he would comply with the request for documents in the investigation.

As for the investigation by the state legislature, Bridget Anne Kelly--Christie's former deputy chief of staff--said she would invoke the fifth amendment and won’t turn over documents, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Christie fired Kelly in early January for orchestrating the scandal. He also broke ties with Bill Stepien, his former campaign manager.

Nothing has surfaced that makes Christie believe one of his staffers is still lying, he said on the radio show. If that changes and any current employee is implicated, “They will be fired,” he added.

Christie said he has told investigators: “Be thorough, be efficient…but get me the story.”

Saturday, February 1, 2014

If Dershowitz Is Right, Christie Is In Big Trouble. Will He Be Forced To Resign Or Face Criminal Charges?

Dershowitz: 'The Dominoes Are Beginning to Fall' for Christie

Friday, 31 Jan 2014 09:02 PM

By Todd Beamon

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Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Friday "the dominoes are beginning to fall" in the spiraling bridge-gate scandal engulfing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and said "I think he hasn't told the whole truth and is in trouble."

"The U.S. attorney should now subpoena the documents that were referred to in the letter and should sit down and talk to the governor," the former Harvard Law School professor said in an exclusive interview.

"The governor so far has not spoken to law enforcement nor has he spoken under oath, so legally, he can lie all he wants," Dershowitz said. "He's not obliged to tell the truth. Politically, he may be obliged to tell the truth, but legally he's not.

"But once he sits down and talks to law enforcement, he has to tell the truth, otherwise he can be prosecuted for a crime.

"They have to lock in his testimony as soon as possible, before he knows what all the dominoes are, and he has to give those answers," he added. "That what the U.S. attorney's office should do now. The sooner the better."

Dershowitz's comments came after the lawyer for a former Christie appointee for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey disclosed that his client had evidence that proved the Republican governor knew early on about the lane closures that snarled traffic on the George Washington Bridge for four days last September.

Alan Zegas, who represents David Wildstein, said in a letter that was published by The New York Times and The Star-Ledger that it was "the Christie administration's order" to close the lanes at the town of Fort Lee.

Wildstein resigned in December because of the scandal.

The two-page letter added that "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."

Zegas wrote to the Port Authority asking it to reconsider its decision not to pay Wildstein's legal bills, according to The Star-Ledger. Wildstein ordered the abrupt and unannounced closure of commuter lanes leading to the bridge, causing massive gridlock.

In a statement late Friday, Christie's office said he told the truth about what he knew about the politically motivated lane closings, and disputed the allegations in Wildstein's letter.

"Mr. Wildstein's lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along: He had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with," the statement said.

"As the governor said in a Dec. 13 press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and, as he said in his Jan. 9 press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of Jan. 8.

"The governor denies Mr. Wildstein's lawyer's other assertions," the statement said.
The U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Paul Fishman, said earlier this month that he would open an investigation into the bridge lane closings.

Fishman must give immunity to Wildstein — "and he's going to have to testify and tell the whole truth and be asked hard questions," Dershowitz said.

But regardless, Christie is in trouble, he told Newsmax, and "if he is smart, and he is smart, he's talking to somebody behind the scenes — a very good criminal lawyer.

"He hasn't disclosed that. He doesn't have to. He can keep that a secret."

More broadly, the former law professor said that Friday's disclosures illustrated a personal rift between Wildstein and the governor over the bridge scandal.

The men have known each other since high school, according to news reports, but Christie made negative comments about Wildstein at the Dec. 13 press conference.

"Gov. Christie really made his stupid mistake by treating Wildstein the way he did," Dershowitz said. "He provoked him. Christie showed his total ineptness when he said what he said about Wildstein at the press conference."

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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Would You Vote For Trump If He Ran For President?

By Richard Valdmanis1 hour ago

Donald Trump addresses a ceremony announcing a new hotel and condominium complex in Vancouver, British …

By Richard Valdmanis

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Outspoken real estate magnate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he may seek the Republican presidential nomination for 2016, adding that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's prospects for a White House run have dimmed since a scandal erupted.

A run for the presidency "is something I would certainly look at," Trump told Reuters. "You know why? I'm unhappy with the way things are going in America."

Trump gave the telephone interview before making a breakfast speech at the "Politics & Eggs" forum at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire - an event that tends to feature presidential hopefuls. Trump did not directly address the idea of a running for office during the speech.

New Hampshire traditionally holds the nation's first presidential nominating primaries and is a regular stop for White House aspirants.

He told Reuters he was interested in the idea of personally undoing the legacy of President Barack Obama, who he said had made a "big mistake" with the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, and had done too little to shore up the American economy.

In his speech, Trump said that Christie - widely seen as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016 - was "one email away from disaster" after revelations that four days of massive traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge were caused by an act of apparent political payback.

"The thing is he's fired ... people. I don't know what they are going to say, or what emails they are going to produce. It's a tough situation for him," Trump said. "I would have thought Chris would do well (as a candidate). He still could do well, but now it's going to be tougher."

Trump - who made a fortune building skyscrapers and running casinos and now hosts U.S. reality TV show "The Apprentice" - had also toyed with the idea of running for the 2012 Republican nomination but pulled out months before the primary, saying he was not ready to leave the private sector.

He has long been a vocal critic of Obama and made waves after demanding proof the president was born in the United States. The White House released Obama's birth certificate in 2011 showing he was born in Hawaii.

Trump said he believed Obama's handling of the launch of healthcare reform - the president's signature domestic policy achievement which has been fraught with early glitches - would help Republicans during this year's midterm elections.

"It is going to be a tremendous factor going into November and it is going to have a devastating impact on the Democrats," Trump said.

He said he also believes Obama has not done enough to keep the United States competitive in the global economy, and faulted him for his handling of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

"We used to be the smart ones on the block, now we're the dummies," Trump said.

Trump has also hinted he could run for governor of New York in 2014, claiming he has a $200 million war chest available for a campaign if he chooses to challenge Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo.

(Editing by Jonathan Oatis)