Jovitalk - Bon Jovi Fan Community
Home Register Members FAQ Mark Forums Read
 

Bruce Springsteen Mocks New Jersey Governor

NBJ - Everything Else


Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #21  
Old 01-31-2014, 07:25 AM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default

Quote:
Hoboken Site Developer Dismisses Law Firm

Rockefeller Group, a real estate developer whose proposed office complex in Hoboken, N.J., is at the center of allegations that associates of Gov. Chris Christie threatened to withhold Hurricane Sandy relief money from the city unless the project received approval, has severed its connections with...Wolff & Samson...a law firm with close ties to the governor...A former member of Mr. Christie’s cabinet...Lori Grifa...who now works at the law firm, lobbied state officials on behalf of the project.

“Given the investigation,” Dwayne Doherty, a spokesman for Rockefeller Group said, “we’ve decided to shift our work on the project to another firm.” Rockefeller Group said the allegations were “deplorable” if true.
"Close ties" to Governor Soprano? That's an understatement -- the owner of Wolff & Samson, David Samson, also happens to be the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey! Which means that though the position pays no salary, a lovely little paycheck would have been waiting for him at W&S once the Hoboken development deal went through.

I wonder what made the Rockefellers so nervous all of a sudden. It can't be that Christie gave Samson the Port Authority job -- that happened three years ago. And so what if the chairmanship doesn't pay? Samson can make a nice enough living off his clients who need to do business with the PA. It's all quite a mystery, LOL!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-11-2014 at 08:38 AM..
Reply With Quote

  #22  
Old 02-02-2014, 08:34 AM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default Chiriste and Wildstein: Not Exactly The Best Pen Pals

Quote:
Chris Christie knew about lane closures, Wildstein's lawyer says

The attorney representing David Wildstein, a former official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said today that Gov. Chris Christie knew of the closure of lanes from Fort Lee on to the George Washington Bridge when they occurred in September.

"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" last month, the attorney, Alan Zegas, said.

Zegas also said Wildstein "contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some."

The statements were made in a letter sent by Zegas to the Port Authority asking it to reconsider its decision earlier this month not to pay Wildstein's legal bills...Wildstein's request was made after a similar request by Bill Baroni, the authority's former deputy executive director, but Baroni's request is still pending.
The letter was sent by Wildstein's attorney to the Port Authority? Hmm, I wonder how it ended up in the press?

Christie retaliated with an email to his supporters, one of whom must have sent it to the press because HE wouldn't stoop to doing anything so pathetic:

Quote:
Christie Hits Back: Bridge Official Will 'Say Anything To Save' Himself

The 700-word email...is titled 5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell That's Not A Bombshell...

Christie's office attacked the New York Times's portrayal of the revelations, reasserted Christie's truthfulness in the past and attacked the credibility of the official, David Wildstein, whose attorney claimed that “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" Christie said in a January press conference.

"Bottom line - David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein," the email concludes.

The initial statement from Christie's office, issued after the allegations were reported Friday, was much more tempered in tone, saying that the claim actually "confirms what the Governor has said all along."
Why did Wildstein's request for legal financial aid get rejected faster then Baroni's? Perhaps because Wildstein refused to answer any state investigation questions without the promise of immunity from prosecution, whereas Baroni cooperated -- however untruthfully. If you need to be defended, you should get the best legal assistance you can. But if all you want is immunity, why waste your money when you can get a public defender, LOL!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 03-19-2015 at 01:33 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 02-04-2014, 03:56 AM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default

Quote:
Chris Christie aide who received subpoena in bridge scandal investigation resigns

One of 18 people subpoenaed by a legislative panel in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal...Christina Genovese Renna, director of departmental relations...has resigned her position as an aide to Gov. Chris Christie...

Renna reported to Bridget Kelly, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, who set the September lane closures in motion with the one-line email, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
Renna 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. So what is she worried about -- being accused of not telling Kelly about hearing from the mayor of Ft. Lee?

