Fat boy blocked the bridge

[Lord Jim]

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (D) on Thursday said he accepted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's apology for any problems the George Washington Bridge lane closures caused for the mayor and town residents.

"I accepted his apology," Sokolich said after a meeting with the governor. "We believe we're content at the moment, and an investigation will tell us the balance of what needs to be told."

Even though Sokolich said that he did not want Christie to come to Fort Lee for an apology, Christie insisted and Sokolich said he was glad the governor stopped by.

"I'm glad he came," Sokolich said. "I indicated maybe it wouldn't be productive to come up now. It wasn't to be disrespectful. It was just, would it make more sense to do it when the investigation is completed? The governor insisted, and we would certainly welcome our governor with open arms, as we did."

Christie said he had "a very warm, very productive meeting" with Sokolich.

"I look forward to working with him in the future," Christie said while leaving the meeting.

Sokolich said that he believes Christie's claims that he did not know about his aides' plans to shut down lanes on the bridge.

"I take him for his word, which is, he didn't have anything to do with it," Sokolich said.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/f ... ie-apology

Obviously, if Christie had lied about not seeking an endorsement from Sokolich, the Fort Lee mayor wouldn't "take him for his word", he'd be calling him out for lying.

So we can now be reasonably certain that Christie was least telling the the truth about that. (unless you believe Sokolich is part of the cover-up, which if you saw him on CNN yesterday you would know is impossible.)

[rubato]

The fact that it was such a large number of his assistants suggests that their actions are an accurate reflection his values but lacked his judgement in how not to be caught.


In a short while the attention of the public will have moved on and he can give them nice, profitable, soft landings for not ratting him out.





yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

Just found this piece from a few years ago on Christie's history: Chris Christie has lost the benefit of the doubt

When Chris Christie first ran for Freeholder and was sued for defamation, it wasn't his fault and he did nothing wrong.

When Chris Christie went from "not a candidate for US Attorney" to being appointed US Attorney after he was directly responsible for raising hundreds of thousands (and his brother donates hundreds of thousands) for Bush, the donations had nothing to do with it.

And when many top NJ lawyers pointed out that Christie didn't have any experience in criminal law and his appointment was directly connected to the above hundreds of thousands in donations for Bush, that was just a coincidence.

When Chris Christie suddenly got off the list of US Attorneys to be fired at the same time he issued bogus subpoenas to Senator Menendez weeks before the 2006 election, the timing was just a coincidence and Christie's word should be trusted.

When Chris Christie gave his top aide Michele Brown a $46,000 loan and didn't report it on his tax return or other disclosure documents, that was just an oversight and not a conflict of interest.

When it was discovered that criminal-turned-informant Solomon Dwek, the man who Christie turned from bank fraudster to briber-of-elected-Democrats, donated to Bush directly through Chris Christie, the two were in no way connected.

And when Michele Brown pushed to have the Dwek bribery arrests of elected Democrats announced at an opportune time during the campaign, there was nothing wrong with that. The same Michele Brown that had the $46,000 unreported loan from her boss Chris Christie.

When Chris Christie gave his former boss John Ashcroft a no bid deal worth at least $30 million, despite Ashcroft having no experience for this work, he demanded that he be given the benefit of the doubt.

When Christie's brother was not indicted, despite being found by the SEC to have made 1,600 illegal trades, bilking investors out of almost $1.5 million and netting himself $1.5 million, it was just a coincidence.

When the US Attorney from NY didn't prosecute his brother for securities fraud and then got a multi million no bid deal from Christie himself, it was just a coincidence.

And when it was discovered that Chris Christie violated the Hatch Act by discussing running for Governor while still a US Attorney, that was "an attempt to smear him".

When Chris Christie also gave a multi-million no bid deal to buddies Herb Stern and John Inglesino and then Inglesino raised tens of thousands for his campaign, there was no "quid pro quo".

When Assemblyman Richard Merkt said that same John Inglesino tried to bribe Merkt to drop out of the Governor's race with a "major position", it was denied, and Christie knew nothing about it anyway.

