Bruce Springsteen Mocks New Jersey Governor

rocknation · #**271** 10-11-2016, 06:18 AM

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Witness #8: Chris Stark, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA), (which) ...was supposed to be an outreach office—a one-stop shop for mayors, local officials and civic leaders seeking assistance from the state. But as Gov. Chris Christie's 2013 re-election campaign ramped up, the agency...became a virtual arm of the campaign, using public resources to help convince Democratic officials to endorse the governor...

(A)greeable Democrats (received) free passes to the governor's box at MetLife Stadium for Giants and Jets games; tickets to the Prudential Center for Devils NHL games and Seton Hall basketball; breakfasts and dinners with the governor...and exclusive access to Ground Zero.

Friends of the governor got their calls returned, grants for their communities, and invitations to special events. Officials that did not appear likely to endorse, or who otherwise found themselves incurring the ire of the governor himself, would ultimately be put on a list of individuals who were to be hands off ...

"We were to have no communication with them. We were not supposed to call them back," he said. He did not see that they were doing anything wrong. "It was on our free time..."

Well, wouldn't that be like Tico complaining about always having to sit in the back when he performs? Only in ChristieWorld can interfacing with leaders of municipalities and counties be regarded as an extracurricular activity at best and a necessary evil at worst. Of course, it leaves you wondering what they thought was proper to do ON company time...

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Stark...worked for Bridget Anne Kelly...(She and) and Bill Stepien, who ran the IGA office before becoming Christie's campaign manager, kept track of all the favors and giveaways...using electronic spreadsheets...Lists...were sent to Peter Sheridan, then a high ranking director at IGA, along with Kelly and Stepien.

But if Stark reported to Kelly, who did Sheridan report to? More chain of command problems. But those electronic spreadsheets could prove to be great news for Kelly: If she's still in need of a job, maybe she can get one endorsing Microsoft Excel!

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The hands off list, though, was not limited to Democrats...(When) a Republican...left a curt message...asking "Who does that fat (expletive) think he is?", Stark relayed a furious...response by the governor..."(W)ho the (expletive) do you think you are calling me a fat (expletive)? Are you a (expletive) idiot?" The governor ordered him to be in Keansburg the next day for a press conference. "If you are not standing behind me at the podium, I will (expletive) destroy you," Stark recalled hearing Christie say...

(T)he Republican...did not deny the exchange, although said the expletive he used had the word "mother" in it...

This should finally put to rest all this nonsense about Christie being pathologically partisan. Besides, the other guy started it!

rocknation · #**272** 10-11-2016, 10:38 PM

Witness #9: ex-Bridget Kelly Aide Christina Renna, who:

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Originally Posted by rocknation

...was in charge of interfacing with governmental constituents such as the mayor of Ft. Lee. If she received his complaints about the lane closures, she would have passed them up the chain of command to Kelly (who would have passed them to chief of staff Kevin O'Dowd, who would have passed them to Christie). Since Christie didn't fire her at the same time as Kelly, he evidently doesn't blame Renna for anything...

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USA Today: Christina Genovese-Renna agreed to a $500 fine after acknowledging "the contents of some of the emails she sent to her family members contained information that was not generally available to members of the public," according to the new consent order from the New Jersey Ethics Commission...(which) has ruled (she) violated conflict of interest laws by sharing unauthorized information with her husband, a top executive for the company developing (a) controversial...pipeline...

Well, here's what she had to say:

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NY Times: As the scandal over the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge mushroomed in December 2013, Bridget Anne Kelly called (aide and subordinate)...Christina Renna...in a panic: “You know, Christina, if someone tells me something is O.K., who am I to question it?” she asked.

Then, according to (Renna's) testimony...Ms. Kelly asked her to delete an email that had been written three months earlier...

The email that September day documented a call from the mayor to a young staff member in the governor’s office, in which the mayor complained about safety hazards from the shutdowns and said he suspected that they were “government retribution.” Ms. Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, had received the email from Ms. Renna and replied, “Good.”

