Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Should Christie Be Practicing His "Perp Walk".....
instead of traveling the country in search of campaign donations? I don't know but the U.S. Attorney may be zeroing in on some very questionable conduct by his administration. An excellent analysis of the evidence (as we know it) from Brian Murphy showing us where the federal investigation may be honing in. This is pretty damning stuff. The players who have been pretty quiet may very well have been speaking very loudly to the U.S. Attorney and his grand jury.
Neverending Story: Feds' Bridgegate Probe Takes New Turn
On Monday September 9, 2013, the first of four days of now-infamous lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that triggered paralyzing traffic jams in the town of Fort Lee, N.J., the mayor of that town, Mark Sokolich, placed a phone call to Bill Baroni, the No. 2 executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Baroni, a former Republican state senator, had been the agency’s deputy executive director since being appointed to the job in 2010 by Gov. Chris Christie. On paper, his title may have been “deputy,” but because the agency is structured to distribute power between New York and New Jersey, that position is actually equal to the executive director. Under an agreement between the two states, New Jersey’s governor appoints both the deputy director and chairman of the agency’s board of commissioners, while the New York governor appoints its top director and the vice-chairman of its board. As a practical matter, then, the “deputy” and “vice” adjectives are mostly meaningless formalities; Baroni had the real power in the agency, for which he was paid a $290,000 salary.
When Mayor Sokolich tried to reach Baroni, warning him of an “urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee,” Baroni’s assistant forwarded him the message by email at 9:29 a.m. Baroni didn’t reply. Instead, he sought guidance from a subordinate: David Wildstein, a former political blogger (and my onetime boss) who held the title of Director of Interstate Capital Projects – a $150,000 a year job created especially for him and abolished following his resignation.
Among officials who worked alongside Wildstein, it was widely understood that he was – as the Bergen Record noted in 2012 – Chris Christie’s “eyes and ears” at the Port Authority. One top New York appointee described him as someone who looked at the agency as a garden; “[Wildstein] was there to cultivate political opportunities.” In that role, it often was unclear to staff whether Baroni was in fact Wildstein’s superior; both took orders from Trenton, and Wildstein was frequently in contact with members of Gov. Christie’s staff.
On Monday September 9, 2013, the first of four days of now-infamous lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that triggered paralyzing traffic jams in the town of Fort Lee, N.J., the mayor of that town, Mark Sokolich, placed a phone call to Bill Baroni, the No. 2 executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Baroni, a former Republican state senator, had been the agency’s deputy executive director since being appointed to the job in 2010 by Gov. Chris Christie. On paper, his title may have been “deputy,” but because the agency is structured to distribute power between New York and New Jersey, that position is actually equal to the executive director. Under an agreement between the two states, New Jersey’s governor appoints both the deputy director and chairman of the agency’s board of commissioners, while the New York governor appoints its top director and the vice-chairman of its board. As a practical matter, then, the “deputy” and “vice” adjectives are mostly meaningless formalities; Baroni had the real power in the agency, for which he was paid a $290,000 salary.
When Mayor Sokolich tried to reach Baroni, warning him of an “urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee,” Baroni’s assistant forwarded him the message by email at 9:29 a.m. Baroni didn’t reply. Instead, he sought guidance from a subordinate: David Wildstein, a former political blogger (and my onetime boss) who held the title of Director of Interstate Capital Projects – a $150,000 a year job created especially for him and abolished following his resignation.
Among officials who worked alongside Wildstein, it was widely understood that he was – as the Bergen Record noted in 2012 – Chris Christie’s “eyes and ears” at the Port Authority. One top New York appointee described him as someone who looked at the agency as a garden; “[Wildstein] was there to cultivate political opportunities.” In that role, it often was unclear to staff whether Baroni was in fact Wildstein’s superior; both took orders from Trenton, and Wildstein was frequently in contact with members of Gov. Christie’s staff.
Read the rest here: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/neverending-story-feds-bridgegate-probe-takes-new-turn
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Rec 
this system of reward and punishment that leaves average citizens as the pawns in Christie's game of self-promotion.
The prosecutor ponders the governor's spiteful side
You remember the backstory: Sometime around 3:30 p.m. on July 18, 2013 - just 17 days after he took office - Fulop informed the governor's crew that he would not endorse Christie's re-election bid.
By 4:53 that same day, the mayor's secretary received meeting cancellations by commissioners from the state's Departments of Transportation, Treasury, Community Affairs, and the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding.
Within the next few days, there were more cancellations from two of Christie's top lieutenants, Michele Brown and Bill Baroni.
Think it was something Fulop said?
Again, there may be nothing illegal about this. But the fact that Paul Fishman is taking another crack at it - he carpetbombed the Christie campaign itself with subpoenas in January - suggests that the prosecutor has a keen interest in exploring just how far this reward-or-retribution creed can go.
Certainly, there are numerous examples of the flip side, where Democrats sacrificed party allegiance at the Altar of Christie and ultimately had their hosannas heard.
Brian Stack's Union City got $2.9 million in Port Authority money, which is a bit strange considering the PA couldn't find Union City with a compass and a team of bloodhounds.
Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, whose longtime bromance with Christie makes grown men wince, grabbed $7 million in PA megabucks for a park and the Turtle Back Zoo.
The late Ray McDonough won the jackpot: The Democratic mayor of Harrison got a whopping $256 million for its PATH station renovation in exchange for a grip-and-grin with our grateful guv.
Even if these were a merely string of happy coincidences among gentlemen, it is emblematic of an insidious culture.
And even if the governor says he knew nothing about those cancelled meetings, it is undeniable that he uses naked partisanship in ways that seduce and corrupt. Maybe the rules permit it to some degree, but only a bully considers this an acceptable way to govern.
You remember the backstory: Sometime around 3:30 p.m. on July 18, 2013 - just 17 days after he took office - Fulop informed the governor's crew that he would not endorse Christie's re-election bid.
By 4:53 that same day, the mayor's secretary received meeting cancellations by commissioners from the state's Departments of Transportation, Treasury, Community Affairs, and the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding.
Within the next few days, there were more cancellations from two of Christie's top lieutenants, Michele Brown and Bill Baroni.
Think it was something Fulop said?
Again, there may be nothing illegal about this. But the fact that Paul Fishman is taking another crack at it - he carpetbombed the Christie campaign itself with subpoenas in January - suggests that the prosecutor has a keen interest in exploring just how far this reward-or-retribution creed can go.
Certainly, there are numerous examples of the flip side, where Democrats sacrificed party allegiance at the Altar of Christie and ultimately had their hosannas heard.
Brian Stack's Union City got $2.9 million in Port Authority money, which is a bit strange considering the PA couldn't find Union City with a compass and a team of bloodhounds.
Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, whose longtime bromance with Christie makes grown men wince, grabbed $7 million in PA megabucks for a park and the Turtle Back Zoo.
The late Ray McDonough won the jackpot: The Democratic mayor of Harrison got a whopping $256 million for its PATH station renovation in exchange for a grip-and-grin with our grateful guv.
Even if these were a merely string of happy coincidences among gentlemen, it is emblematic of an insidious culture.
And even if the governor says he knew nothing about those cancelled meetings, it is undeniable that he uses naked partisanship in ways that seduce and corrupt. Maybe the rules permit it to some degree, but only a bully considers this an acceptable way to govern.
read the full editorial here: http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/03/the_prosecutor_ponders_the_governors_spiteful_side.html#incart_related_stories
And Beach Rat-nobody had their legs broken-as far as you know!
