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Kathleen 10-25-2016 12:01 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknation (Post 1211239)
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.
Exactly - guilty as hell.

rocknation 10-25-2016 06:30 PM
In Bridgegate Testimony, Christie Emerges as Powerful, Threatening Figure

Quote:
By attempting to show that Baroni was a Christie insider (a prosecutor) elicited an image of a hands-on governor who is eager to settle scores with his political opponents. One example: The incident of Bill Lavin, a former firefighters union official who had criticized Christie on the radio.

Baroni testified, "...My phone rang. It was the governor...He said, ‘Bill I need you to do something for me.' He said, 'You call Bill Lavin and tell him the governor said go f-- yourself'... I said, 'I can’t tell a friend that.'"

The governor...said, "'You like your job?'" Baroni testified. So Baroni...called Bill Lavin...
Quote:
...Baroni testified in front of a U.S. Senate committee that was chaired by the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg....(who) had been vocally displeased about Christie's cancellation of a transit tunnel under the Hudson River, and about the Port Authority's raising of tolls on the Hudson River crossing.

Baroni...embarrassed Lautenberg with reams of data compiled by Wildstein, showing Lautenberg's frequent use of free toll crossings when Lautenberg was a Port Authority commissioner.

"Didn’t Chris Christie tell you to 'go down there and punch Frank Lautenberg in the face?'" (the) prosecutor...demanded. "You decided on your own you were going to talk to Frank Lautenberg in that way?"

"Gov. Christie gave me instructions, his instructions were pretty clear," Baroni replied. Christie, Cortes said, was "thrilled" with Baroni's performance.
Quote:
NJ.com: "My view was that David Wildstein was a dangerous character within the Port Authority," (said) Scott Rechler, an outgoing Port Authority commissioner who served as deputy chairman when the lane closures occurred.

He (also) testified that he saw Wildstein, as "cancer" within the agency who created a "culture of fear." But...Wildstein could not be fired because he was protected politically by then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson, a key ally of Christie.
Quote:
NorthJersey.com: Kelly tearfully told the jury that she was frightened by Christie after receiving profane put-downs...(W)hen she suggested that Christie should open a public event and then pass control to other officials, he threw a water bottle...shouting: “What do you think I am, a (expletive) game show host?” ...(T)he bottle struck her arm.

(Her attorney) asked Kelly, “You’re afraid of the governor?”

With tears in her eyes, Kelly said, “Yes. Yes.”

“He’s a big tough guy, eh?”

“Yes,” Kelly said.
Quote:
NorthJersey.com: “...Christie, and the private investigators his office hired, have maintained that the Intergovernmental Affairs department led by Stepien did not become politicized until after he left and turned over duties to Bridget Anne Kelly...

But such terms as “the political shop,” as well as other testimony and evidence in the trial, have sharply contradicted those assertions and showed Stepien — who now works for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign — and his staff regularly mixing politics with policy, raising serious questions of ethics violations in the governor’s office and suggesting instances of quid pro quo..."
Christie micromanages like this, and we're supposed to believe that news of the lane closings hit him like a lighting bolt out of a clear sky!

Coming soon: more testimony from the co-defendant...

http://rocktivity.com/Graphics/bigLOL.gif

rocknation 10-26-2016 12:15 AM
From the defendant who put the (t) in Bridge(t)-Gate
 
Quote:
Lohud.com: 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.
And sitting on the witness stand, Kelly shook her throat, singing better than Aretha Franklin and Adele combined.


Quote:
NorthJersey.com: After nearly three years of silence...Kelly took the witness stand...and ...described her role in the administration as a sort of stagehand, responsible for making sure the governor’s public events were properly organized and his social events were catered to his liking...
Stagehand? She flatters herself -- she was a go-between between Christie and Wildstein because they both knew they'd need a fall guy.


Quote:
Kelly said that Wildstein mentioned to her in early 2011 that the access lanes to the bridge in Fort Lee were “something that at some point the Port Authority was going to look at.” Then in June 2013...Wildstein told Kelly that he had spoken with (Port Authority) engineers...and the police department “to put together what would be a study or a review of these lanes" (and) to be sure she “ran this by the governor.”
"Run it by the governor" for what -- to introduce him to the idea, or to keep him informed of its development?


Quote:
Kelly...portrayed herself as a sincere, down-to-earth mother who only took a job in Trenton...so that she could look after herself as her marriage of 15 years fell apart...The new job in the Governor’s Office...bumped her salary...to $83,000 (and) entailed a commute (of) an hour and 45 minutes...(T)he tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike were so expensive she took back roads...

When...asked...to tell the jury the names of her four children, Kelly’s voice cracked...
Boo hoo hoo, and cue the violins!
http://www.democraticunderground.com...ons/nopity.gif And by the way, did the marriage collaspe before, during, or after her relationship with Bill Stepien?


Quote:
Kelly...said that when she told Christie of the plan Wildstein had proposed, “the governor said that’s typical Wally” ...(On August 12, 2013), (h)e said “OK,” asked when it would happen, and...wanted to know what our relationship was...with Mayor Sokolich,” Kelly said...she didn’t have an answer ready...
Oh? I thought interfacing with local officials was her speciality. Besides, wouldn't the best way to provide Christie with an answer was to interface with Sokolich about the impending traffic study?


