UPDATED: Judge: Key BridgeGate Figures Don't Have To Give Documents To Lawmakers

[DonViejo]

Last edited Wed Apr 9, 2014, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: TPM

ERIC LACH – APRIL 9, 2014, 4:21 PM EDT

The New Jersey legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures lost a key court battle when a judge ruled on Wednesday that two key figures in the scandal do not have to turn over documents.

Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson denied the request by the committee to force Bridget Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie (R), and Bill Stepien, Christie's former campaign manager, to turn over documents in response to subpoenas.

Kelly and Stepien were among the 20 individuals and organizations who received subpoenas in January for the committee, and they both then invoked their Fifth Amendment rights in response to those subpoenas. They had both been tied to the lane closures by their appearance in documents released in January. Kelly, who sent the infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," was fired by Christie after the release of the documents. Stepien was asked to leave his role as a consultant to the Republican Governors' Association, and to take his name out of the running for chairman of New Jersey's Republican Party.

The committee and lawyers representing Kelly and Stepien went back and forth for weeks before taking the matter before a judge. The committee's ability to obtain documents from both of them was seen as a crucial measure of its ability to conduct a full investigation.

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Stepien Kelly Opinion 2

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/court-battle-kelly-stepien

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[MindMover]

1. Ex-Christie Aides Can Withhold Documents From Lawmakers: Judge

A New Jersey judge has ruled that two key figures in a political payback scandal ensnaring Gov. Chris Christie's administration do not have to turn over documents to a legislative investigative panel.

Former Christie loyalists Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien had been fighting subpoenas calling for them to hand over documents regarding a plot to create traffic jams in Fort Lee as apparent retaliation against the town's mayor.

Lawyers have asserted the pair's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination due to an ongoing federal investigation into the September traffic jams.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Chris-Christie-Aides-Judge-Subpoenas-Documents-GWB-Scandal-254602811.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_NYBrand

[gussmith]

3. Interesting Call

To be circumvented by the federal investigation; what a waste of time.

[DURHAM D]

2. Judge Jacobson was first appointed to the Court

by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. iows - looks like the Judge is a Republican

[markpkessinger]

9. Actually, it's kind of hard to pin her down . . .

. . . She is also the judge who, last September, who ruled against the Christie administration in ordering NJ to permit same sex couples to marry, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Windsor.

I also looked her up on RobeProbe.com, where there are many complaints about her, but the complaints seem to be all over the map. In fact, a lot of the complaints appear to be from right-winger types who are furious with her for being an "ultra-feminist."

[markpkessinger]

4. It's an outrageous ruling . . .

. . . but in the end, it may not matter all that much, since the big story now is not the state legislature's investigation, but is instead the feds' investigation. Still, I hope the lawyers for the legislature can appeal this ruling.

[Politicalboi]

5. That's insane

Weren't they were on the "clock"? Don't the taxpayers deserve to see what goes on in "their" government.

[DURHAM D]

12. Yep - Seems like a no-brainer. nt

[valerief]

6. So why subpoena them at all? nt

[Bill USA]

7. Gov Christie will have to remember to send a dozen roses to Judge Jacobsen. Better than putting a

horse's head in Kelly's bed. Ha-ha-ha... Just KIDDING of course.

recommended!

[blm]

8. Let me guess - she's a Republican?

.

[former9thward]

10. Whatever she is, she ruled against Christie on same sex marriage.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/same_sex_marriage_debate_is_background_noise_for_a_judge_with_bayonne_roots.html

[Dawson Leery]

11. This does NOT affect the federal investigation.

[sakabatou]

14. Good

[blkmusclmachine]

13. Huge favor to CC

[Cheerful Charlie]

15. This was a Jersey Judge?

Wait until the Federal judge gets on the case.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/04/1289731/-U-S-Attorney-convenes-grand-jury-in-probe-of-Chris-Christie-s-involvement-in-Bridgegate