Ms. Renna testified that she did not delete the email until the next day...(when) Christie...announce(d) the resignations of two officials at the Port Authority...Christie told reporters there that neither his campaign manager Bill Stepien, nor anyone on his senior staff, knew anything about a punitive motive behind the closings...

Ms. Renna texted another former co-worker, Peter Sheridan, during the news conference, saying: “Are you listening? He just flat-out lied about senior staff and Stepien not being involved.”

...If emails surfaced as a result, Ms. Renna wrote to Mr. Sheridan, “it could be bad.”

It sure could be bad if Kelly asked Renna to delete the email because Renna is the one who sent it -- and if Renna is the one who sent it because the Mayor of Fort Lee had been bugging her. And -- that pesky chain of command issue again -- if Kelly really way reporting directly to Christie rather than to Christie's chief of staff, it could sure get a lot worse.

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Ms. Renna told prosecutors that her text to Mr. Sheridan had been “a poor choice of words...I had no knowledge of whether or not the governor was lying or not. I just meant that based on the information I had from Bridget...that I knew personally what Governor Christie was saying seemed to contradict what I was just told.”

"Liar" is always a poor choice of word if you're lying yourself.

rocknation · #**273** 10-12-2016, 09:00 PM

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NJ.com, Oct. 2016: Renna testified ...about her increasingly troubled relationship with her boss (Bridget Kelly) and (had made) a pact with a co-worker to quit after being passed over for a promotion...(S)he complained in a text message: "I'm super pissed off. And I'm a grudge holder."

...She also described Kelly as someone who was not a "decision maker."

...Renna testified how a group of interns was brought into the office and held a bake-off contest as a team-building exercise...One of the interns brought in a doctored box of Krispy Kreme donuts that said: "Christie Crème. Expanding Nationwide in 2016."

After a photo and story appeared on NJ.com and in The Star-Ledger, Renna said the governor and other high-level staff members "all freaked out" and came down on Kelly. But Renna found out the intern wasn't reprimanded.

"She won the (expletive) contest," she complained to a co-worker. "She didn't get into trouble."

Sure, the intern should have been a little more sensitive to Christie's weight issues and his playing coy about running for president at the time ("EXPANDING nationwide"?). And of course, the intern should have reprimanded (if not fired for being so grossly unqualified) to that effect. But, as Renna said, she won the (expletive) contest. Was Renna upset that the intern didn't get into trouble because Kelly in turn "came down" on HER? What were the presumably older and politically wiser "judges" overseeing the contest thinking, and how did the pic get leaked to the media?

Christie and his immediate subordinates should have come down on Kelly's immediate superior -- Chrsitie's chief of staff at the time. But like the story of Christie referring to Wildstein as his political dirty trickster, this testimony has significance because it also suggests that the chain of command between Kelly and Christie didn't have anyone between them.

rocknation · #**274** 10-13-2016, 06:20 PM

Witness #10: Deborah Gramiccioni, Kelly subordinate turned replacement for Bill Baroni:

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NJ.com: ...Former federal prosecutor (Gramiccioni) said (s)he recalled Baroni telling her that he had heard that emails existed from Bridget Anne Kelly regarding the unauthorized lane changes, but he had not seen them. "I was surprised to hear that," Gramiccioni testified. She told him to tell the governor's chief counsel (Charlie McKenna) and chief of staff (Kevin O'Dowd) because "it's better they hear it from you first."

She told the governor the night before a Dec. 13, 2013, press conference announcing her appointment that there was a "hum"...that Kelly was on emails related to the lane closures. "He appeared visibly upset to hear that," she testified...

She said the governor called senior staff together and angrily demanded to know if anyone had any emails related to the lane closures. She said she later saw...O'Dowd...in Kelly's office standing over her. (Christie campaign manager Bill) Stepien was there as well... "She adamantly denied having anything to do with the lane closures," said Gramiccioni, who described Kelly as a friend.

I would think that having been a federal prosecutor, Christie would have asked his staff a more relevant question along the lines of "Did ANY of you have ANYTHING to do with these lane closings?" And I would think that having been a federal prosecutor, Gramiccioni would have asked Baroni a more relevant question along the lines of "Well, WHY haven't you told Christie, McKenna, or O'Dowd already? Because you heard it from Wildstein? Or because YOU knew you would have been telling them something that they ALREADY knew?"