Quote:
Christie then told Kelly that they should get together for lunch the next day...She was...“a little nervous,” since she had never had lunch with the governor before and she worried about being prepared for any questions or status update requests from him. So around 10:30 that night, she texted Christie’s chief of staff at the time, Kevin O’Dowd, to tell him she wanted to give him “foresight” on “a couple of things,” which she said included the traffic study in Fort Lee.
Quote:
Chron.com: Kelly was asked about a text message conversation with Wildstein in which she asked whether it was wrong that she was "smiling" about a note from Sokolich that the traffic was leading to schoolchildren being late. Kelly said she was happy for Wildstein that his traffic study was going well and should have used different words.
And with that testimony, she signed her own death warrant, if you'll pardon the expression. What she was "nervous" and "worried" about was being vulnerable to having left her own immediate superior out of the loop -- without his protection, she knew she was in big trouble!

Quote:
WNYC.com: "The governor said he had a conversation with Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo and he told Gov. Cuomo to tell (Port Authority New York executive director) Pat Foye to back the f*** off." - Kelly said she was in Christie's office as he recounted this conversation to a group of advisers. Foye was the Cuomo appointee who reopened the lanes to end Bridgegate. Christie and Cuomo have repeatedly insisted no such conversation took place.
And with that testimony, Kelly also signed Christie's death warrant: it makes him a full-fledged participant in the the coverup if not the crime itself -- especially since it also implicates David Samson, which in turns opens the door for Paul Fishman And His Fabulous Feds to take a closer look at his relationship with Christie. I was hoping she'd specifically say that Christie specifically told her to tell Wildstein to put the lane closings into motion, but this will do -- especially since both governors initially said he they didn't remember having such a conversation No problem, though, if there were witnesses!

Quote:
NorthJersey.com:(On) Aug. 13, 2013, Kelly and Christie met for lunch...(T)he same day, Kelly sent Wildstein the “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email, to which he replied, “Got it.”

...Kelly said it was “absolutely not” an order to block access to the bridge for retribution. The message was sent “in a very quick manner” using words that Wildstein had often used...“'Traffic problems' were just two words that went together when you talked to David about the Port Authority...If I (had) said 'time for a traffic study' in Fort Lee, we wouldn’t all know each other.”
That's true -- that is, not if the traffic study wasn't MEANT to cause traffic problems. But wasn't the point of Wildstein "getting" the message from her was that she had "got it" from Christie? Wasn't HE included in her "we all"?

rocknation 10-28-2016 10:35 PM
Here's a suicidal little gem from Bridge(t)'s cross-examination:
Quote:
NJ.com: By turns defiant and...near tears, Kelly insisted that the e-mails and text messages were at times a "totally poor choice of words," but were written quickly as banter...She also contradicted the testimony of...Matt Mowers, a former staffer under Kelly...(who said) Kelly...called a month before the lane closures to ask whether the mayor of Fort Lee was going to endorse Gov. Chris Christie for re-election. He said he told her there was no chance, and said she replied that was all she needed to know. Kelly...said she was prompted to call Mowers to get information asked by the governor...and that the call was not brief...

Kelly was also questioned about the testimony of Christopher Stark, who also worked for Kelly and testified that when a meeting with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop was cancelled, she told him it was because the newly elected mayor "was playing both sides of the fence" by getting together with...the Democratic challenger to Christie in 2013. "I wouldn't have had that conversation with Chris Stark," Kelly said.

"So his testimony is false?" she was asked.

"His memory is not what mine is," she replied.
Taking orders directly from Christie -- there's that clandestine chain of command again! And Kelly seems to have a clandestine memory, too. Was one of the pieces of information Christie asked her to get from Mowers have to do with Fulop's endorsement, or was it not? And if she didn't tell Chris Stark that Fulop was being punished, why didn't she simply say so? Take your silver spoon, dig your grave...

rocknation 10-29-2016 07:12 PM
Prior to closing arguments, the Bridge(t)-Gate judge formally reviewed and explained the charges to the jury:

Quote:
NorthJersey.com: The closing arguments in the six-week trial...were unexpectedly delayed...when...Judge Susan Wigenton sent the jury home, citing “legal issues.” (Both) prosecut(ion) and defense lawyers declined to explain the reason for the delay...

During a closed-door conference...lawyers hammered out language for the judge’s instructions to the jury...Wigenton decided that prosecutors do not need to prove that Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni closed the bridge access lanes with the intention of punishing the mayor of Fort Lee. "They are not charged with punishing Mayor Sokolich, they’re charged with misusing...the Port Authority resources,” Wigenton said (in) a court transcript...

“I thought I was defending a charge that...was an allegation that Bridget Kelly and Mr. Baroni entered into activity to intentionally punish Mayor Sokolich for not endorsing,” Kelly’s lawyer...told Wigenton, according to a transcript...“Now, I don’t know what I’m defending.”

...(But) Baroni’s attorney...lobbied the judge to include the language. “They tried a punishment case...They...brought this indictment; they called it punishment. That’s the case we’ve tried for six weeks...If they want, dismiss the indictment, see if they can re-indict... and we’ll come back.”
Kelly's lawyer is confusing motive and intent, and Baroni's lawyer is just plain confused. The issue isn't that people decided to punish Sokolich (and also, possibly, the developer who beat out a David Samson client on a Ft. Lee real estate deal), but that they punished him by committing illegal acts.

Quote:
...(The) Assistant U.S. Attorney requested the judge remove the language... “(A)s a matter of law...the object of the conspiracy is to commit the substantive offense... (B)eyond that, it is superfluous.”
Maybe so, but conspiracy isn't the only thing they're being charged with. Besides, in America, the prosecution NEVER has to prove motive -- only that something illegal happened. If a jury agrees that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a criminal act had indeed been committed, the reason WHY it was committed is what's superfluous -- the defendant is guilty.

rocknation 10-30-2016 02:47 AM
The prosecution's closing argument

Quote:
NorthJersey.com: In a summation lasting about four hours, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes said that Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, and Baroni, the governor’s former top executive appointee at the Port Authority, “shared an intense commitment to the political success of Governor Chris Christie...They saw themselves as his loyal lieutenants who were free to use their government jobs to launch political attacks and who never attempted to separate politics from their jobs in public service..."
Loyal lieutenants so intensely committed to Christie, they deliberately kept their loyalty a secret from him, LOL!

