Time for some TRAFFIC!

[Puppycow]

 

[Rare Truth]

Samson, (remember that name) former Christie campaign counsel -- and current Port Authority head appointed by CC has hired a top notch lawyer. Here's a name y'all will remember: Michael Chertoff.

Yup, former Homeland Security Secretary under Bush. Heck of a job, Sammy.

Reporting today in NJ.com:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/20...ecurity_chief_as_attorney_in_gwb_scandal.html

Smoking emails:

"The New York side gave Fort Lee back all three lanes this morning," Wildstein wrote to Kelly that Friday, Sept. 13. "We are appropriately going nuts. Samson helping us to retaliate."

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ss...ority_chairman_blasts_executive_director.html

Oh, and there's this: "Samson's law firm, Wolff & Samson, was drawn into a broadening discussion of the lane closures and other recent developments when Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer said she was pressured to expedite a development project represented by Samson's firm."

 

[Checkmite]

I'll say it: I had high hopes for Chris Christie, when after Hurricane Sandy he seemed to put the partisan thing behind him and seek out to work directly with Obama's government during the response stage. It earned him a lot of vitriol at the time and since from fellow Republicans, who evidently felt that making a show of disconnecting from the Federal government during Obama's presidency was more important than doing everything possible and necessary to provide disaster relief for constituents.

I'll also admit that when the very beginnings of this scandal began to break, I considered it just another manifestation of own-party maltreatment of Christie.

This latest allegation by the mayor of Hoboken that getting state-coordinated hurricane relief for her city was tied to her having to pull some strings to benefit the interests of Christie's port authority chief is horrific. I see that today she spoke with Federal prosecutors about her claims; a move I fully support.

 

[Bob001]

And the fire spreads further:

Hoboken Mayor says Christie wanted a real estate development deal OKed in exchange for Sandy money

This is consistent with Rachel Maddow's story there was a similar deal quashed by Fort Lee mayor that was behind the 'revenge', not just the lack of endorsement of Christie for reelection. The NY Times reports on the story.

The Fort Lee story is really the other way around. The Fort Lee mayor was negotiating the financing to build a billion-dollar development project, and Christie shut down the Fort Lee access lanes at a delicate point that could have delayed or killed the project. When the lanes were reopened the financing was approved.

 

[Craig4]

I'll say it: I had high hopes for Chris Christie, when after Hurricane Sandy he seemed to put the partisan thing behind him and seek out to work directly with Obama's government during the response stage. It earned him a lot of vitriol at the time and since from fellow Republicans, who evidently felt that making a show of disconnecting from the Federal government during Obama's presidency was more important than doing everything possible and necessary to provide disaster relief for constituents.

I'll also admit that when the very beginnings of this scandal began to break, I considered it just another manifestation of own-party maltreatment of Christie.

This latest allegation by the mayor of Hoboken that getting state-coordinated hurricane relief for her city was tied to her having to pull some strings to benefit the interests of Christie's port authority chief is horrific. I see that today she spoke with Federal prosecutors about her claims; a move I fully support.

Yep, I'd say this presidential campaign is stillborn. The fact that the story has legs beyond the bridgegate bit and lots of really unpresidential video and audio that got dredged up means this one won't get off the ground.

 

[Unabogie]

I'll say it: I had high hopes for Chris Christie, when after Hurricane Sandy he seemed to put the partisan thing behind him and seek out to work directly with Obama's government during the response stage. It earned him a lot of vitriol at the time and since from fellow Republicans, who evidently felt that making a show of disconnecting from the Federal government during Obama's presidency was more important than doing everything possible and necessary to provide disaster relief for constituents.

I'll also admit that when the very beginnings of this scandal began to break, I considered it just another manifestation of own-party maltreatment of Christie.

This latest allegation by the mayor of Hoboken that getting state-coordinated hurricane relief for her city was tied to her having to pull some strings to benefit the interests of Christie's port authority chief is horrific. I see that today she spoke with Federal prosecutors about her claims; a move I fully support.

And she was smart enough to make contemporaneous notes about it. I seriously think that Christie is in some legal jeopardy if anyone of his lackies lays the finger on him. At this point his only hope is that all of his people stay loyal, but that is going to depend on how much jail time they are facing.

ETA: A few more things about Zimmer. She's provided all of her notes to the US attorney and made a statement to them about her allegation. At this point, if she were lying she'd be in legal jeopardy herself for lying to federal officers. And she's offering to testify under oath and is calling out Guadagno a challenging her to deny this under oath. I think this makes her extremely credible. The biggest irony here is that Christie made his bones by going after exactly this kind of graft. For him to be taken down by it would be amazing.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

The Fort Lee story is really the other way around. The Fort Lee mayor was negotiating the financing to build a billion-dollar development project, and Christie shut down the Fort Lee access lanes at a delicate point that could have delayed or killed the project. When the lanes were reopened the financing was approved.

