Up With Steve Kornacki: New Jersey/Port Authority/Christie discussion thread

[TexasTowelie]

On in a minute, let's see the scoop that Steve is about to reveal!

[TexasTowelie]

1. And the secret is...

new information about Sandy recovery funds and the misuse of funds.

First mention is $6 million for the senior citizen housing center development in Belleville and his efforts to curry favor in Essex county.

He is building slowly...

[George II]

58. Not a secret, this came out a week or so ago.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Kornacki is bringing up why there was a delay in getting the story of misuse of funds going public.

A. Integrity Monitor Act of 2013 passed by New Jersey Legislature passed and effective immediately as of March 27, 2013 monitored by state treasury department. This was spurred on by the controversy with the cleanup fund with AshBritt to remove debris at a higher cost than other contractors. The treasury department was supposed to monitor every project/grant over $5 million and report it to state AG and state comptroller.

A database was supposed to track those expenditures but after Christie signed the Integrity Monitor Act he vetoed the Web Transparency Act. Christie essentially buried the tracking of those expenditures.

[Squinch]

3. This guy keeps doing investigative journalism! I am going to faint! How long has it been since we

have seen that?

[factsarenotfair]

9. I recall extensive investigative journalism on Monica Lewinsky and Chandra Levy.

[Squinch]

12. Well, yes. Now the question is, do you think there are others like us who find corrupt

municipal contracts and contractors fascinating? Enough of us to make the networks think it's worthwhile?

[factsarenotfair]

17. Well, I think maybe so, if it's the viewers' tax dollars that are involved.

Also, there's probably some sexual hanky panky in any big political scandal, too.

[Squinch]

35. Isn't there always?

[factsarenotfair]

42. I should have said if they REALIZE their tax dollars are involved and how much.

Members of Congress getting farm subsidies, for example.

[Squinch]

44. And of course they just passed a law that says we can no longer know how much Congresspeople

get in farm subsidies.

[factsarenotfair]

46. Yes, what a TRAVESTY!

[Squinch]

47. Pisses me off. And where is the press about THAT??

[TexasTowelie]

49. I saw a little bit on MSNBC.

I can't remember if it was Ed or Lawrence; however, the story does not get a lot of traction and there are several lawmakers in Texas that receive farm subsidies.

[Squinch]

51. Let me guess: they all voted to slash SNAP and end long term unemployment?

[factsarenotfair]

52. They're covering the Superbowl.

They are even giving more time to coverage of Superbowl ads than to the Farm Bill.

[Squinch]

54. And apologizing for saying Republicans are Republicans.

[factsarenotfair]

55. Yup. n/t

[SummerSnow]

59. Oh so we the taxpayers don't get to know where our money goes. This is fucked.

But Rethugs , Baggers etc cry too much govt, slash foodstamps. Bullshit.

[Squinch]

63. Yep. Snuck into the farm bill was a clause that said that they will no longer

publicize the names of the recipients of farm subsidies, many of whom are Congress people, or their biggest contributors.

[SummerSnow]

65. So if I need foodstamps to feed my children then I'm a lazy socialist.

So wrong, so wrong.

[Squinch]

66. Right. But when they get tens of thousands in farm subsidies, they are freedom living patriots.

That's just how it works.

[calimary]

69. Exactly. That's why I dump on Michael Isikoff every chance I get.

The much-vaunted "investigative reporter" - who NOW goes on camera to opine, and spin, and "analyze", and he keeps repeating the phrase "what we don't know - is WHY."

Well, fuck, Isikoff, you're supposedly an "investigative reporter" and you were all over the Monica thing like a cheap suit. You had juicy new shit on that every time the red light turned on at the top of every TV camera, delivered with a gossipy sidelong smirk on your face. What, if anything, have you dug up here, 'eh????? Aren't YOU as an alleged "investigative reporter," supposed to be digging around and coming up with some substantive answers as to "WHY"? Forcryingoutloud, I can sit here and do that all day - that is, repeat the phrase "what we don't know - is WHY" and not get paid some princely sum for being an on-camera talking head, because I'm a total civilian now and have no sources anywhere and no access 'cause I'm completely out of the business and have been for years. YOU, on the other hand, are supposedly IN that job because you're an "investigative reporter," still supposedly on the beat, still supposedly with all kinds of access to all kinds of people who'll take your phone calls because you're famous and on TV, and years of source-cultivating behind you - AS, supposedly, an "investigative reporter."