Quote:
With so much riding on Wildstein’s testimony, Cortes emphasized that Wildstein’s...agreement with prosecutors depends upon him testifying truthfully.(They) will request leniency when Wildstein, who faces up to 15 years in prison, is sentenced. Cortes added that much of what Wildstein told the court was corroborated by documents, emails, text messages, phone records and testimony.
Glad to hear about the corroboration, since the jury could decide not to believe a single thing Wildstein says simply because they don't like him. But in turn, that certainly doesn't mean that the defendants are telling the truth by default!


Quote:
Politico.com: Cortes cited...Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (who) called, emailed and texted Baroni asking for help...as first responders struggled to deal with a missing child and a cardiac arrest...Baroni's motivations are made clear by what he didn’t do — respond to Sokolich...and (by) his subsequent testimony...in Trenton, which prosecutors have cast as an elaborate attempt to cover up the plot.
Actually, what Baroni chose to do was obey Christie's orders: no point tipping him off about what he already knew -- especially since it was exactly was what he wanted.


Quote:
NorthJersey.com: ...Cortes said..Kelly portrayed herself as a cog in the Christie machine, fearful of the governor’s temper...But (she) was “one of the 10 most senior advisers to the governor” and a protégé of Bill Stepien, Christie’s former campaign manager, who played hardball with political opponents.
Protégé, not social secretary. And don't forget that Kelly and Stepien also had a romantic relationship: so much for her frail, helpless, damsel-in-distress routine.


Quote:
Both defendants, Cortes said...“had a higher responsibility...and that responsibility was to make...decision(s) in the best interests of the people of New Jersey...not what they believed was in the best interests of Bill Baroni or Bridget Kelly or Chris Christie.”
The best interests of Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly WAS the best interests of Chris Christie. Remember, it's the illegal things they did, not the reasons why they did them. So it's very clever of Cortes to place Christie squarely on top of the pyramid (a metaphor, not a weight joke) even though he was never charged or called as a witness.

rocknation 10-31-2016 09:57 PM
Closing Arguments: Defendant #1

Quote:
NJ.com: Michael Baldassare, who represents Baroni, focused his closing arguments almost entirely on Wildstein..."They built their case around him," he declared...(and) claimed Wildstein would say anything to stay out of jail. "All you have is his words," he said.
AND the hard drive he took from your client, counselor!


Quote:
Baldassare...said testimony of other Port Authority officials painted Wildstein as a feared and hated man who could not be fired because of his claimed connections with Christie. Yet "They would never put Chris Christie on the stand (b)ecause all he would have said on that stand is that David Wildstein is a liar..."
Well, YOU didn't put him on the stand, either, counselor! What did YOU have to fear from Christie -- that he say that HE'D lied about approving your client's hiring of Wildstein?


Quote:
...(H)e argued..."The notion that Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly conspired with David Wildstein comes from one place...the mouth and the mind of David Wildstein."
That's TWO places. Well, three places when you include the hard drive Wildstein took from your client, counselor!


Quote:
Observer.com: “Bill Baroni is innocent of the charges brought against him today by federal prosecutors. The accusations are false. When all the facts come to light, Bill will be fully exonerated,” Baldassare said...“(H)abitual liar David Wildstein lied under oath to a federal judge about Bill Baroni...Today, he said under oath that he is a criminal. The record in this case is equally clear that David Wildstein is a liar.”
Everything the witness says is a lie; therefore everything the defendant says is true? Baldassare must have been playing hookey from law school when the lesson about the prosecution not needing to prove motive was taught. And the closing arguments of a trial isn't the best time for a jury to be learning that not all the facts have come to light...

rocknation 10-31-2016 10:25 PM
The Closing Arguments: Defendant #2

Break out your handkerchiefs and cue the violins...

Quote:
CBS New York: In an emotional presentation that lasted more than two hours, Michael Critchley cast client Bridget Kelly as a single mother faced with an administration more concerned with keeping Christie’s nascent presidential hopes alive than with exposing the truth when details of the scandal surfaced three years ago...

Cupping his hands as if holding a megaphone, Critchley nearly yelled, “Chris Christie, where are you?”

Kelly was “the odd person out,” he said. “The inner circle, they know what the code is: ‘Chris Christie knows nothing.’ Bridget Kelly has a different version, and that makes her dangerous. They want that mother of four to take the fall for them. Cowards. Cowards.”

Critchley reminded jurors...that the government didn’t call Christie...to testify because Kelly is telling the truth...
Baroni's attorney used Wildstein as his villian, so I guess it was incumbent upon Kelly's attorney to use Christie. Hands up who didn't see a damsel-in-distress sob story coming. And what stopped the defense from calling Christie to testify -- the fact that his "telling the truth" that Kelly was the link in the chain of command between him and Wildstein would have incriminated EVERYONE?

rocknation 11-01-2016 10:05 PM
The Closing Arguments: Prosecution Rebuttal

Quote:
NewsHerald.comIn rebuttal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said the case wasn't about who could have been charged or...been called to testify. (The defense) "...wants to distract you from the core of the case. Why? Because the evidence against (the defendants) is devastating."

