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NJ Assembly Launches Special Bridge Scandal Investigative Committee
NJ Assembly Launches Special Bridge Scandal Investigative Committee
Leaders of the New Jersey Assembly announced Monday they were establishing a special investigatory committee that will be solely focused on the questions surrounding lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September.
"As the evidence in the case has unfolded, it's become clear the questions that need answering here are no longer just transportation questions," Assembly Speaker-elect Vincent Prieto (D) said in a statement announcing the formation of the committee.
<...>
According to a statement from the Assembly Democrats announcing the formation committee to investigate the lane closures, it "will have subpoena power" and will "utilize a special counsel." The committee will be chaired by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D), who previously investigated the matter as chairman of the Assembly's transportation committee. The committee had subpoena power over the Port Authority through the end of the current legislative session on Jan. 14 as part of an earlier inquiry into toll hikes. Wisniewski had been seeking an extension of that authority.
"We have made great strides in finding out what actually happened here with this threat to public safety and abuse of power, but so many questions remain unanswered," Wisniewski said in the statement announcing the new committee. "The evidence that has come out in recent weeks makes clear that this now goes above and beyond a transportation issue and goes into the highest ranks of the executive branch. A concerted and focused investigation with increased resources is now needed, and I look forward to continuing to uncover answers for the people of New Jersey with these new tools at hand. This investigation will continue with increased intensity.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bridge-scandal-special-committee
Leaders of the New Jersey Assembly announced Monday they were establishing a special investigatory committee that will be solely focused on the questions surrounding lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September.
"As the evidence in the case has unfolded, it's become clear the questions that need answering here are no longer just transportation questions," Assembly Speaker-elect Vincent Prieto (D) said in a statement announcing the formation of the committee.
<...>
According to a statement from the Assembly Democrats announcing the formation committee to investigate the lane closures, it "will have subpoena power" and will "utilize a special counsel." The committee will be chaired by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D), who previously investigated the matter as chairman of the Assembly's transportation committee. The committee had subpoena power over the Port Authority through the end of the current legislative session on Jan. 14 as part of an earlier inquiry into toll hikes. Wisniewski had been seeking an extension of that authority.
"We have made great strides in finding out what actually happened here with this threat to public safety and abuse of power, but so many questions remain unanswered," Wisniewski said in the statement announcing the new committee. "The evidence that has come out in recent weeks makes clear that this now goes above and beyond a transportation issue and goes into the highest ranks of the executive branch. A concerted and focused investigation with increased resources is now needed, and I look forward to continuing to uncover answers for the people of New Jersey with these new tools at hand. This investigation will continue with increased intensity.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bridge-scandal-special-committee
Steve Kornacki's theory on the Christie scandal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024319407
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Biggest Questions Remaining In The Christie Scandal
<...>
Who Ordered The Lane Closures?
Of all the aspects of the scandal that remain unknown, this might be the most basic: who came up with the plan to close the lanes and who gave the order to close them? We still don't know. At his press conference on Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that he still didn't know, either.
The terse email exchange on Aug. 13 between top Christie aide Bridget Kelly and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein ("Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" "Got it"
strongly suggest both had previously discussed the plan. But we don't know how and when those previous discussions occurred, and who else may have been involved.
<...>
What Did Christie Know And When Did He Know It?
This is the classic scandal question, and it's still an open one here. As the Wall Street Journal reporter Ted Mann, who was one of the earliest reporters on the story, explained in an article on Sunday, Christie has offered two different timelines of when he learned about the lane closures.
At a news conference on Dec. 13, Christie suggested that he learned about the issue after the news media reported on an angry email sent Sept. 13 by Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority. The Journal reported on details from that email on Oct. 1. But last week, Christie said he had learned about the lane closings earlier than the when Foye's email became publicly known.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/bridge-scandal-questions
<...>
Who Ordered The Lane Closures?
Of all the aspects of the scandal that remain unknown, this might be the most basic: who came up with the plan to close the lanes and who gave the order to close them? We still don't know. At his press conference on Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that he still didn't know, either.
The terse email exchange on Aug. 13 between top Christie aide Bridget Kelly and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein ("Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" "Got it"
strongly suggest both had previously discussed the plan. But we don't know how and when those previous discussions occurred, and who else may have been involved.
<...>
What Did Christie Know And When Did He Know It?
This is the classic scandal question, and it's still an open one here. As the Wall Street Journal reporter Ted Mann, who was one of the earliest reporters on the story, explained in an article on Sunday, Christie has offered two different timelines of when he learned about the lane closures.
At a news conference on Dec. 13, Christie suggested that he learned about the issue after the news media reported on an angry email sent Sept. 13 by Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority. The Journal reported on details from that email on Oct. 1. But last week, Christie said he had learned about the lane closings earlier than the when Foye's email became publicly known.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/bridge-scandal-questions
One of the more absurd denials by Christie is his claim that he still doesn't know who ordered the closures. All this time, and he hasn't bothered to find out? In fact, he doesn't seem to care given his statement about not being interested in what Kelly has to say.
