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Governor Christie’s Lawyer Trying To Talk To Witnesses In Investigation Of Governor’s Office

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Friday, February 14, 2014 23:43
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Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:08 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Quote:

Governor Chris Christie’s legal strategy to deal with Bridgegate and a scandal involving the misuse of Sandy aid is raising eyebrows. Under the guise of an “internal investigation” of the governor’s office, a lawyer representing Governor Christie has been going around to key witnesses demanding documents and other information that could be used in any prosecution of the governor’s office or Governor Christie himself. The unorthodox and inappropriate behavior of Governor Christie’s lawyer is already leading to discussions over whether what is being done counts as witness tampering.

Governor Christie’s lawyer has already demanded information from Mayor Dawn Zimmer on her allegations concerning a power play that involved taking Sandy aid hostage to extort agreement on authorizing a real estate project for a politically connected developer.
Quote:

A team of attorneys retained by Governor Christie’s office in the aftermath of the George Washington Bridge scandal is seeking documents and a private interview with the Hoboken mayor, whose explosive allegations have added to the governor’s woes… But Zimmer, who has already met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and gave authorities a journal in which she recounted the alleged threat delivered by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, declined the invitation.

“We question whether it is appropriate for the Governor’s Office, in essence, to be investigating itself, particularly when an investigation of the same subject matter is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Zimmer’s attorney wrote in a reply letter sent to Mastro on Thursday. The Christie administration and Guadagno have denied Zimmer’s claims. http://www.northjersey.com/news/Lawyer_for_Christie_administration_see
king_documents_interview_with_Hoboken_mayor_.html



Governor Christie’s lawyer has also reportedly contacted Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich in hopes of learning more information concerning his allegations and what he told the US Attorney’s office. Mayor Sokolich recently disclosed that the Christie 2013 Campaign did in fact ask for his endorsement.

The inappropriate push by Governor Christie’s lawyer for information from witnesses involved in a case against the governor’s office comes amidst 18 new subpoenas being issued by the New Jersey legislature’s Special Investigative Committee. The new subpoenas were authorized in the same session that rejected Fifth Amendment defenses by former Christie Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly and former Christie Campaign Manager Bill Stepien.

The investigation is just getting started and still no one knows exactly why those access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed. http://news.firedoglake.com/2014/02/11/governor-christies-lawyer-tryin
g-to-talk-to-witnesses-in-investigation-of-governors-office
/



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Friday, February 14, 2014 3:27 AM

SHINYGOODGUY


The ironical part about that is the governor's own words are coming back to bite him in the ass.

He stated in his marathon press conference that he had no intention of questioning his rogue staff members because they "lied to him" and so as not to appear that he was tampering with potential witnesses. This was even before they were subpoenaed. Hmmmm, isn't that curious. How did he know?

Also, pursuing the mayor of Hoboken could be considered witness tampering, as a former prosecutor he should know that. As governor, he was perfectly within his office's presumed authority to question and investigate his employees as to any wrongdoing/abuse of power. But now, it appears as a conflict of interest. His staffers, had he followed up, could not effectively apply the 5th Amendment statute rendering the point moot.

Christie is no fool and knows how the game is played. The man has them the size of grapefruits, but obviously has thought this through. Having fired his staffers was a preemptive strike in case it ever hit the fan, which it most definitely has. And notice too, that the US Attorney handling the case is playing it close to the vest. No leaks, press conferences, nothing - he's staying the course and biding his time.

What Christie's lawyer is attempting to do is equivalent to Cousin Vinny trying to finagle the prosecutor into turning over the files on the case, with one small difference, Vinny had every right to "discovery" - Mastro has no legal standing. Going after Sokolich is more of the same, trying to obtain "discovery" materials and see what the opposition has on the governor. To me, that's a desperate move on the governor's part.