Khanna...(added) that Baroni changed his story about the traffic jams at least three times, including in front of a legislative committee probing the closures in 2013. He said emails and texts among the three co-conspirators corroborated Wildstein, including a text Kelly sent him during the week of the gridlock that read, "Is it wrong that I am smiling?"

..."Don't let them whitewash it," Khanna said. "It's as outrageous as it sounds."
Quote:
Observer.com...(Prosecutors) painted Kelly...as a willing participant in the culture of Christie’s office...“She makes you… think that she is a victim of the governor’s office,” attorney Vikas Khanna said, citing Kelly’s acknowledgement of the fact that she willingly ignored Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s 2013 requests for meetings...“She has embraced the punitive nature of the governor’s office.”

According to Khanna, Wildstein has nothing to gain from lying about Kelly and Baroni’s involvement (and that he) has no motivation to “rack up" convictions...(Had) Wildstein had that incentive, he likely would have filled in gaps in his recollection with evidence incriminating higher-level figures mentioned in the trial like Governor Christie...

Khanna reminded jurors of the close personal relationship Baroni and Wildstein shared and said it “makes no sense” that Baroni wouldn’t know about the lane closures when Wildstein entrusted him with details on other sensitive matters in the last as both a friend and a superior at the bi-state agency...“They lied… when they thought no one was watching...”
So now it's all over but the verdict. My prediction? Here's an overview of the charges: Bridget will skate on everything but the wire fraud -- closing a bridge is men's work.

rocknation 11-02-2016 03:47 PM
Christie Blown Away By Hurricane Buzzkill

With a 23-cent per gallon gas tax going into effect this week, Christie was apparently looking to score some public relations points with the fourth anniversary of New Jersey's response to Hurricane Sandy:

Quote:
...Christie started...the fourth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy...in Hackensack (because)...“I think sometimes people don’t pay nearly as much attention to what happened up here. We need to continue to remember that those folks, just as much as folks at the Shore, had their lives turned upside down..."

He ran off a laundry list of the damage inflicted by the storm: 325,000 housing units affected, $5.9 billion in overall damage, 19,000 small businesses closed temporarily or permanently...71 percent of electric distribution in the state was cut off by the storm...The PSE&G substation in Hackensack was inundated by storm surge and then rebuilt and elevated to prevent damage from future storms...“We’ve gotten the job done in the rebuilding from Sandy,” he said.
So far, so good. But the next stop on his Sandy anniversary tour WAS the shore:

Quote:
Chris Christie was met with protesters at Jimbo's Bar & Grill on the Seaside Heights boardwalk...during what was planned as a commemoration on the fourth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy...“I’ve got to shout at my governor to get something done,” George Kasimos, a member of a group called Stop FEMA, yelled at Christie. “I don’t even call you governor any more.”

...“There will always be critics,” Christie said. “And I am happy to take the criticism. Because when you take the criticism that means you’re actually in a position to do something. The people most of the time who are hurling the criticism are the people who have never accomplished anything in their lives worth noting..."
The people who are hurling criticism at you in this case are also marking their fourth year of living in hotels or in damaged housing.

Quote:
Christie said..."These are complicated issues and they don’t lend themselves to explanations when people are yelling and screaming...” He also said...several contractors had been prosecuted on fraud charges (and) the state opened the rebuilding program to contractors who had not been pre-screened after hearing complaints that the process with the approved contractors had been going too slowly...And he put part of the blame for problems on the National Flood Insurance Program.
Giving Sandy money to towns who weren't effected by the storm is what should have been "complicated." How much of the $945 million he's received from Obama is he still sitting on -- and perhaps skimming the accrued interest? Since diverting to the 2016 GOP presidential campaign is no longer viable, maybe he's planning use it to balance New Jersey's budget.
Quote:
He stepped away from the lectern for several minutes and spoke one-to-one with some residents, taking down their contact information...
Happy Hurricane Sandy anniversary, Governor Soprano! And speaking of buzzkills:

Quote:
New York Post: Donald Trump initially offered the vice-presidential running-mate slot to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie but then withdrew it, sources said...

Trump had not made his choice among Christie, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Most of Trump’s advisers — including then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s two eldest sons...and GOP leaders pressured Trump to pick Pence...Christie contacted Trump and made his final, impassioned appeal on July 12.

“Trump had wanted Christie, but Bridgegate would have been the biggest national story,” a...Trump source said. “He’d lose the advantage of not being corrupt.” Trump agreed to name Pence the next day and broke the news to Christie, saying it would “tear my family apart if I gave you VP,” a source said...
Of course, the Trump family reference shouldn't be news to you: one of Trump's in-laws has had it in for Christie for sending his father to jail. That he had any kind of front-line involvement in Trump's campaign is therefore surprising, unless the in-law's ulterior motive was to drop him from the highest pinnacle possible. But it's funny that this should land in the papers at the same time he was trying to offset the gas tax by scoring public relations points with the anniversary of hurricane Sandy...

rocknation 11-03-2016 06:42 PM
Defense Seeks Mistrial

Once upon a time, not so long ago...

Quote:
NorthJersey.com (February 2016): Two former associates of Governor Christie may have behaved badly by allegedly closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in an act of political retribution, but they didn’t break any laws, say their attorneys...(They)...say that even if the alleged political conspiracy is true, there is no law against causing a traffic jam.

Critchley said that Kelly, who sent a now-infamous email “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” cannot be prosecuted because her actions did not even violate Port Authority policies, let alone federal laws. He added that Kelly and Baroni are being prosecuted under a law usually used against people who commit theft or bribery, even though the pair did not benefit financially from the lane closures. He also argued that charges of violating civil rights are usually brought against people accused of using excessive force.