So where are the goods, then? Why haven't you come up with anything meaty here? Why haven't you been digging and probing and working your sources to FIND OUT THE ANSWERS TO THAT "WHY"???? What are they paying you for? Because from what I've seen of your on-camera work since then, frickin' ANY rank amateur with no investigative experience or sources can do what you're doing these days.

I've said before, and I'll say it again - until it sticks: this is a guy who can't investigate his way around the inside of a paper bag unless there's a stained blue dress and a Clinton involved. I think he lives way down inside the pockets of the GOP. All he knows is obsessing on Democrats and sex. He's contributing NOTHING in the christie investigation. He's come up with SQUAT so far. I think that's because he's not really trying to. I suspect his "sources" "got nuthin'" on this. I suspect one of his close pals had to be ken starr. The VAST majority of them are undoubtedly republi-CON, and most of 'em by now are probably christie fans/apologists. So they're not gonna have the goods, or if they do, they're not gonna cough 'em up. Those republi-CONS all stick together and circle the wagons - unless or until their own necks are in nooses (like David Wildstein's is now).

[factsarenotfair]

71. Oh, thank you very much for that information.

I hadn't put two and two together.

[WinkyDink]

72. CL WAS a murder, FGS. Why wouldn't there be an extensive investigation?

[factsarenotfair]

73. The "investigation" I recall was smearing Gary Condit instead of actually investigating. n/t

[George II]

57. How long? How about here....

...

http://www.northjersey.com/news/governor_christie_nj_gwb.html

Check out THIS story:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/ny_metro/030312_Ex-blogger_is_Governor_Christies_man_inside_the_Port_Authority.html

Where were all these bandwagon jumpers back in March 2012 (almost 2 years ago!) ???

Kornacki has been on MSNBC for a couple of years, never a peep about New Jersey politics. Now all of a sudden he's all over it?

[Squinch]

61. The first link is just the front page of northjersey.com, or am I missing something?

And the second link, the older article, just says that Wildstein is Christie's man inside the Port Authority.

It talks about some unsavory politicization of a post that shouldn't be political, but it doesn't suggest that anything illegal was going on.

None of that was secret.

[George II]

64. The first link is to a page with dozens of articles about the scandal and Christie's....

...."agenda", going back to at least early 2012, two years ago.

Christie denied that he knew much about Wildstein and they weren't very close. The second link from March 2012 belies that protestation.

[TexasTowelie]

4. Back to the Integrity Monitoring Act:

Each integrity monitor is supposed to report at the beginning of each quarter. The reports are supposed to be sent from the Treasury Department to the Legislature. The Legislature has not received the quarterly reports required by law.

The $68 million contract to HGI that was terminated, but nobody knows whether either the $6 million Belleville contract or the HGI contract ever had an integrity monitor assigned to them for oversight purposes.

The NJ Treasury Department is now saying that no reports were due and they refused to respond to requests about the monitoring program. Ernst & Young offered to provide services as an integrity monitor. Treasury apparently delegated a significant role to E&Y to monitor the projects. Meanwhile, E&Y hired Todd Christie as director of the firm's Northeast Practice Market Team.

[Squinch]

39. Ernst and Young being, of course, the accounting firm that told investors that

Lehman Brothers was A-OK right before it went down in a ball of flames because it was so overinvested in crap derivatives, that everyone knew were crap.

Also, the Ernst and Young whose employees were convicted in 2010 of conspiracy to defraud the government, tax evasion, obstruction of the IRS and false statements to the IRS for creating and testifying to the IRS about the legitimacy of absolutely illegitimate tax shelters it had developed for high net worth investors.

So those are the guys who Christie thinks are appropriate to be "integrity monitors."

These guys are just filthy.

[TexasTowelie]

43. I worked with E&Y auditors on a couple occasions

when I worked in both the private and public sectors. All that they cared about was whether that was a piece of paper to sign off as documentation for a project. There was never any concern as to whether the process worked or a correct answer (or reasonable) answer was obtained. The auditors have only minimal experience and their team leaders are people that managed to stick around for two to three years to rise through the ranks.

I was never impressed with any of their employees and even told them up front that I had no respect for them after working with them.

