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NJ Senate President Stephen Sweeney won't challenge GOP appointment to GWB panel
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he will not question the appointment of a Republican senator to a legislative panel investigating the lane closures from the George Washington Bridge, even though the lawmaker's name is mentioned in an email obtained through a subpoena.
State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) is referenced as "O'Toole" in one of the emails obtained by the Assembly Transportation Committee, which was the first panel to investigate the lane closures.
...(O)n Dec. 5, David Wildstein, the Port Authority’s director of interstate capital projects, thanked Gov. Chris Christie's Press Secretary Michael Drewniak "for all of your sound advice last night, I always appreciate your friendship. Spoke with O'Toole this morning and he will talk with you later today."
Wildstein resigned the next day...O'Toole said...he did not recall that conversation with Wildstein...(and that) he did not speak to Wildstein about the Assembly's ongoing investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures. "I don't know what that means," O'Toole said of the email exchange.
Sweeney said..."I am not going to say Kevin has done anything — I am not going to prejudge."
Kean (R-Union) today said he stands by his choice of O'Toole. "I have full confidence in Kevin's ability to serve..."
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), the co-chair of the new legislative panel, said Monday he will consult the committee's special counsel about O'Toole's membership...
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Okay, this isn't brain surgery: O'Toole is implicated in the investigation whether anyone likes it or not, and he CANNOT remain on the committee, or he'll be investigating himself. But Christie, O'Toole, and Kean are Republicans: their sticking together is logical if not ethical. Sweeney, on the other hand, is a Democrat -- what's his excuse?
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Chris Christie Tried To Oust Tom Kean From State Senate Position
Christie and his staff lobbied (NJ) Senate Republicans to oust Kean as Minority Leader and replace him with Kevin O’Toole, an Essex senator...
Kean and Sweeney are in the midst of a nasty feud that sprang up when Kean campaigned hard against Sweeney, figuring that Christie's landslide victory at the top of the ticket would give Republicans their best shot at recapturing control of the Senate.
But Christie, realizing that Sweeney's seat was likely safe and knowing he needs to work with Sweeney and other powerful Democrats to get legislation passed, did not actively campaign against him...
Senate Republicans bucked their governor and re-elected Kean...
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So by leaving O'Toole on the committee, Sweeney gets to thank Christie for not backing the fellow Republican who ran against him and Christie has a potential spy in the enemy camp, effectively undermining the state-level investigation before it even starts. Which means that O'Toole will either have to recuse himself or be ousted on an ethics ruling:
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Christie Loyalist To Run Ethics Panel That Would Get Bridge(t)-Gate Complaints
The state Ethics Commission, which would rule on any ethics complaints against state officials in Bridge(t)-Gate or other Christie administration scandals, yesterday approved Gov. Chris Christie’s recommendation for its new executive director -- Susana Espasa Guerrero, a former governor’s counsel who served in the governor's office with all nine Christie aides subpoenaed in Bridge(t)-Gate...
Former members of the state Ethics Commission are taking issue with the way Christie injected the governor's office into the hiring of its past two executive directors...Paula Franzese, a Seton Hall law professor...says..."It was always the tradition that the governor's office would not intercede in appointments because the governors were mindful of avoiding the appearance of impropriety.”
William E. Schluter, the former Republican state senator...(who)...formerly served as vice chairman of the commission...said...“This is the whole problem: The commission is supposed to choose the executive director, not the governor...(T)his is the second time that the governor has put in his own choice as executive director. The commission has to have total independence. That was the purpose of the reforms implemented after Gov. McGreevey left office in disgrace...”
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Uh, never mind...