Baroni’s lawyer, Michael Baldassare, repeated many of Critchley’s arguments (and) also argued that Baroni was denied a fair trial because prosecutors failed to pursue evidence that could exonerate his client. In particular, Baldassare zeroed in on...a lengthy report in March 2014 exonerating the governor of blame for the lane closures. Instead of handing over its evidence to prosecutors, the firm redacted and withheld thousands of documents, and released massive collections of documents in large, unsearchable files...Gibson Dunn has billed the state $8 million in fees for its work...
The fact that there was a trial is good reason to believe that this didn't work. Perhaps it would have if they had asked if Gibson Dunn had conspired to destroy the report, and if they did so with or without a proveable motive. But if at first you don't succeed, try, try again:
Quote:
NJ.com: Defense attorneys...asked for the declaration of a mistrial...in the wake of a furtive, day-long battle that took place behind-the-scenes...over whether jurors had been incorrectly instructed.

The request was made in a redacted application that gave no reason for the mistrial request. At the same time, assistant U.S. Attorney David Feder filed a separate motion asking the court to seal the record..."Because the filing refers to a matter that was addressed in a sealed courtroom on Nov. 2, 2016, and because its disclosure would complicate the court's efforts to ensure a fair trial..."

It was not known whether the issue involved the jury itself, or another legal matter. But it came following a...dispute (about)...U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton (telling) jurors they need not consider the politically inspired motive in the George Washington Bridge scandal in determining the the guilt or innocence of the defendants...

"While it is true that motive is not an essential element of every conspiracy, it is an essential element when the grand jury charges a defendant with conspiring to do so, and in fact, doing something he is authorized to do, but doing it for an improper purpose," (Kelly's attorney) wrote in his motion. He called it an error to instruct the jury otherwise, and that the court should correct it with re-instructions to the jury.
It is also true that the prosecution hardly ever has to prove intent and NEVER has to prove motive. Your clients have been charged with committing illegal acts, NOT with the motives behind committing them.

bonjovi90 11-04-2016 12:59 AM
I don't think I've ever seen a thread where about 95% of the posts are made by one person. It must be like writing a diary :D

Walleris 11-04-2016 05:08 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bonjovi90 (Post 1213291)
I don't think I've ever seen a thread where about 95% of the posts are made by one person. It must be like writing a diary :D
:B-fly:

Someone has way too much time on her hands. The whole NBJ section is basically rocknation's diary / social media account

rocknation 11-04-2016 08:52 PM
I guess I'd better alert the admins, then -- either I'm not the only one who has too much time on my hands, or this diary has been "hacked" more than 36,000 times! ;)
It's not my fault that Christie's sins have been three years in the making. And my compliments to you both on your excellent timing...

rocknation 11-04-2016 09:03 PM
Quote:
Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly GUILTY on ALL counts

In a seven-week trial that saw their own words used against them, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly were convicted of helping orchestrate massive traffic tie-ups at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. The plot was hatched to send a pointed message to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, after he stepped back from his earlier public support of Gov. Chris Christie...

The jury began reading its findings just before 11:30 a.m. and delivered their guilty decisions in rapid fire. Baroni and Kelly were charged on nine counts, and faced five of them together. The other four charges were split evenly, two each for the defendants.

Baroni stared at the jury stoically as the verdicts were read. Kelly cried and continued to sob as she heard the word guilty repeated time and again. Neither defendant stood as the verdicts were read...(They) face a maximum of 20 years in prison, but are likely to serve far less under federal sentencing guidelines...
Fortunately, the defense "no motive, no crime" tactic failed, along with what I suspect was a crusade among a juror or two to turn Kelly into a damsel in distress and prevent her four children from being "orphaned" by jail time.

But this victory is only of a battle, not the whole war. Next up: the investigation of Christie's official misconduct!

rocknation 11-07-2016 05:14 PM
Bridge(t)-Gate Aftermath: Some jurors speak out

Quote:
NorthJersey.com: Emotional arguments, tears, and heated exchanges characterized much of the jury deliberations...according to a Morris County man who sat on the jury that...and deliberated over another five days. “It was very hard,” the juror said, “Thinking about somebody going to jail.”

...Initially...(they) were split roughly eight to four in favor of convicting Kelly and Baroni...He declined to provide details, but he said that “things got testy”...Several jurors were in tears.

One of several sticking points for the jury...regarded the motive for the bridge closure scheme...Unbeknown(st) to the jury...attorneys had argued...about whether the jury would be instructed to weigh the motive element of the charges...(Another) disagreement (was) based on the impact the verdicts would have on the defendants’ lives...(But) “(o)nce we could put the emotional stuff behind us...things started to come together.”
The "impact the verdicts would have on the defendants’ lives?" That's not the jury's department. If the defendants’ acts are determined to be illegal and criminal, it's up to them to convict -- it's up to the judge to determine and deliver the appropriate amount of "impact."

Quote:
Bloomberg.com: (A juror) ...express(ed) bewilderment that neither Christie nor other members of his inner circle were held accountable in the plot...

“It is clear to me that there were many other people involved, including Governor Christie." (she said). "Based on the evidence presented over the past seven weeks, it is my opinion that Governor Christie is a master puppeteer and was aware of everything that went on, and goes on, within his administration.”
Quote:
NorthJersey.com: A juror...(said)...Gov. Chris Christie should have been one of the defendants in the case...(S)he did not believe Baroni and Kelly, both 44, were scapegoats, because the term implies they were innocent. The evidence supported a verdict of guilty, she said. But she called (them)..."sacrificial lambs" for a larger corrupt group of government officials...(She) said she was "appalled" by a written statement Christie released in the hours after the verdict...