Quote:
Resigned Christie staffer is married to Pinelands pipeline company exec

An aide to Gov. Chris Christie who resigned Friday is married to a top executive of a company that tried to build a controversial gas pipeline through the environmentally sensitive Pinelands region — a plan the governor's office unsuccessfully sought to get approved. The relationship has drawn fire from environmentalists who call it a conflict of interest...

Christina Genovese Renna...is married to Michael J. Renna, president and chief operating officer of South Jersey Industries, the parent company of South Jersey Gas, which wanted to build the pipeline.

The 22-mile pipeline between Maurice River Township and Beesleys Point was rejected after a deadlocked 7-7 vote by the Pinelands Commission last month. Environmental advocates had said it was being rushed through, and accused Christie administration officials of trying to strong-arm opponents.

“This project was being fast-tracked and was being pushed aggressively by the Christie administration,” Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, an advocacy group, said. “There were multiple red flags that this was violating the Pinelands Commission’s mission and the administration was recklessly moving forward with it...”
Hmm. Well, I can see where she'd be worried about being questioned about THAT!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 07-05-2014 at 12:49 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 02-04-2014, 10:42 PM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default Update: Renna's resignation

Quote:
Mr. Christie's Executive Order 24 & The Pinelands Pipeline

On April 27, 2010, Governor Christie signed Executive Order 24. This measure required financial disclosure statements to be filed annually by certain members of the state government. The order contains a detailed list of who must file a statement listing the financial holdings and interests of the employees and their immediate family members. The recently departed Christina Genovese Renna clearly fell within the definition of who is required to file as deputy to Bridget Kelly...

Ms. Genovese Renna was a member of the Governor's staff at this time. Her husband, Michael Renna, was a substantial stock holder and senior executive of South Jersey Industries, the parent company of South Jersey Gas...The Ethics Commission Database, which you can search for yourself here indicates that she never filed her financial disclosure forms, which would have revealed the financial interest in the outcome of the Pipeline decision...

...Failure to have a member of his own staff adhere to the rules everyone else has to follow. Having a staff member with a financial interest in the outcome of a project that the governor's office is pushing hard. Trying to ram an environmentally destructive project through a state, national and global environmental treasure. It's a Christie trifecta!
But fear not -- it turns out that there's a reasonable explanation for Ms. Renna's omission:
Quote:
“Mike Renna is not an employee of SJI’s regulated utility South Jersey Gas,” said company sopkesman Daniel Lockwood. “While he was promoted to president of SJI on January 24, 2014, he has not had nor will he have in the future, any day-to-day responsibility for SJG’s pipeline project. That responsibility falls with Jeff DuBois, SJG’s president and various other SJG officers. “
You see? He doesn't have a financial interest in the SJG pipeline project because it hasn't happened. And as of now, he's only the president of the pipeline project's PARENT company -- why in the world would anyone expect him to be able to gain financially from a mere subsidiary?

P.S. Good thing for the Rennas that he got the promotion just a few weeks after the scandal started -- I'm sure he got a raise which should help round out his wife's unemployment checks!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-04-2014 at 11:11 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 02-08-2014, 06:47 AM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default Oops, they did it again

About that message that was emailed to Christie's supporters -- those scheming, anonymous staffers of his have undermined him once again!

Quote:
Chris Christie struggles to deal with turmoil

The memo from Gov. Chris Christie’s office attacking former appointee David Wildstein’s credibility landed with a thud...even his allies called it a mistake. But one important person hadn’t seen the missive ahead of time: the governor himself.

Christie’s aides did not run the document...by the governor before they sent it out, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, someone...blasted it out earlier than planned. Another round of unflattering news coverage ensued...