[Squinch]

45. The people I know who went to work for them, mostly auditors, seemed like

worker ants who were worked around the clock to the point of such exhaustion that there was no way they could be thorough or careful. So it wouldn't be that difficult for higher ups to hide what they want to hide from their peons, and get all the paperwork done the way their clients wanted, with no intentional wrongdoing on the part of those worker ants.

[avebury]

5. There was some complaints

on Real Time that MSNBC is only focusing on Christie and the NJ scandal to the detriment of other news stories.

My response to that is that Kornacki is schooling journalists in the country on how they should be doing their job. If all journalists where digging in and investigating news stories then there would be real reporting from coast to coast. People are starved for real news and real reporting not propaganda (at least the non-Faux news crowd).

[factsarenotfair]

6. Well, I wish they could cover Scott Walker, Rick Scott, etc. but there are only so many hours in a

day and SO MUCH to cover on the NJ scandal.

[kelliekat44]

10. And only so many real investigative journalists. I bet the Walker folks are scrambling right now.

[Squinch]

16. If, when NJ dies down, Kornacki turns his attention to Wisconsin, his name will be made forever.

As it is, I want to send him inappropriate fan letters.

Wouldn't you love to see him go after the Koches?

[factsarenotfair]

19. Yes! Yes! Yes!

But I have a feeling the Kochroaches hide their activities better.

[avebury]

18. Those stories don't get the same degree of coverage

because there is no one of the caliber of Kornacki working those stories like a dog with a bone. Most journalists now a days just tow the corporate line they are true journalists. Kornacki is the exception not the rule in this day in age.

[factsarenotfair]

20. Perhaps some of today's journalists are itching to do this kind of work but can't.

Not on the networks, but maybe on the local level. I cannot believe how worthless network "news" is.

[Squinch]

22. Rachel has used a couple of local radio reporters in this story. They seem to have pieces

of information that no one else does.

[avebury]

23. Remember it was one young guy on a small paper in

NJ that started out with an innocuous story that took off. This is the guy who caught Rachel Maddow's attention and, as we say, the rest is history. Rachel Maddow and Steve Kornacki grabbed onto the story and look at where we are now.

It goes to show that sometimes one unknown person can make a difference in journalism.

[factsarenotfair]

25. Good point.

There are indeed glimmers of hope.

[Laxman]

27. The Dissappearance Of...

statehouse reporters in many states brought about by the demise of many newspapers or their budget cutbacks is a significant contributor to corruption at the state level. NJ still has several robust, (but not as robust as they were 10 years ago) dailies who keep an eye on Trenton. Something needs to fill the void in the states where this doesn't exist.

[factsarenotfair]

28. Yes, indeed. n/t

[Squinch]

40. And many states and municipalities have no one watching that wolf in the henhouse.

[spanone]

26. my answer to that is 'BENGHAZI'

[Squinch]

56. Lol!

[malaise]

7. That was one great but complicated explanation by Steve - at the end of it

Christie's brother just happens to be a Director of the Accounting Firm that's supposedly monitoring Sandy money projects.
The assembly/legislature has not seen a piece of paper linked to how the money is being spent following the law that was introduced to monitor the money. There was no fugging monitoring.



The men who hate government were looting the Federal Aid - they're all going down - it will take time but this will be fun. Arrogance, hubris and a big pot of money will do them in every time.

[Sienna86]

8. Integrity monitors for Sandy relief

Wow. Steve Kornacki is doing a great job. He is what a journalist should be: a tenacious fact-finder.

[Sienna86]

11. Pandora's box

Christie and those involved in misuse of the public's trust in New Jersey must be squirming. This is going far past Bridgegate.

[SummerSnow]

60. Sandygate, Bridgegate,

[Walk away]

13. The Feds are going to be excavating Sandy fraud for years...

Christie may end up in jail and he will definitely be leaving office before this term is over. Can we send his brother up the river as well?

New Jersey has needed a good flush for decades. The crooks who have been killing us with the highest property taxes in the country while they destroy our schools, break our unions and starve our working poor are about to be exposed and expelled.

The biggest problem in NJ is that the crooks are so bad on both sides of the political aisle that the people didn't have a chance. But it took a Republican to be so greedy and power hungry that his actions stood out in a cesspool of graft and threats.