Christie...said he was "saddened" that Kelly...and Baroni...showed "a lack of respect for the appropriate role of government and for the people we serve." Christie also reiterated he knew nothing about the lane closures...

"As a former federal prosecutor," the governor continued, "I have respected these proceedings and refused to comment on the daily testimony from the trial. I will set the record straight in the coming days regarding the lies that were told by the media and in the courtroom."

(On)...Nov. 23...Christie is scheduled to appear in...(c)ourt...in connection with a citizen complaint alleging second-degree official misconduct. (A) presiding municipal court judge found probable cause to support the claim...
Until then, LOL! But don't forget that isn't the only federal investigation he has pending.

rocknation 12-17-2016 09:20 PM
Christie has escaped being tried in a court of law for now, but not from being tried the court of public opinion -- which might explain why he's been sounding like a spoiled adolescent lately:

Quote:
Dear Diary:
I am SUPER "sauced" about my new ratings -- Only nineteen percent approve of me, only twenty-five percent approve of how I'm doing my job, and the poll spokesman has the nerve to say, "Since the dust has not yet settled from the trial and Christie himself is due in court in a few weeks, we may have not yet seen the end of Christie's decline."

And to think that the poll is from a New Jersey public school, Rutgers University! Well let's see how fast their enrollment goes up when I pass a law requiring students and faculty alike to be subject to random drug testing!
Quote:
Dear Diary:
You should have seen me on the Charlie Rose last night! He wanted to discuss Bridge(t)-Gate and I gave him such a long overdue earful! I said I would have been "happy to appear at the trial" but now that it was over, "I'm not going to sit silent any longer" because "I didn't do anything wrong," the "what matters to me most is my reputation, and that's what I'm fighting for...I'm no longer going to be a punching bag on this." I bet THAT will get my poll ratings skyrocketing out of the high teens!
Quote:
Dear Diary:
You are NOT going to believe this -- President-Defect Donald Trump has decided to make Mike Pence the head of his transition team! Mike Pence??? Since when do vice president-elects ever given responsibility to do anything??? Oh, and in case I didn't get the hint, they demoted -- NOT replaced -- the two guys I brought into the campaign with me. I'll bet that son-in-law of his is behind this -- just because I sent HIS father to jail! Where does he get off being such a vengeful, vindictive bully??
Quote:
Dear Diary:
Look at what that bastard Paul Muhshine wrote about me:
In the 1990 classic "Goodfellas"...Jersey's own Joe Pesci is told that he is going to become a made man in the Mafia. He is instead summarily dispatched with a shot to the back of the head because he did something that displeased the big boss. That's what happened to our governor last week - on a symbolic level of course.

Exactly what Christie did to upset Trump was not made public, but...My sources inside the Republican Party say that it was a collection of offenses...The people around Trump...concluded...that "Christie's all about Christie; he's not about you..."
That sounds a lot more like someting that Mulshine would say about HIMSELF. Why does he keep picking on me -- because I once called him an angry drunk?

Kathleen 12-19-2016 02:37 AM
He always sounds like a spoiled adolescent :(

rocknation 12-23-2016 10:33 PM
Quote:
NJ.com (February 2014): The New Jersey Legislature plans to revive a bill giving Gov. Chris Christie the authority to raise salaries for top staff, enact a pension change that benefits a few elected officials and clear the way for Christie, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, to earn income from a book deal while in office...

To help secure votes for the proposal...(a)ll 120 legislators would see a $30,000 increase in the size of their budgets for staff salaries, bringing the total to $140,000 per legislator. The legislators pay their chiefs of staff and other aides out of that annual allocation, an amount that has not increased in more than a decade. Legislators themselves continue to earn $49,000 and would not see a raise.

The bill could reach Christie's desk as soon as next Friday, the lawmakers said. Among other things, it includes a provision that adds book fees to the list of income state officials like Christie are allowed to receive. Current law prohibits such outside income while in office.

Quote:
NJ.com (February 2015): Every winning presidential candidate in the last 60 years has first published a book. So where is Gov. Chris Christie's?...(T)he 2016 field of GOP contenders have been teeing up 2016-aimed books at rapid-fire pace...

Under New Jersey state law, a sitting governor is barred from "receiving or agreeing to receive, whether directly or indirectly, any compensation, salary, honorarium, fee, or other form of income from any source, other than the compensation paid or reimbursed to him/her by the State for the performance of official duties." But that could change in the coming weeks or months.

Late last year, lawmakers worked on a deal that would rewrite the law to allow Christie to profit from a book deal in exchange for more money for legislative staff and judicial salaries..."We've got a lot of people working in these offices for far less than they'd make in the private sector, so if a bill comes up that lets the governor to profit from a book, and also increases the allotment for staffers, I'd certainly be open to it," said Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon...

Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) said his bill to allow Christie to profit from a book could again gain traction if the governor "really wants it," noting that Christie may become increasingly motivated with each passing week. "The clock is ticking with his circumstances," he said.
Quote:

NJ.com (December 2016): Tension is likely to be high at the Statehouse...as New Jersey lawmakers are scheduled to begin considering a pair of controversial bills linked to Gov. Chris Christie...

One (bill) the governor's office says could save money but critics warn could seriously hurt the state's newspapers. The other measure would loosen a state ethics law to allow Christie -- a Republican who is entering his second and final term -- to profit from a book deal while still in office. At the same time, it would allow millions of dollars in raises for high-ranking government employees that proponents say are long overdue. Both bills -- which have bipartisan support and are updates of past legislation that failed -- are being fast-tracked through the Democratic-controlled state Legislature.