The "unflattering" coverage may have been the result of the email coming across as the work of a clique of spiteful adolescents, particularly the section on his ex-employee David Wildstein:
Quote:
  • As a 16-year-old kid, he sued over a local school board election.
  • He was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior.
  • He had a controversial tenure as Mayor of Livingston
  • He was an anonymous blogger known as Wally Edge
  • He had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people's names without telling them
  • Wildstein Created “Culture Of Fear” Within Port Authority
Bottom line - David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein.

With a personal qualities like that, why in the world would Christie hire such an unseemly person in the first place?
Quote:
The...mystery man inside a growing investigation

Wildstein was hired in May 2010 as director of interstate capital projects — a position that had no job description...His role at the Port Authority was never clearly defined.

...(T)o transform itself into a model of government transparency, the Port Authority turned over a stack of résumés and job descriptions for employees hired at a salary of $100,000 or more during Gov. Chris Christie’s first two years in office...(F)or most hires, the agency provided both a résumé and the position’s corresponding job description and requirements. But not in David Wildstein’s case...

A spokesman for Christie defended Wildstein’s hiring, as well as his lack of an official job description,
asserting in a statement that "he is there in that job because he is well-suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the Port Authority in accordance with the governor’s goals."
Resume? He ain't got no resume. He don't need no resume. HE DON'T HAVE TO SHOW YOU ANY STINKING RESUME!!!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-08-2014 at 05:46 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 02-10-2014, 11:10 PM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default How Can You Be Your Own Chief Investigator AND Your Own Prime Suspect?

Last week, Christie traveled to Texas and Florida to host Republican party fundraising events. Unfortunately, lots of Texas and Floridia Republican VIPs found that they were unable to attend. But now he's back home, rejuvenated, and ready to take on an internal investigation of Bridge(t)-Gate!

Quote:
Lawyers for Christie administration seeking documents, interview with Hoboken mayor

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...

Dawn Zimmer...alleged that members of Christie’s administration had threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy aid if she did not fast-track a particular real estate development project...

In letters obtained by The Record, lawyer Randy Mastro asked that Zimmer and four other Hoboken officials provide his legal team with documents already handed over to federal investigators..

“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...
Christie used to be a prosecutor, but I guess he's a little out of practice. Even if the Zimmer camp still had the documents in question, Governor Soprano is not legally entitled to see them until AFTER he's indicted.

Zimmer says it was Christie's lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno who delivered the message. Maybe she's the person he should start his internal investigation with:
Quote:
Christie: "Did you tell Zimmer that I told you that she wouldn't get federal Sandy relief money unless she fast-tracked a project that my associates would have benefited from financially?"

Guadagno: "I don't know."

Christie: "Did I TELL YOU to tell Zimmer that she wouldn't get federal Sandy relief money unless she fast-tracked a project that my associates would have benefited from financially?"

Guadagno: "I don't know."

Christie: "Did I tell you that if I told you to tell Zimmer that she wouldn't get federal Sandy relief money unless she fast-tracked a project that my associates would have benefited from financially, we must deny it to our dying days?"

Guadagno: "I don't know."

Christie: "Well, that clears me, then -- internal investigation over!"
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-12-2014 at 04:06 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 02-13-2014, 08:57 PM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default

You know how the murderer always seems to get caught because he makes one teeny tiny little mistake? Christie's mistake seems to be not taking into account that American multi-state agencies (such as the Port Authority of New York AND New Jersey) are under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Christie had his ducks in a row as far as being able to control any state-level investigation. He was in the process of promoting his chief of staff (the #3 person in his inner circle) to the position of attorney general -- the highest-ranking lawyer in New Jersey -- when Bridge(t)-Gate broke. Had he been successful, it would have effectively given Christie the power to control the outcome of any state-level investigation. Since then, a member of the state investigative committee whose name appears in the Bridge(t)-Gate emails not been removed, and Christie has installed a new director to the state ethics commission, as I mentioned before.