In the end, Christie and Sandy may be the best things to happen to this state.

[Laxman]

14. Kevin Walsh Is The Affordable Housing Advocate....

I was writing about here:

The first chunk of money that came from the Federal government for Sandy relief required an "Action Plan" on how the money was going to be spent. Along with all the expensive shore mansions in places like Mantaloking, there were a lot of very affordable homes in places like Union Beach and Keansburg that were trashed as well as many rental units. Christie's first version of the action plan contained no provisions for rebuilding affordable units. This was contrary to HUD policy. NJ's own current affordable housing laws have been in limbo since Christie took office and basically eliminated the Council on Affordable Housing. Its also part of the reason why we only have 5 Supreme Court justices right now, but that is a story for another day.

Christie was forced, after a law suit was immediately filed by affordable housing advocates in the state, to re-work his action plan and put in some rhetoric about building affordable units. Rather than actually build new units, he has re-purposed Sandy money to currently planned developments, like this one and one in Belleville. It did nothing to foster Sandy recovery and nothing to replace the affordable housing destroyed by Sandy. This is bad on so many fronts. It is perversion of the Sandy money by not using for its intended purpose and pay-offs in the form of enabling pet projects to go forward.

I was actually going to write about this today if I had the chance. This is all about the hijacking of the process and the money for Christie's benefit.

[Squinch]

24. Where can we see the rest of what you wrote?

[Laxman]

29. It Was A Response To This Thread....

last night. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4423240. This needs a little more thorough explanation to make it understandable, but this is the crux of what they have been doing with Sandy money.

[TexasTowelie]

15. The next segment of the show focused on the fact that the Integrity Monitoring Law

that was passed in March 2013 was ignored and violated repeatedly through the remainder of 2013 due to the lack of oversight. While I understand the difficulty of complying with new regulations and most of the fault belongs with the NJ Dept. of Treasury, the outsourcing of the process to E&Y is questionable and ultimately the governor has responsibility to assure that the agencies comply with the law. The fact that the database transparency law was vetoed and the lack of monitoring lends to charges of malfeasance and corruption.

[Laxman]

62. Beyond The Monitor...

every public official in NJ MUST fill out a form each year that has the following questions:

2. Please list below any professional relationship with any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation or other business organization, including any subsidiary or related company thereof, that has sought or been awarded a public contract with your agency or any agency with which you have involvement in the procurement process. Include both the name of the business organization and the nature of the professional relationship.

and

3. Please list below any personal relationship with any principal officer or director of any firm, association, partnership, corporation or other business organization, including any subsidiary or related company thereof, that has sought or been awarded a public contract with your agency or any agency with which you have involvement in the procurement process. Include the name of the principal officer or director, the name of the business organization and the nature of the personal relationship.

Chris Christie/Todd Christie, Lori Grifa/Wolff & Samson, Jeff Chiesa/Wolff & Samson, and many others seem to have an issue here.

[diabeticman]

21. O M G!!! Now news that the FEDS are looking into GWB closing.

[avebury]

30. This scandal keeps spreading just like a sinkhole.

I hope that, at some time, Kornacki will put together a flow chart (updated regularly of course ) on all of his findings. It is becoming harder to keep track of everything. And I don't think that he is even close to figuring out where this will all go.

[Justice]

31. Investigative journalism at its best

Steve has great tone and presentation, he does not grandstand. I wish he were on at night during the week. The tie into Ernst and young and Todd Christie's is stunning.

[Squinch]

50. I wish he were on more often too, but I wonder if this format gives him time to DO the investigating

If he had to fill up an hour 5 nights a week, we might not be seeing the same kind of depth that he does now.

So in the end, I say, he ain't broke.

[TexasTowelie]

32. One of the points that came across from one of the guests

(I didn't get her name) is that eventually someone has to evaluate and decide which projects will be approved and occur. For all the complaints that the federal government programs are not responsive to public and subject to fraud, the same things can occur if the projects are approved at a lower level.

After all, all politics is local.