Quote:
NJ.com: ...(a) legal ad... is a notice that is required by law to be advertised in a local newspapers to meet public disclosure rules. Legal ads can be (placed by) municipalities announcing government actions or disclosing delinquent taxpayer notices...(B)usinesses and individuals are sometimes required to place public notices...The bill would allow businesses to place the ads for free.

Advocates say it would...save municipalities money...because (they) could post notices online and wouldn't need to spend anything on advertising...(T)he municipality would have to create a "notice website" that would have to be secure and searchable...cost(ing) money to establish and maintain...infrastructure, personnel and technology requirements...

The New Jersey Press Association estimates 200 to 300 jobs could be cut from the newspaper industry that's already reeling from a record decline in ad revenue if it loses public notice advertising...Christie has had a rocky relationship with the state's press.
It doesn't sound like his relationship with political expediency is doing well, either. Sure, the argument could be made that he ought to be able to write a book, and no doubt legislative raises are long overdue. But to turn them into Siamese twins -- at long last, has he no shame? And WHY does he still want to do the book? He no longer needs it as an instrument of national recognition. It's been about a year since his wife left her $750K part-time job -- maybe it's just that they're hurting for money. But the real point is, each time he's tried to slip this deal through, the public has shouted it down for the smarmy backroom deal that it is...hmm, maybe Bridge(t)-Gate isn't the ONLY "rock" in Chrisite's relationship with the press!

rocknation 12-28-2016 01:05 AM
You would think that after barely getting out of Bridge(t)-gate alive, his public humiliation by the Trump regime, and his resulting low ratings, Christie would be a little more circumspect about being involved in anything for which he could be blamed directly. But noooo...

Quote:
NJ.com: New Jersey lawmakers...began advancing a controversial bill that would loosen a state ethics law to permit Gov. Chris Christie to profit from a book deal while in office and also allow raises for a wide swath of high-ranking government employees...

The measure is now likely to be considered by the full Senate and Assembly on Monday -- only a week after it was quietly introduced...It's unclear exactly how much money the plan would cost taxpayers. Because the measure is being fast-tracked, the state Office of Legislative Services has yet to prepare an estimate -- though the figure is likely to be in the millions...

The...Senate and Assembly committees approved another controversial measure...that would dismantle a state law requiring governments, businesses, and individuals to publish legal notices in printed newspapers...(giving) them the option to publish them online instead.
Quote:
NJ.com: ...According to an estimate released by the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services...the bill...would cost the state and county governments $7.45 million in 2017 and at least $10.6 million in 2018 and beyond...

It appears the book deal part of the bill would not cost taxpayers anything. But the measure would allow all 120 members of the Legislature to increase the salary allotments for their staff members...

And you would think that after barely getting out of Bridge(t)-gate alive, his public humiliation by the Trump regime, and his resulting low ratings, New Jersey Democrats would be jumping on him as though it were fourth and inches at the Super Bowl. Indeed, the bill was originally co-"introduced" by a Democrat:

Quote:
NJ.com: State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), the budget committee's chairman, said...that he's "not a fan" of tying the book aspect in with the raises but ended up voting for the legislation. "I'm being practical...There's a lot of good in this bill. If that is what's needed to make sure it gets bipartisan support and governor's signature? So be it."
But that was then, this is now. The Democrats are now in control of the state legislature, and Christie has neither political or moral credibility -- not to mention not having the support of the public. And the New Jersey Dems are STILL running scared? Why not just say no to him? Christie's "politics as usual" days are long since over!

rocknation 12-28-2016 11:26 PM
Quote:
NJ.com: At the core of Gov. Chris Christie's campaign to kill newspaper jobs is the claim that his bill will save money. He puts the number at $80 million...It's another lie...a...whopper with a dark purpose behind it...

The last time this came up, the Legislature's own researchers found that locals might not save a dime, and that it could even cost them more to handle the job themselves online...(L)ocal governments (that) don't use newspapers...will have to establish secure web sites and hire someone to process...and track...these ads...

So where did Christie get the $80 million figure?..."Multiple state agencies sampled public notices in all daily newspapers in New Jersey over a consecutive 30-day period extrapolating the data over 12 months..." the press office said...(The) League of Municipalities...say this number did not come from them...A survey answered by 147...smaller towns showed the average cost to be just over $7,000...

This is not about saving money. This is the governor's attempt to exact revenge on newspapers, and the reason (why) is that we...point it out when he lies. What's depressing...is that the Legislative leaders are joining hands with him. It's part of a deal, all struck in the back rooms, as usual...
But like that scene in The Wizard of Oz, the N.J. Dems finally realized that Christie no longer had all power over them and dropped a house (of representatives) on him!


Quote:
NJ.com: Finally, Democrats in Trenton are revolting against a craven backroom deal struck by their leaders, a sign of life in a party that seems to have lost its moral compass.

"I am so disgusted with my colleagues," says Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union). "There is no Democratic Party," says Sen. Loretta Weinberg. (D-Bergen). "Where are our core values?" asks Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex).

...(T)hey are (also) grumbling about the sweetheart book deal, too. Why waive an ethics law to allow the governor to profit from a book while he is in office? Hasn't he ignored his job enough? And the big question: What is the motive? What did Democratic leaders get in return for these big concessions to the most unpopular governor in the country? They got a raise for their staffs and judges, but is that all it takes? Is their price that low?
What is there to ask? Christie has lost his political leverage, that's all. He hasn't got the support of either the Democrat majority in the state legislature, President Trump, OR the voters. It is now "safe" to just say no to him -- especially when the public interest is hanging in the balance.