The new subpoenas, I just learned, include documents surrounding a NJ Rail project aimed at improving commuter transport that would have relieved incoming traffic to NYC and created jobs. The ARC project was first supported by Christie, until he became governor, then he killed it citing cost overruns. Of course, those costs overruns and burdens were completely false. Christie took over $8 Billion in federal monies and used it to rebuild and repair roads and bridges in NJ. Sound familiar. The US Attorney is looking into it. It may not be illegal, but he arbitrarily appropriated federal funds earmarked for a specific expenditure and relocated it. Ring a bell?

This is unrelated but: Christie, during Romney's run for president, took Mitt into a back room and strong-armed Romney telling him not to dare raise any money for his campaign in NJ without his permission.

The size of grapefruits!


SGG


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
Quote:

Governor Chris Christie’s legal strategy to deal with Bridgegate and a scandal involving the misuse of Sandy aid is raising eyebrows. Under the guise of an “internal investigation” of the governor’s office, a lawyer representing Governor Christie has been going around to key witnesses demanding documents and other information that could be used in any prosecution of the governor’s office or Governor Christie himself. The unorthodox and inappropriate behavior of Governor Christie’s lawyer is already leading to discussions over whether what is being done counts as witness tampering.

Governor Christie’s lawyer has already demanded information from Mayor Dawn Zimmer on her allegations concerning a power play that involved taking Sandy aid hostage to extort agreement on authorizing a real estate project for a politically connected developer.
Quote:

A team of attorneys retained by Governor Christie’s office in the aftermath of the George Washington Bridge scandal is seeking documents and a private interview with the Hoboken mayor, whose explosive allegations have added to the governor’s woes… But Zimmer, who has already met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and gave authorities a journal in which she recounted the alleged threat delivered by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, declined the invitation.

“We question whether it is appropriate for the Governor’s Office, in essence, to be investigating itself, particularly when an investigation of the same subject matter is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Zimmer’s attorney wrote in a reply letter sent to Mastro on Thursday. The Christie administration and Guadagno have denied Zimmer’s claims. http://www.northjersey.com/news/Lawyer_for_Christie_administration_see
king_documents_interview_with_Hoboken_mayor_.html



Governor Christie’s lawyer has also reportedly contacted Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich in hopes of learning more information concerning his allegations and what he told the US Attorney’s office. Mayor Sokolich recently disclosed that the Christie 2013 Campaign did in fact ask for his endorsement.

The inappropriate push by Governor Christie’s lawyer for information from witnesses involved in a case against the governor’s office comes amidst 18 new subpoenas being issued by the New Jersey legislature’s Special Investigative Committee. The new subpoenas were authorized in the same session that rejected Fifth Amendment defenses by former Christie Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly and former Christie Campaign Manager Bill Stepien.

The investigation is just getting started and still no one knows exactly why those access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed. http://news.firedoglake.com/2014/02/11/governor-christies-lawyer-tryin
g-to-talk-to-witnesses-in-investigation-of-governors-office
/




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Friday, February 14, 2014 7:30 AM

MAL4PREZ


A history of the wheeling and dealing behind Christie's career:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116601/chris-christies-rise-and-fal
l


"And yet, even post-Bridgegate, the prevailing interpretations of Christie fundamentally miss the mark. He has been so singularly successful at constructing his own mythology—as a reformer, a crusader, a bipartisan problem-solver—that people have never really seen him clearly. Over the past three months, I talked to more than 50 people who have crossed paths with Christie throughout his career—legislators, officials, Democrats, Republicans, lawyers, longtime New Jersey politicos. (Christie himself didn’t respond to a detailed request for comment.) The problem with Christie isn’t merely that he is a bully. It’s that his political career is built on a rotten foundation. Christie owes his rise to some of the most toxic forces in his state—powerful bosses who ensure that his vow to clean up New Jersey will never come to pass. He has allowed them to escape scrutiny, rewarded them for their support, and punished their enemies. All along, even as it looked like Christie was attacking the machine, he was really just mastering it."


The article goes on to give several detailed examples.


*-------------------------------------------------*
I am not the sucker of the day.


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Friday, February 14, 2014 11:43 PM

SHINYGOODGUY


Thanks for posting McGillis's article, I've heard nothing but good things about it.


SGG

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