[Laxman]

33. This Is A Problem Inherent In The Process

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4405119

When Hurricane Sandy Hit, the conservative republicans were reticent to allocate large sums of money to recovery efforts. Unfortunately, every story like this makes their miserly and callous response seem prudent. Sandy money, allocated through Community Development Block Grants, were designed to be spent in a number of ways to address the myriad of Sandy's effects. It was a once in a generation investment to recover and at the same time reduce vulnerability for the future. It was not to be doled out for any project that could even marginally be linked to Sandy. Belleville suffered some flooding in a largely industrial and commercial area along the tidal Passaic River. This project was nowhere near the flooding. This project has no connection with the flooding or its effects. This is an example of how Christie has utilized this pot of money for personal political effect, not well considered recovery measures.

Using the block grant process was a requirement created by the republican congress to keep the federal government out of the hair of the states (most disasters tend to occur in very republican environs).

[Justice]

34. Christie was like Willy Wonka with a golden ticket to run for president

Like it or not, he was a formidable candidate. All he had to do is oversee the Sandy rebuild in NJ to show how government works well - he would have been able to use it against conversations and tea party candidates. What a complete idiot he is. My spouse says he had the objective to be president and let his people implement what they thought was a strategy to get him there. I cannot believe he surrounded himself with such stupid people.


Bush's people - Cheny, Rove are evil but not stupid. Christie's people are stupid.

[Betty]

36. Stupid

AND evil

[Justice]

38. Correct!

[Justice]

37. Pascrelli: how did this all happen?

Says they better tell now (Christie's people) because when they (state legislature and feds) find out later it will be far worse for you (meaning Christie's people).

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

41. Bob Ingle and Suzy Khumm need to read this

and it will all start to make sense. This is the chain of custody they were talking about.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024364984

Wolff & Samson's stock in trade is public access and influence. In this particular administration, that reach goes directly to the Governor's office. So what they do, after politely leaving the decision maker level, is start to work their way up the chain of command and try to pressure the decision maker from above. David Samson and their law firm have the ear of the governor in NJ. They have a very close relationship. So word goes to the governor's office and he uses his "people", in this incidence the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs and his Lieutenant Governor, to apply the pressure. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes just the word from above is enough to change the decision makers mind. Sometimes there is more leverage available. Promises of promotion. Threats of firing. They've been used by this administration in attempts to get their way. Here, a fund of billions of dollars in much needed Sandy aid provides the leverage. Rockefeller and Wolff & Samson never need to make a threat or make the deal or apply pressure. Christie and his people did it for them. It's just how they operate.

Wolff & Samson excelled at lining up the ducks for their clients in Trenton. They would set it up, stand back and let the public officials at DEP, DCA, EDA and the governor's office make it all happen. Like that old game Mouse Trap. They would build the contraption, start the ball rolling and watch the machine work.

[mucifer]

48. First 20 minutes of the show are available now at UP's website:

http://www.msnbc.com/up-with-steve-kornacki

[RKP5637]

53. Thanks for posting, saw this and turned it on just now. n/t

[bkanderson76]

67. We Must Strongly Support Mr. Steve Kornacki and His Fine Investigative Journalism

[gordianot]

74. In Kornacki's case Priebus needs to complain to MSNBC my guess is for now he will lay low.

Christie in many ways is the epitome of Republican politics, this time squashed before it really got started. There are plenty of Republican machines ready to step in with some National Republican build up probably with similar issues. Expect any investigation or comparison to Christie to elicit howls complaint from Republicans. They still have not recovered from Nixon's demise and fought real journalism since that day (why Fox News was created).

[Justice]

68. The more I hear, the more I wonder why Christie gave that 2 hour press conference

Kornacki ended with the note that he and his former Wildstein employee colleague agreed - Christie's confrontional words against Wildstein were a huge mistake - Wildstein is fiercely loyal but also a formidable enemy.

And, when the music stops, Wildstein always makes sure he has a seat.

[mucifer]

70. Well I do have to say I feel like taking a shower after watching so many

sleazy lawyers on that show.

I did like the info about Wildstein. Hopefully, that brilliant sleazy guy can take down christie.

[Cha]

75. KICK for now.. thanks TT

[TexasTowelie]

77. You're welcome.

I was awake so I thought I would take the initiative.

[pacalo]

76. Thanks for this thread!

[TexasTowelie]

78. You're welcome.

It's an important story and I was eager to hear the news this morning.

[pacalo]

79. It was the main topic I was hoping to find a discussion about today.

There's lots of good information in this thread & I particularly appreciate your recaps from the show.