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NYC.org: ...Michael Critchley...represent(ing) Bridget Anne Kelly... made a startling suggestion...(He) asked Deborah Gramiccioni if she knew that Kelly and Gov. Chris Christie "had discussions about the lane closures before they occurred."

...Gramiccioni said she had no knowledge...Critchley...(had) one more question...Did (she) have lunch with Kelly and Christie on Aug. 13? Gramiccioni remembered the lunch, but not the exact date. That date is significant — it’s the very day that Kelly wrote the smoking gun "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email...

(I)t could indicate that Kelly, when she testifies in her own defense, may blame the whole Bridgegate affair on the governor himself.

I would think that having been a federal prosecutor, Gramiccioni would have remembered if lane closures had a subject of discussion at their luncheon. But once again, it suggests that Christie was in the habit of passing orders directly to Kelly -- a suggestion that shouldn't "startle" anyone at this point.

rocknation · #**275** 10-13-2016, 11:39 PM

Witness #11: Paul Nunizato, former Port Authority Police Officer and leader of its union, the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association (PBA)

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NJ.com: The Port Authority's police union's top cop testified Tuesday he was "quite upset" when former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni told a legislative committee in November 2013 that his department had requested a traffic study be done at the George Washington Bridge...(He) "never raised the issue" of a traffic study...

Nunziatio said he and his second in command, Michael DeFilippis, were summoned to Baroni's office in the weeks before he was scheduled to appear before the legislative committee investigating the lane closures. Baroni (who) seemed "jittery and a little nervous'' during the meeting, told the men...that he wanted to argue that police officers assigned to traffic duty around the Fort Lee local access lanes to the bridge were concerned about their safety, and that top PBA officials wanted the bi-state agency to conduct a review.

But Nunziato testified that none of his officers had complained about safety issues and he knew he was being asked to be complicit in a lie. "Leave (DeFilippis) and me the (expletive) out of it," Nunziato recalled telling Baroni...Ultimately, however, Nunziato testified he agreed to go along with the lie...

"I felt that I was in a bad place for my members and I didn't want to incur that wrath of Mr. Wildstein and Mr. Baroni," Nunizato said.

But if Nunizato was so afraid of Baroni and Wildstein, why not protect himself and his union members by jumping the chain of command by telling Christie that Baroni wanted him to lie? Or was it that it was actually Christie's wrath that he feared the most?

rocknation · #**276** 10-14-2016, 07:31 PM

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PennLive.com: ...After (Wildstein's) testimony surfaced in the federal trial...a legal complaint...(was) filed...against Christie in Fort Lee municipal court. Christie engaged in official misconduct because he should have reversed the lane closures once he became aware of them, activist Bill Brennan argue(d).

The county’s top municipal court judge in Fort Lee has found probable cause that Governor Christie committed official misconduct as part of the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal.

Probable cause is not a criminal charge...(It) allows law enforcement agencies to investigate, search, charge and arrest individuals, but it is not a basis for a criminal conviction...The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office may decide whether or not to pursue an indictment...

Christie indicated...that he will appeal...to the state Superior Court...“This is a dishonorable complaint filed by a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system,” said Christie spokesman Brian Murray. “The simple fact is the governor had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening...”

A simple fact? As my beloved Aerosmith would say, dream on.

Brennan's complaint has nothing to do with what Christie knew or when he knew it, but what he should have done about it. Instead of trying to work up a cover story with his counterpart in New York, he should have been ordering Baroni to open the lanes -- Baroni's counterpart in New York ended up doing that!

rocknation · #**277** 10-15-2016, 04:51 PM

Christie pre-indictment update:

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NJ.com: ...(B)efore an investigation of whether Christie can be charged with official misconduct, the thorny questions of conflict of interest must be addressed...It's tough to predict what happens next because those who handle such matters have been appointed by the governor.

"They would normally send a case like this to the attorney general's office," said...a former deputy state attorney general...But the problem...is finding "anybody who's not been appointed or hired by Christie."

