"5 big unanswered questions in Bridge-gate"

[applegrove]

5 big unanswered questions in Bridge-gate

By Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/01/10/5-big-unanswered-questions-in-bridge-gate/

"SNIP......................................


1. Did Bridget Kelly have the authority to order the closure of lanes in Fort Lee?

Everything we read about Kelly -- including this great profile of her by the Bergen Record -- suggests that it would be decidedly out of character for her to be the political henchman (henchwoman?) for Christie. Writes John Reitmeyer in the Record: "'Talented,' 'pleasant' and 'a good egg' were some of the ways Trenton insiders described Kelly on Wednesday. 'She always steered clear of controversy and has flown under the radar,' said one GOP operative."

Christie, himself, acknowledged as much in his Thursday press conference. "There was no reason, at the time we asked the questions, for us to believe that they weren't true, based upon the conduct of that person," he said of Kelly. " I trusted that I was being told the truth, and I wasn't.....by somebody who I had placed a significant amount of trust in," he added.

Given what we know about Kelly and her position within Christie's organization, does it pass the smell test that she acted alone when she issued the political vendetta order and Port Authority official David Wildstein simply carried it out? Maybe. People act out of character -- or outside of our expectations for them -- all the time. But, is there a possibility that someone else -- not necessarily Christie, but a big name in his world -- signed off on it before Kelly made the move? Yes, that possibility exists.



.......................................SNIP"

[Kingofalldems]

1. Kick and Rec all Christie GWB threads.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Comments are interesting: nobody will defend this asshole.

[TheOther95Percent]

3. The Biggest One is Number 4

Are there any more episodes like this floating out there?

Christie's defense on Thursday was two-pronged: 1. I didn't know anything about this before this week 2. This episode is an anomaly and not indicative of any broader culture in the administration.

Democrats have long argued that Christie is a political bully masquerading as a straight talker (Buono said Christie runs a "paramilitary organization" on MSNBC Thursday) and that there are many more episodes of political intimidation out there. Are there? We all know about Christie's famous/infamous confrontations with reporters and teachers but will something new come to light that shows the sort of tactics on display in bridge-gate were closer to standard operating procedure than the exception to the rule? Every media organization in the country is currently looking into past decisions made by the Christie Administration to answer that question

And the Federal prosecutors are going to want to catch a big fish. Wildstein, Kelly, Baroni, someone knows if there are other bodies buried somewhere.

[Cha]

4. K&R.. thanks applegrove~

[pacalo]

5. 6. Who told the Port Authority police that Mayor Sokolich ordered the lane closings?

That seems important to know.

Here's what Mayor Sokolich has to say to Bill Baroni about the lane closings in a 9/10/13 memo. He knows it was politically motivated; he's clearly confused & he's getting no response from anyone about the reason behind the closings.

(...)

Permit me to elaborate. Without any notice whatsoever to Fort Lee (or any of its agencies, including our Police Department), the Port Authority reduced the available toll booths for traffic flowing through Fort Lee from three to one. Suffice it to say, this decision has wreaked havoc upon our community during the morning rush hour, visiting upon us complete gridlock. Having received absolutely no notice of this decision, not having obtained any response to our multiple inquiries concerning same, and try as we may to understand its rationale without the benefit of a response from the Port Authority, we are reaching the conclusion that there are punitive overtones associated with this initiative. What other conclusion could be possibly reach?

Our emergency service vehicles are experiencing tremendous response time delays and my office is overwhelmed with complaints. Unquestionably, this decision has negatively impacted public safety here in Fort Lee. Adding insult to injury, many members of the public have indicated to me that the Port Authority Police Officers are advising commuters in response to their complaints that this recent traffic debacle is the result of a decision that I, as the Mayor, recently made. The basis, reason, or genesis of the decision is of no consequence to me; however, its profound and adverse impact on our community is of paramount importance to me.

I have incessantly attempted to contact Port Authority representatives to no avail. Would you please be good enough to please have someone contact me or Police Chief Bendul to discuss the basis of this recent policy change and what we must do to reverse it...plain and simple...

(...)

Tina Lado, NJ Director of Govt. & Community Relations at the Port Authority, also sent an e-mail to Bill Baroni the same day to inform him that Mayor Sokolich had called her for answers:

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich called this morning regarding the traffic in Fort Lee

"reasons unclear to us..."

The Mayor would like to talk to you as soon as possible, regarding the traffic congestion due to the change in GWB toll booths configuration. He remains concerned, doesn't understand the purpose/need of the traffic test and doesn't understand why the borough was not alerted. Additionally, he said that he is trying to "keep a lid on this" (politically) and is getting pressure from members of Borough Council who want to take some action. He feels this is a "life/safety" issue. One example that occurred on Monday 9/93 was Fort Lee volunteer ambulance attendants had to respond on foot, leaving their vehicle, to a emergency call.

He was calm but again, reiterated he would like to talk with you. Let me know if you need anything additional. Thank you.

There were also many e-mails from a Steve Coleman to Bill Baroni & Patrick Foye in regard to how he should respond to inquiries from WSJ writer Ted Mann & Star Ledger writer Steve Strunsky. Baroni's reply to Coleman in regard to the Star Ledger reporter was simply, "Correct. No Response."

All state officials who were in cahoots need to be identified & fired.