Christie Not Sure When He Learned of Bridge Lane Closures
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024321794
Follow-up on Christie’s Half-owned “Nonprofit”: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Written by Rick Cohen
“When it comes to raising tolls, the Port Authority (of New York and New Jersey) has nearly unchecked power and little obligation to listen to the public.”
That’s one of reasons why Governor Chris Christie’s explanations for “Bridgegate,” the scandal involving his top aides closing two out of three access lanes from the city of Fort Lee, New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge, come off as implausible.
The Port Authority is a bi-state public benefit corporation, or public authority, established more than 90 years ago by the states of New York and New Jersey to manage the regional infrastructure of bridges, tunnels, seaports, and airports that serve both states. It is a big operation, with a 2012 budget of $7 billion including capital expenditures of $3.66 billion.
<...>
Think of the Port Authority like a very large nonprofit. It has no power to tax and is funded entirely by the revenues it generates from its bridges, tunnels, and ports (and from tax exempt bonds), but there are few political issues in New Jersey more contentious than traffic jams on the GW Bridge (at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels), plus the $13 toll on the bridge. The board of this “nonprofit” benefit corporation is appointed by two governors and approved by their legislators. The commissioners they appoint are business and political powerhouses....Every New Jersey governor and every northern New Jersey mayor, particularly from the cities like Fort Lee that are gateways for commuters, is acutely aware of Port Authority dynamics. Perhaps Christie is such a hands-off manager that his appointment of David Samson, the counsel to his gubernatorial campaign as a Port Authority commissioner, subsequently elected chairman, meant that he could simply choose to ignore a massive tie-up on the bridge and leave it all to his appointees. That flies in the face of both Christie’s self-described hands-on management style and the constant political scrum between the two states in the bi-state agency.
The importance of the Port Authority to the New Jersey state government explains some of the revelations that have emerged since Governor Christie’s marathon apology press conference. For example, one recent revelation is that Port Authority Chairman Samson sent an email to his colleagues on the board that excoriated Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye for “stirring up trouble” with his criticism of the lane closures and ordering the opening of the bridge access from Fort Lee, while two of Cuomo’s New York commissioners defended Foye. Another Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the since-resigned David Wildstein, actually monitored the lane closings in person. Both Wildstein and another Christie appointee, Bill Baroni, were informed as early as the first day of the closures that police and paramedics were complaining vociferously. Typically, New Jersey-appointed commissioners go to bat for the interests of communities on their side of the Hudson River crossings, but not in this case, since they were actually pleased with the results of the abuse of power by Christie’s minions.
- more -
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/23517-follow-up-on-christie-s-half-owned-nonprofit-the-port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey.html
Written by Rick Cohen
“When it comes to raising tolls, the Port Authority (of New York and New Jersey) has nearly unchecked power and little obligation to listen to the public.”
That’s one of reasons why Governor Chris Christie’s explanations for “Bridgegate,” the scandal involving his top aides closing two out of three access lanes from the city of Fort Lee, New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge, come off as implausible.
The Port Authority is a bi-state public benefit corporation, or public authority, established more than 90 years ago by the states of New York and New Jersey to manage the regional infrastructure of bridges, tunnels, seaports, and airports that serve both states. It is a big operation, with a 2012 budget of $7 billion including capital expenditures of $3.66 billion.
<...>
Think of the Port Authority like a very large nonprofit. It has no power to tax and is funded entirely by the revenues it generates from its bridges, tunnels, and ports (and from tax exempt bonds), but there are few political issues in New Jersey more contentious than traffic jams on the GW Bridge (at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels), plus the $13 toll on the bridge. The board of this “nonprofit” benefit corporation is appointed by two governors and approved by their legislators. The commissioners they appoint are business and political powerhouses....Every New Jersey governor and every northern New Jersey mayor, particularly from the cities like Fort Lee that are gateways for commuters, is acutely aware of Port Authority dynamics. Perhaps Christie is such a hands-off manager that his appointment of David Samson, the counsel to his gubernatorial campaign as a Port Authority commissioner, subsequently elected chairman, meant that he could simply choose to ignore a massive tie-up on the bridge and leave it all to his appointees. That flies in the face of both Christie’s self-described hands-on management style and the constant political scrum between the two states in the bi-state agency.
The importance of the Port Authority to the New Jersey state government explains some of the revelations that have emerged since Governor Christie’s marathon apology press conference. For example, one recent revelation is that Port Authority Chairman Samson sent an email to his colleagues on the board that excoriated Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye for “stirring up trouble” with his criticism of the lane closures and ordering the opening of the bridge access from Fort Lee, while two of Cuomo’s New York commissioners defended Foye. Another Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the since-resigned David Wildstein, actually monitored the lane closings in person. Both Wildstein and another Christie appointee, Bill Baroni, were informed as early as the first day of the closures that police and paramedics were complaining vociferously. Typically, New Jersey-appointed commissioners go to bat for the interests of communities on their side of the Hudson River crossings, but not in this case, since they were actually pleased with the results of the abuse of power by Christie’s minions.
- more -
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/23517-follow-up-on-christie-s-half-owned-nonprofit-the-port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey.html
Oops - four of Christie's cabinet members cancelled meetings
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024323838
It was Bridget Kelly ("They are the children of Buono voters."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024316517