Not how I read the news reports. Umm, did you have a link with your news version?

 

[Bob001]

Not how I read the news reports. Umm, did you have a link with your news version?

From your own link:

Near the end of the two-page letter, Mr. Sokolich asked, “What do I do when our billion-dollar redevelopment is put online at the end of the next year?”

That query highlighted just how sensitive a matter the project was to Mr. Sokolich.
.....
If the development projects are completed, Mr. Sokolich will get credit for an accomplishment that eluded several of his predecessors.

Sokolich is the mayor of Fort Lee who wants the billion-dollar project. The theory is that Christie's pals tried to sabotage it.

Also:

Kornacki explained that there is currently a billion dollar development project in Fort Lee, right next to where the lane closures occurred. The project is a keystone of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich's tenure.

As Kornacki explains, the closure of two of the three access lanes may have been part of a larger effort to shut them down for good, which could have significantly diminished potential investors' interest in the project. Close the lanes, and the entire project could be derailed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/12/steve-kornacki-chris-christie-bridge-scandal_n_4585830.html

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

Stories like this always make me realize how little I understand politics. To me it makes no sense that Christie would have a vendetta against the Ft. Lee mayor and even less sense that he would want to kill this project, which is bound to bring in massive dollars to New Jersey, disproportionate to any satisfaction from screwing with the mayor.

 

[Puppycow]

Stories like this always make me realize how little I understand politics. To me it makes no sense that Christie would have a vendetta against the Ft. Lee mayor and even less sense that he would want to kill this project, which is bound to bring in massive dollars to New Jersey, disproportionate to any satisfaction from screwing with the mayor.

Maybe one developer was a Christie backer and the other was not?

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

Maybe one developer was a Christie backer and the other was not?

Could be, but it doesn't quite make sense, because they would need to permanently remove or reduce access to the development site to kill the project. They'd be better off throwing up administrative or legal hurdles.

The motive originally theorized does not make sense either. Why would Christie expect someone in the opposition party to endorse him?

 

[hgc]

The motive originally theorized does not make sense either. Why would Christie expect someone in the opposition party to endorse him?

The answer to this is easy. He asked for and received many endorsements from Dem politicians because he was trying to "run up the score," as he himself put it in his "epic" press conference. He wasn't just running for governor, he was running for president, and his bi-partisan cred and overwhelming margin of victory (hoping for, but missing, the record) was a part of his presidential campaign positioning.

Even if he weren't running for prez, what politician would turn down mass support from the opposing party?

 

[eeyore1954]

I'll say it: I had high hopes for Chris Christie, when after Hurricane Sandy he seemed to put the partisan thing behind him and seek out to work directly with Obama's government during the response stage. It earned him a lot of vitriol at the time and since from fellow Republicans, who evidently felt that making a show of disconnecting from the Federal government during Obama's presidency was more important than doing everything possible and necessary to provide disaster relief for constituents.

I'll also admit that when the very beginnings of this scandal began to break, I considered it just another manifestation of own-party maltreatment of Christie.

This latest allegation by the mayor of Hoboken that getting state-coordinated hurricane relief for her city was tied to her having to pull some strings to benefit the interests of Christie's port authority chief is horrific. I see that today she spoke with Federal prosecutors about her claims; a move I fully support.

I agree if this happened she is doing the right thing. But why did she not go when it happened. She says she wanted to do what is best for Hoboken but
is allowing this type of behavior best for anyone and also it seems to me if she had come out about the alledged threat at the beginning it would have helped Hoboken's chances for money.
I was under the impression Hoboken did fairly well on Sandy money. Does anyone know where you can find a breakdown of who got what?

 

[Bob001]

Could be, but it doesn't quite make sense, because they would need to permanently remove or reduce access to the development site to kill the project. They'd be better off throwing up administrative or legal hurdles.

The Christie guys talked about closing the two lanes permanently. Just the talk would have been enough to scare away the investors. And if the financing had fallen through, it wouldn't be easy to get it back. Closing bridge access was a lot quicker and more blatant than trying to find some kind of administrative or legal obstacle, especially if the primary goal was to embarrass the mayor.

The speculation is that by causing a Democratic mayor to fail, Christie would boost his own reputation as the only guy in New Jersey who can get things done. It might also be that Christie expected some kind of concessions or participation that he didn't get.

The motive originally theorized does not make sense either. Why would Christie expect someone in the opposition party to endorse him?

