Oops - four of Christie's cabinet members cancelled meetings

[malaise]

with the Jersey City Mayor who did not endorse the governor's reelection.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303595404579318403306044302?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303595404579318403306044302.html
<snip>
Documents released Monday indicate that meetings arranged between top commissioners to Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop were abruptly canceled without reason last year—providing evidence of Mr. Fulop's claim that he was cut off after he decided not to endorse the governor.

The documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal through a public records request showed communications between Mr. Fulop and Christie administration staff members arranging the meetings in June and July, until the commissioners all canceled one meeting after another.

The documents don't indicate why the meetings were scrapped, but Mr. Fulop has said that he was punished for declining to endorse the governor. Mr. Christie attended the Democrat's inauguration in Jersey City in July, and Mr. Fulop's advisers had considered endorsing Mr. Christie, a Republican, but ultimately didn't.

"The emails that were requested speak for themselves. Our administration has sought to operate in a professional and cooperative manner with the Christie Administration," Mr. Fulop said in a statement.
----------------------
Drip, drip, drip
Nasty, vindictive ReTHUG scumbags at work.

[Blue Owl]

1. They were going to teleconference the meetings...

But then Christie had the phone lines jammed.

[malaise]

2. These are first rate THUGs

Damn! Sounds like the mafia.

[factsarenotfair]

4. I don't like to hear Christie called a bully, because he's FAR WORSE than that.

Thug works for me.

[malaise]

6. I like ReTHUG even better

[factsarenotfair]

9. Hah! Yes!

A particularly narcissistic rethug.

[dorkzilla]

12. If it walks like a duck...

you know the rest.

New Jersey has always been corrupt (it always makes the top 10 list - http://nj1015.com/new-list-ranks-the-most-corrupt-states-in-america-where-does-nj-stand/ - note that in the linked article the author expresses surprise that they are "only" the 9th most corrupt). My step-dad, who owns real estate all over the country refuses to buy any there as every dealing he's ever had there has been awful and everyone looking for some greasing of the palms, shall we say.

[malaise]

13. Corrupt is one thing but this is looking like nasty

vindictive ReTHUGGERY.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Nah, this is New Jersey.

The problem Christie has, there is an easy to follow trail. Most pols in corrupt states know better.

Let's put it this way, both my sister and I went, this is Tuesday, but wait, he left a record.

It is growing where impeachment might come up, for the moment might is the operative word. Jersey (and a few other places in the US) need a serious anti corruption campaigns.

[malaise]

16. LOL

I hear you

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Hey at least in Mexico

A president ran with the campaign slogan "we are all part of the corruption."

Jersey, large swaths of the Federal government, even local city halls remind me of that. It's just at a different level. But greasing palms is still greasing palms.

Very much off the record a governor in Mexico once told me the secret is not to leave a trail that those with unhealthy levels of curiosity can find. In the states you can translate that into local media. He was talking to a bunch of us medics at a breakfast, he let that one casually escape. Which makes you wonder, huh? That was such a valuable lesson that every time I talk to a pol, regardless of party, I wonder just exactly how high in the greasing of palms meter her/she is?

Yup, cynic in am does not start to describe it.

[malaise]

19. At least he's honest

Here both sides pretend to be saints.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Exactly

[ProSense]

3. Emails: After Jersey City mayor declined to endorse Christie, meetings suddenly canceled

Emails: After Jersey City mayor declined to endorse Christie, meetings suddenly canceled

<...>

Given Kelly's coordination with both Baroni and Wildstein not just in the Fort Lee incident but also with Fulop's meeting cancellations, it's worth remembering that a big part of Christie's "don't blame me" strategy at his press conference last week was to talk about the Port Authority as if it were an agency over which he had no influence.

There's no way that anybody would think that I know about everything that's going on, not only in ever agency of government at all times, but also every independent authority that New Jersey either has on its own or by state -- both with New York, with Pennsylvania and with Delaware. So what I can tell you is if people find that hard to believe, I don't know what else to say except to tell them that I had no knowledge of this -- of the planning, the execution or anything about it -- and that I first found out about it after it was over.

Even at the time, that seemed like nonsense, given Kelly's involvement in the Fort Lee lane closures. Now we know she was also involved in helping another mayor set up meetings that included a meeting with the head of the Port Authority—and that those meetings were cancelled after the mayor declined to offer his political support to Christie. Obviously, there's still more investigating to be done (the State Assembly today announced the creation of a new panel to lead the investigation), but it's clear that Kelly saw the Port Authority as a political tool and that Baroni was happy to help. Christie may not have been aware of the all the particular details at any given moment, but it's hard to imagine that he wasn't unaware of the bigger picture of what was going on.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/13/1269318/-Emails-After-Jersey-City-mayor-declined-to-endorse-Christie-meetings-suddenly-canceled#comments

Christie Not Sure When He Learned of Bridge Lane Closures
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024321794

Colonel Christie
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024320643

[malaise]

5. Christie's problem is that most of the PA people involved in the scandal

are his personal appointees and are his close ReTHUG cronies.

It's way too good. You're on the ball

[randome]

7. How many aides is CC going to fire this go-round?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[malaise]

8. Before or after the subpoenas on Thursday?

[randome]

10. Maybe today! Or have we heard that it's Thursday now?

Earlier, it wasn't certain which day the subpoenas would go out.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers. It's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]

[malaise]

14. Thursday - they decided to avoid any legal problems with subpoenas

today, swearing in tomorrow and then Special Session to continue subpoena power Thursday. This makes sense.

[democratisphere]

17. Cristie: The great bipartisan uniter?

More of the same old stuff, maybe worse.