And when Chris Christie went the wrong way down a one way street, causing an accident, sending the biker he hit to a trauma center - then didn't get a ticket when he identified himself as US Attorney - he did nothing wrong.

And when Christie was caught in an apparent lie about being sued by that biker, that was just a misunderstanding and he had forgot.

And when Chris Christie was stopped for speeding in an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, only to pull rank and not get a ticket, his position as US Attorney had nothing to do with him being able to leave without his car being towed.

When Christie hijacked the Race to the Top application process, only to lose $400 million for the state's students and then get caught in at least two apparent lies, that wasn't his fault - it was Obama's and Bret Schundler's.

When a recent DOJ report identified Chris Christie as being the biggest offender of overbilling the Government for extravagant and unsubstantiated travel expenses of all the US Attorneys, it was because nothing other than 5 star hotels and limos were available.

When Chris Christie recently was caught inflating numbers about the ARC tunnel cost, that wasn't done on purpose for political reasons.

And now Chris Christie has decided that he's now a scientist and doubts global warming, he should be trusted to be skeptical?

Let's face it. The man has a carefully crafted false bravado persona that is in direct contrast to the layer upon layer of lie, conflict, hypocrisy, insider deals, abuse of authority, quick tempered emotional decisions and favoritism. And quite honestly, if he was a Democrat and not Republican, he'd be skewered, mocked and hated by the right - and rightfully so.

He consistently is defensive about anyone daring to ask about the long list of his actions and behavior - always saying that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. That he should be trusted. That he is right.

He has lost that right - although I'm not sure he ever deserved it in the first place.

[Econoline]

Rachel Maddow has come up with a convincing alternative theory as to who in Fort Lee was the real object of the retaliatory traffic problems: it wasn't Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich but rather NJ State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D). You'll have to watch the clip for the full explanation, but I think Maddow's narrative is very thorough and very convincing.

[Big RR]

Oh, I might even buy that he didn't know about it, if Mayor Sokolich says he was never asked for an endorsement or some other "favor." But there again, I don't get the personal animosity to "the little Serbian" displayed in the emails unless he was somehow a thorn in the side of Wildstein, Baroni, Kelly, Stepien or Christie himself.

Maybe, but I do think your last point raises questions as does the fact that everything I have heard about Christie makes me think no one would ever take doing such a thing without his approval. It might just be an "Well I don't know about it and don't want to know about it", but I have a hard time of thinking any less. As for why, maybe it wasn't an endorsement , but Christie has a pretty thin skin. And he loves getting even.

[RayThom]

Guilty or innocent? What did he know, and when did he know it?

Regardless, after all the denial and finger pointing is over, one thing still remains. How will they explain away the elderly woman who died after her ambulance was delayed due to the road closures ordered by Mr. Big and/or his band of flunkies? Christie took all the blame yesterday, will he take all the blame if the coroner's finding says the woman died due to a protracted emergency response? And who might eventually be charged with involuntary manslaughter? That's a rap Bridget Anne Kelly may not be strong enough to take by herself. The plot thickens.

Crisp Crispy-creme's road to the White House just received a few lane closures of its own. And I so wanted him to be a major contender. Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

Thanks for listening to my rant. Your best thread-ender, Ray

[oldr_n_wsr]

How many invesigations into this do we need? Shouldn't they all just get together and have one investigation rather than the 3 or 4 I heard about?

[RayThom]

POLITICS.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I shoulda known.

[Gob]

Trenton, NJ: Governor Chris Christie faces a federal investigation over his use of $US25 million ($27 million) of Hurricane Sandy relief money for a commercial he starred in promoting tourism at the New Jersey shore.

The probe comes amid new details of political payback from the New Jersey Governor's office.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general will audit the marketing campaign, Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat who requested the probe in August, said in a statement on Monday. Democratic lawmakers have said the "Stronger Than the Storm" ads gave the 51-year-old Christie free publicity as he campaigned for a second term. He beat State Senator Barbara Buono in the November election by 22 percentage points.