Christie doesn't have the power to control "the Feds," however, and it looks like they are not concentrating on Ft. Lee and Hoboken alone:

Quote:
Chris Christie's Piggy Bank

...(T)he Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...is the agency that built and owns and runs the George Washington Bridge...Toss in...(the) Lincoln and...Holland Tunnel(s), plus Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK airports, plus one of the eastern seaboard's busiest seaports -- the list goes on and on...If you're Chris Christie, that's a corner candy store pleading to be plundered.

Early in his first term, Christie "borrowed" $2 billion by killing a crucial tunnel project jointly funded by New Jersey, New York, and the federal government, and...used that dough for New Jersey road work that the New Jersey budget couldn't cover without raising the state's gas tax...That tunnel project, billed at $9 billion, would've been a godsend to New Jersey rail commuters -- not to mention the thousands of jobs committed to its construction...

Christie not only killed the tunnel, but lied about doing so to save the state from paying for imaginary cost overruns, even after the U.S Department of Transportation, trying to save the tunnel, said it would cover New Jersey's share of any such costs...
Nothing makes the Feds crankier than doing naughty things with money that they give you.
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-14-2014 at 06:09 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 02-15-2014, 09:02 PM
Kathleen's Avatar
Kathleen Kathleen is offline
Jovitalk Award Winner
I'll Post When I'm Dead
 
Join Date: 05 Feb 2003
Location: New Jersey
Age: 75
Gender: female
Posts: 17,260
Send a message via AIM to Kathleen Send a message via MSN to Kathleen
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknation View Post

Nothing makes the Feds crankier than doing naughty things with money that they give you.
Yeah - no shit LOL. I have a suspicion (and maybe it's just me) that with this wider investigation Christie is gonna fall. As you say - he could control the NJ investigation but he can't control the federal investigation. Killing that tunnel project made him a lot of powerful enemies - I can only hope that they uncover where all the bodies are buried - and fry his ass.
__________________

You write your truth and I'll write mine.
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 02-19-2014, 06:53 AM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknation View Post
Christie had his ducks in a row as far as being able to control any state-level investigation...(A) member of the state investigative committee whose name appears in the Bridge(t)-Gate emails not been removed...as I mentioned before...
UPDATE:
Bridge investigation committee member could face subpoena
Quote:
The co-chairs of the legislative committee investigating lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge said today they may have to question one of their own members in the scandal.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman John Wisniewski said today they can envision a scenario where the committee might call Republican state Sen. Kevin O'Toole, a member of the committee, to talk about what he knows about the incident that snarled traffic in Fort Lee for four days in early September.

Weinberg said she could see the committee issuing a subpoena to O'Toole, while Wisniewski was not as specific, saying only it might be necessary to question O'Toole over what knowledge he had of the lane closures and the explanation from Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials that the closures were due to a traffic study.

"Probably, yes," Weinberg said when asked if the committee might subpoena O'Toole. "I could see such a scenario unless he comes forward with whatever information he has that we don't know."
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...

Last edited by rocknation; 02-19-2014 at 07:41 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 02-19-2014, 06:22 PM
rocknation's Avatar
rocknation rocknation is offline
Senior Member
Something for the Posts
 
Join Date: 08 Sep 2002
Location: Undisclosed Location NJ
Gender: female
Posts: 3,058
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathleen View Post
Yeah - no shit LOL. I have a suspicion (and maybe it's just me) that with this wider investigation Christie is gonna fall. As you say - he could control the NJ investigation but he can't control the federal investigation. Killing that tunnel project made him a lot of powerful enemies - I can only hope that they uncover where all the bodies are buried - and fry his ass.
It's been so long since you last posted, I thought that maybe the investigation was getting too close to your husband and you had to become fugitives, LOL!
__________________
rocknation

Remember how we used to talk about busting out? We'd break their hearts together...forever...



You and me and our old friends / hoping it would never end / holding on to never say goodbye...
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 06:44 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11.
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.