Judge Rules For Kelly and Stepien in Bridge(t)-Gate Subpoena Case
A New Jersey superior court judge has ruled that Kelly and Stepien can refuse to turn over subpoenaed documents to the state investigative panel because they may be self-incriminating. Kelly is reportedly "thrilled," while Stepien's lawyer described it as "a complete vindication" of his client. But it's hardly a setback.
The reason the judge ruled this way is precisely because they ARE afraid of incriminating themselves -- otherwise there would be no reason to take the fifth in the first place. The judge indicated that more specific state-level subpoena requests would be considered, and also pointed out that there were probably complimentary federal subpoenas pending which cannot be refused. For example:
Quote:
Manhattan DA subpoenaed Port Authority records on projects and Christie ties
...The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has subpoenaed records related to projects by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and communications with Gov. Chris Christie’s office...
...(Also,) a subpoena was issued by Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor...seeking documents related to possible conflicts of interest by former Port Authority Chairman David Samson, whose law firm, Wolff & Samson has represented clients that have benefited from agency actions under his tenure. Samson resigned as chairman on March 28...(and has) said he has adhered to the highest ethical standards as chairman.
|
Samson said that out loud, and WASN'T struck by lighting? Maybe that's because he had a mentor:
Quote:
|
...(S)ources said another New Jersey (Port Authority) commissioner, Anthony Sartor...a 1999 appointee whose latest six-year term is up this year...would be stepping down...Sartor, who chairs the Port Authority board’s World Trade Center redevelopment subcommittee, heads an engineering consulting firm, Warren-based Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor, with ties to the multi-billion dollar trade center project, and he repeatedly has had to recuse himself to avoid a direct conflict of interest.
|
Meanwhile, feedback on Christie's self-investigation has come in. Polls say that
63%,
84%, and another
63% of those surveyed look at the Christie-Mastro report as a "whitewash" -- an average of 70%. And now it's possible that
there may be less to the report than meets the eye!
Quote:
Legislative investigators may be headed toward a legal showdown with Gov. Chris Christie and his team of lawyers to obtain the documentary evidence that was used to clear the governor and his top aides of wrongdoing in Bridgegate and other Port Authority-related scandals.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), cochairman of the Joint Select Committee on Investigation, said yesterday it is his understanding that Randy Mastro and his Gibson Dunn & Crutcher firm not only failed to conduct the 70 interviews under oath, but also failed to videotape, audiotape, or have a stenographer make transcripts of any of the interviews.
“If this was supposed to be a transparent 360-degree examination of what happened, the lack of any hard evidence of what people said and how they responded to questions means that this report is based upon nothing more than the (Mastro team’s) mental impressions of what people said,” Wisniewski noted. “That’s the classic definition of hearsay,” he said, dismissing the conclusions of the $1 million taxpayer-funded study.
|