The acting Bergen County Prosecutor...Gurbir Grewal (is) a Christie appointee (who WAS) re-nominated only last month...The state attorney general, Christopher Porrino...is...Christie's former chief counsel...

Henry Asbill...who successfully got the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell...vacated...called the situation a "tangled web...You could get somebody from out of state, or get the state Supreme Court to get together and appoint an independent prosecutor." That would not be without precedent...

(T)he state Legislature could pass a bill requiring the court appoint an independent counsel, although...that would likely be vetoed by the governor...

The state supreme court? Christie added three of its judges. There is obviously no recourse but for those appointed by Christie to recuse themselves immediately and bring in independent federal-level investigators. But it sure wouldn't be "without precedent" for Christie to investigate himself, would it?

rocknation · #**278** 10-16-2016, 04:19 AM

Witness #12: Charlie McKenna, Christie administration chief counsel

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NJ.com: The government rested its case after 15 days...Baroni then began presenting his defense...

(Chief Counsel Charlie) McKenna was called to the stand because he participated in a conference call with Baroni in preparation for Baroni’s Nov. 2013 testimony before a NJ legislative committee about the lane closures, which were drawing scrutiny. McKenna said that throughout the 10-minute call, Baroni referred to the closures as part of a traffic study — a since-debunked cover story.

“The governor at one point asked me, ‘What’s going on with this situation?’” McKenna. “I reported back to him that they were doing a traffic study and that I talked to Bill Baroni.”

Good question -- too bad Christie asked it of the one person on his staff that no one on his staff reported to.

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NY Post: McKenna claimed he didn’t find it odd that New Jersey residents were kept in the dark about the lane closures, which slowed emergency vehicles in Fort Lee, because it was all done for the sake of science.

“It would strike me from a common sense standpoint that if you gave notice to people that you are going to shift lanes they would act differently, and that would skew the results,” McKenna said.

It strikes me from a common sense standpoint to give notice to the local first responders involved so they can come up with lane-shifting tactics of their own. And how in the world was the decision made that the folks on the New York side of bridge should be kept in the dark as well?

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Questioned about concerns raised publicly by Patrick Foye...who believed the lane shutdowns had been an "abusive decision" and possibly illegal, McKenna said he thought it was grandstanding...McKenna noted that even though Foye had made some serious allegations, he did not start an investigation or go to federal prosecutors. He just went to the newspapers...

Well, Foye believed correctly, didn't he? While he didn't start an investigation or go to federal prosecutors, he DID get the lanes re-opened. And since he represented the New York side of the bridge, it raises the pesky question of why Foye's New Jersey counterpart Baroni didn't beat him to it.

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(McKenna) confirmed that he told...David Wildstein that he was still a “part of the team” after he fired him in Dec. 2013 because he still believed it was all a traffic study gone awry. “...I said, 'This is a bad situation. You are going to have to resign'...(But) I meant the bigger Christie team. The governor wasn’t upset with him — the people around the governor were,” he said.

The "bigger" Christie team...would that be the team with no members, no coaches, no management and one owner -- Christie himself? We're supposed to believe that getting rid of Wildstein was McKenna's decision alone? He was just passing along Christie's orders -- just like Kelly, Baroni, and Wildstein!

With defense witnesses like this, who needs enemies?

rocknation · #**279** 10-20-2016, 10:32 PM

Gov. Chris Christie's approval rating has dropped to its lowest point yet

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and is approaching a record level for any New Jersey governor in recent memory, according to a new poll...(which) comes just days after Christie signed into law a 23-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax and as the Bridgegate trial has dominated the news with negative headlines about his administration’s conduct...

(Seventy) percent of New Jersey voters say they’re following somewhat or very closely...Fifty-two percent of those surveyed say there is sufficient proof that Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closures and did nothing to stop them...

Christie (also) appears to be lowering his profile as a surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who the governor serves as a top adviser.

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CrooksAndLiars: Chris Christie appears to be slowly distancing himself from the dumpster fire that is the Trump campaign. He isn't doing as many interviews and not serving as the best surrogate since that Access Hollywood tape came out.