"At issue is the bidding process for the campaign and released documents which raise questions as to why the state chose to award the contract to a firm that charged the state over $US2 million more than a comparable bid for similar work," Mr Pallone said. Christie spokesman Colin Reed said in a news release that the disclosure was timed to damage the governor.

"Amazing that the inspector general's investigation leaks now generating the headline 'Feds investigating Christie's use of Sandy relief funds' when the governor is at his lowest point, no?"
Advertisement

It is the second federal investigation of Christie's political activities disclosed within a week. A US attorney is examining his administration's involvement in the creation of a four-day traffic quagmire in the town of a Democratic mayor who didn't endorse the Republican governor's re-election.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/christie-us ... z2qJbDGrAJ

[Big RR]

"Amazing that the inspector general's investigation leaks now generating the headline 'Feds investigating Christie's use of Sandy relief funds' when the governor is at his lowest point, no?"

Amazing? Why? That charge has been around for a while, but the latest allegations give it a bit more legs. I doubt when Christie was US attorney he threw charges at people when they might have less chance of sticking; like all prosecutors he waited until they were at their lowest point in most cases.

[rubato]

His demise is a gift to the GOP; he was such a grossly unfit candidate for president that they are far better off looking elsewhere than wasting time trying to pump him up.


yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

It's too bad Rob Ford is a Canadian. I'd like to see Chris Christie & Rob Ford as republican running mates for President.

[RayThom]

... in fatuous. The traveling carnival sideshow has always been the most popular attraction. I don't see either of these guys as being down and out.

The round mounds of rebound are on a roll.

[Econoline]

[Joe Guy]

Ex-Port Authority Official Says ‘Evidence Exists’ Christie Knew About Lane Closings

By KATE ZERNIKEJAN. 31, 2014

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, central to the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, said on Friday that “evidence exists” that the governor knew about the closings when they were happening.

A lawyer for the former official, David Wildstein, wrote a letter describing the move to shut the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

During his news conference, Mr. Christie specifically said he had no knowledge that traffic lanes leading to the bridge had been closed until after they were reopened. “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,” he said. “And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study.”

source

[RayThom]

I've never been a big fan of the Crisco Kid but I'd like to see more than existing evidence before I share an Aha! moment. Proof would help me immensely.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed

Um uh 99% of people in the tristate area knew of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed. It was on every traffic/news report telling people to take the holland or lincoln tunnels into the city. He would have had to be deaf and blind not to know of the GWB mess.
The question is did he order or know of the order to close the lanes.

[Lord Jim]

Um uh 99% of people in the tristate area knew of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed. It was on every traffic/news report telling people to take the holland or lincoln tunnels into the city. He would have had to be deaf and blind not to know of the GWB mess.

That's exactly right...

On Friday when this letter came out, the leftie pundits on BSNBC were practically having orgasms over it...

But when you actually read the content, what Wildstein alleges specifically is meaningless, and what might genuinely have meaning is hopelessly vague...

Here's a link to a PDF of the entire letter:

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/secti ... Letter.pdf

Christie never denied having knowledge of the lane closings when they were going on; in his press conference he specifically said he learned about it in the press; (as oldr has pointed out, it would have been impossible for him not to)

That's the "specific" part that doesn't mean squat...

Then in the letter his attorney goes on to say:

"Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some"...

What the hell does that mean?

That when Christie said he only met Wildstein once in high school in 1977, he actually met him twice?

Well that would be quite the blockbuster revelation, wouldn't it?

If you read the letter, a couple of things become apparent:

First, the whole purpose of the letter is to get the state to pick up Wildstein's legal bills.

Second, Mr. Wildstein has nothing of substance to bring to the table...

The reason his attorney's letter is so weak is because he doesn't have anything to work with...

[RayThom]

Me, too. Much like I said in my two sentence post above.

Regardless of outcome, Gov. Krisp Krispy's run for the White House has gone from a sprint to a triple marathon. This debacle is rapidly changing the alchemy of the "Golden Boy" to "Lead Balloon-boy."

The sun is quickly going down for any chance of an over all Repub victory in 2014... or 2016. And the only hope for the "Grand Old Boys Party" for '16 will be a serious female candidate. Good luck to that.