New Jersey has hundreds of towns and municipalities, and quite a number of Republican officials did endorse him, likely under pressure. Christie wanted to establish himself as someone with lots of bipartisan support to enhance his credibility as a presidential candidate. It also helped pull money away from his Democratic opponent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...586bf8-7e2d-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_story.html
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ss...mpaign_announcement_in_burlington_county.html

 

[Rare Truth]

I agree if this happened she is doing the right thing. But why did she not go when it happened. She says she wanted to do what is best for Hoboken but
is allowing this type of behavior best for anyone and also it seems to me if she had come out about the alledged threat at the beginning it would have helped Hoboken's chances for money.

This is what she said about why she didn't:

"When asked why she waited to come forward about the governor's office's efforts to link Sandy aid to the real estate project, Zimmer said she didn't think anyone would believe her.

"I didn't think anyone would believe me," she said. "I wanted Hoboken to still have a chance of getting funding."

Zimmer was worried that if she accused the governor of withholding funds, Hoboken would receive very little aid."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hoboken-mayor-zimmer-defends-sandy-aid-claims

I was under the impression Hoboken did fairly well on Sandy money. Does anyone know where you can find a breakdown of who got what?

300,000 was all Hoboken received of Sandy money.

 

[Bob001]

I agree if this happened she is doing the right thing. But why did she not go when it happened. She says she wanted to do what is best for Hoboken but
is allowing this type of behavior best for anyone and also it seems to me if she had come out about the alledged threat at the beginning it would have helped Hoboken's chances for money.
I was under the impression Hoboken did fairly well on Sandy money. Does anyone know where you can find a breakdown of who got what?

She said recently she didn't go public at the time because she didn't think anybody would believe her. She has also said that much of the money that Hoboken did receive was from flood insurance, not from funds Christie controlled:

Hoboken requested $127 million in Sandy recovery funds and got only $342,000, according to Zimmer. Christie’s camp said the Sandy-devastated city actually got some $70 million, but Zimmer said Sunday that was flood insurance money that had nothing to do with the recovery funds controlled by the governor.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/n-mayor-christie-held-sandy-aid-hostage-article-1.1584658

Also:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/18/polit...boken-mayor-christie-20140119,0,2344502.story

 

[eeyore1954]

She should not have gone public she should have gone to the appropriate authorizes.
But if she had gone public don't you think it would have made it hard for Christie to retaliate.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

No. I don't.

 

[Unabogie]

She should not have gone public she should have gone to the appropriate authorizes.
But if she had gone public don't you think it would have made it hard for Christie to retaliate.

Isn't there an old proverb that says if you go after the King, you best kill him? She's a nobody mayor and he's a national figure who, as we can all clearly see now, engages in serious payback against his political enemies.

Incidentally, this is the same logic that wonders why rape victims or domestic violence victims or molestation victims don't just tell police or their families at the abuse happened. They say the same thing: they just didn't think anyone would believe them and things would just get much worse by telling.

But what she did do was document her conversations and we can look at the results and see that Hoboken got a pittance of the money Christie was doling out, even though that city was one of the hardest hit in the entire country.

Also, where's Christie in all of this? He's remarkably silent for a guy who likes to talk as much as he does.

 

[eeyore1954]

Isn't there an old proverb that says if you go after the King, you best kill him? She's a nobody mayor and he's a national figure who, as we can all clearly see now, engages in serious payback for his political enemies.

Incidentally, this is the same logic that wonders why rape victims or domestic violence victims or molestation victims don't just tell police or their families at the abuse happened. They say the same thing: they just didn't think anyone would believe them and things would just get much worse by telling.

But what she did do was document her conversations and we can look at the results and see that Hoboken got a pittance of the money Christie was doling out, even though that city was one of the hardest hit in the entire country.

Also, where's Christie in all of this? He's remarkably silent for a guy who likes to talk as much as he does.

Do you have any list of how much various communities got? So we can see what she got was a pittance.

A mayor of a city like Hoboken is a world of diference from a rape victim.
There are plenty of people who do not like Christie and she could have gotten good coverage if she accused his office of this and then got a very small amount of money.


Her is what she has said before. Was she was lying then?

Zimmer's comments Saturday and Sunday are a change from what she told CNN on January 11. She said then that while she wondered whether Sandy aid funds were being withheld because she didn't endorse the governor's re-election, she concluded that "I don't think that's the case."

"I don't think it was retaliation and I don't have any reason to think it's retaliation, but I'm not satisfied with the amount of money I've gotten so far," Zimmer told CNN then. She did not mention her concerns about the redevelopment project.