...(H)e gave a brief interview...about...Donald Trump...His answer is pretty telling:

(Q:) Are you proud of the campaign he’s running?

CHRISTIE: Listen, it’s – for me, the person who needs most to be concerned about the kind of campaign they’re running is the candidate. Because it’s the candidate’s campaign. It’s not my campaign...(I'm a) surrogate...I’m proud of everything I’ve said and that’s all I can control. The rest of it I can’t...

Translation: I have done my best to reign in the crazy but it isn't working. I am not in charge so I am stepping back and letting Trump crash his own campaign and this interview will serve as proof that I was not in charge or taking ownership. Also, I am innocent of Bridgegate even though there is a lot of evidence that I did indeed conspire to do some shady sh*t and may be facing criminal charges. Thanks for not asking me about it.

Translation of the translation: "ME in charge of controlling the crazy? It's been like we've been in a contest to see which of us is crazier. It's taken this long for someone to notice that putting me in charge of controlling the crazy is like putting me in charge of protecting the donuts?"

rocknation · #**280** 10-23-2016, 03:37 AM

Highlights of Bill Baroni's testimony: A hot mess, not to put too fine a point to it.

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NorthJersey.com: (Baroni) said that he had not been privy to the bridge scheme. Instead, he said, he was tricked by Wildstein...(T)he lane closures had been Wildstein’s idea...and he had believed Wildstein’s assertions that they were needed for a study to improve traffic flow...

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NJ.com: According to Baroni, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s office signed off on press statements released by the Port Authority’s New Jersey side...(H)e did not believe that Kelly was responsible for final approval of any Port Authority communications, but rather routed them through the governor’s office... Baroni set up a meeting with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich to discuss the lane realignment in person. However...since the office of the governor had not confirmed that the meeting could proceed, it was likely that the meeting would have been cancelled by Baroni...The meeting never occurred due to a cancellation from Sokolich...

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NJ.com: ...Baroni said while Wildstein was under him in the Port Authority's table of organization, it was Wildstein who was calling the shots from Trenton. "Gov. Christie told me to hire him...David was responsible for issues that...the governor was interested in." Did (Wildstein) report to you?" asked (the) defense attorney ..."He did not," Baroni replied. "He reported to Trenton." Trenton, he said, was Christie.

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NorthJersey.com: The danger of putting a defendant on the witness stand was on full display... Under...cross-examination...Bill Baroni...alternated between expressing remorse for not having done more to expose the true nature of the lane closings and stating that he acted as best he could given the pressures put on him by the Christie administration. Baroni’s demeanor...was much different from...when he (had) portrayed himself as a weak bureaucrat who was duped by his subordinate at the agency, David Wildstein...

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LoHud.com: ...Baroni was asked by a prosecutor about a text message exchange he had with David Wildstein...Baroni was checking with Wildstein how to respond to a request from Fort Lee mayor, Mark Sokolich, for a meeting to dispel rumors that the lane reductions were punitive. Wildstein responded to Baroni that he had run the meeting request by Kelly, the governor’s deputy chief of staff. But Kelly, who was in charge of relations between the Christie Administration and local officials, had not yet responded. Baroni (was)...asked whether Kelly represented “Trenton,” shorthand for the Christie Administration. Baroni told the court: “The instructions from Trenton were going to come from Miss Kelly.” Sitting at the defense table on the other side of the courtroom, Kelly shook her head.

It's a hot mess because it throws the "chain of command" issue right on the table. Baroni's in trouble because, as Wildstein's alleged superior, what he didn't know, he SHOULD have. He didn't stop Wildstein because he wasn't part of his chain of command, but he didn't warn Christie about Wildstein because he knew Christie approved of what Wildstein was doing. And during the infamous two-hour press conference, Christie said that Wildstein was "Baroni's hire" -- he had only granted Baroni "permission!"

But then again, this is what comes of being unable defend yourself without implicating someone else. There's a special legal term for it -- GUILTY.

Bruce Springsteen Mocks New Jersey Governor

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