Quote:
NJ.com: In a stunning defeat for Gov. Chris Christie, state lawmakers...blocked a pair of controversial bills (he) was pushing for, stalling a measure that would end a requirement for legal ads to be published in New Jersey's newspapers and killing legislation that would have allowed Christie to profit from a book deal while in office...

Democratic leaders of the Senate said they would not even discuss the bills until it was clear how the Assembly would vote...Christie, who has often cut deals with Democratic leaders and party bosses to usher through legislation over the last seven years...
Negotiating is not legislating, and "my way or I'll close your highway" is not bipartisanship. Welcome to your political power vacuum, Governor Soprano -- lame duck much?

rocknation 07-05-2017 12:44 AM
The Trial: Kelly and Baroni sentenced (Wildstein next week)
 
Quote:
NJ.com: The sentencing next week of David Wildstein, a key figure in the Bridgegate scandal, has been postponed until...July 12...

Wildstein testified last year against Baroni and Kelly...(and who) pleaded guilty for his role in the case and served as a major witness in the trial of two former members of the Christie administration, could get up to 27 months in prison for his role in the scheme. He is hoping his cooperation with prosecutors will keep him out of prison...

Wildstein admitted that he was the one who first came up with the plan to use the toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge to deliberately cause traffic in Fort Lee in September 2013. He claimed the plan, coordinated with Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a one-time deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie was aimed at punishing Mayor Mark Sokolich for his refusal to support Gov. Chris Christie for re-election...Wildstein has been free on bail and living in Sarasota, Florida...
Quote:
NJ.com: Bridget Anne Kelly, 44, a former top aide to the governor whose "time for some traffic problems" email became a focal point of the federal investigation, was given 18 months.

Bill Baroni, 45, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, received a 24 month sentence earlier in the day in a separate proceeding in the same courtroom before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark...

Both Baroni and Kelly testified that they believed there actually was a traffic study. But the most damaging evidence against them might have been the now-infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email sent by Kelly to Wildstein less than a month before several local access toll lanes at the world's busiest bridge were inexplicably closed for nearly a week in September 2013. Prosecutors said the email represented a directive to implement the plan.

During his testimony, Baroni also was confronted over his failure to respond to a series of emails, texts and increasingly frantic phone calls from Sokolich, as the mayor tried to find someone in charge at the Port Authority to explain why the toll lanes had been shut down, blocking emergency vehicles, leaving school buses stranded and forcing thousands to be late for work...

Both were also sentenced to 500 hours community service. They will remain free on bail while they appeal their convictions.
Appeal their convictions? If their convictions ever had any appeal, they never would have broken the law!

rocknation 07-05-2017 04:53 AM
The beginning of the end of this thread?
 

Quote:
The Real Story: Both Assembly and Senate were and are ready to pass the Budget. However, the Governor has INSISTED that the Legislature ALSO AND SIMULTANEOUSLY pass a measure...(that) would raid a surplus garnered by NJ Horizon Blue Shield and Blue Cross...allowing the Governor to apply that entity's money...to the NJ deficit, caused by the Governor not demanding higher income residents pay higher taxes...

Christie knows that the measure by itself would not pass...Not only that, the Governor would "allow" an extra $350 million for schools, legal aid for the poor, and other programs to be included in the Budget if the Legislature agreed to vote...Unfortunately, that split democrats (who are in the majority in both houses)...(I)t's on the Governor, not the Legislature.
Those ninety-three cents on the dollars Christie left on the table in the Exxon settlement would sure come in handy right now -- wouldn't they have been a smarter company to raid?

Quote:
TheGuardian.com: Even for a US state governor with six months left in office and an approval rating of just 15%, it was an unusually bold move.

First, you order a government shutdown that closes all state parks and beaches on the eve of the 4 July holiday weekend. Then you...spend a good chunk of Sunday soaking up the rays with your family on a pristine stretch of sand that – thanks to your order – you have entirely to yourselves. Asked about reports that his family was staying at the state residence at Island Beach state park while it was closed to the public, Christie...(said) “I didn’t get any sun.”

Told of the existence of aerial pictures of the governor sitting on the beach with...family members, his spokesman, Brian Murray, conceded Christie was “on the beach briefly.” But Murray insisted: “He did not get any sun. He was wearing a baseball cap.”

Quote:
NJ.com: Howard and Betty Height are not the governor, but they have a house on Island Beach State Park. So do five other families.

But while Gov. Chris Christie and his family tanned, the other families burned -- with anger. The other Island Beach residents were ordered out of the homes Friday night under the threat of arrest. They packed up and drove off, right past the governor's summer retreat, its lights ablaze with activity...
Quote:
CNN: "That's just the way it goes," Christie said Saturday in response to a reporter's questions during a news conference. "Run for governor and you can have a residence."
Meanwhile, Christie got special "Greetings from Asbury Park"...
Quote:
Rawstory: (At a) 2011 press conference...during Hurricane Irene...(Christie) told people "sitting on the beach at Asbury Park” to “get the hell off the beach”...On Monday (7/3/17)...(a) crowd of beachgoers in Asbury Park...cheered...after a plane flew over the beach pulling a banner with... “Tell Chris Christie: get the hell off Island Beach State Park...”

...and a meme was born...


Quote:
NJ.com: Gov. Chris Christie announced he is ending the three-day state government shutdown...State-run recreation sites will reopen on the Fourth of July...

He'd offered to blunt his veto pen in exchange for two bills the Legislature also delivered: one pledging the state lottery as an asset to the public pension fund and another giving the state more control over the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. That proposal deeply divided Democratic lawmakers...

Christie blamed the state Assembly leader Vincent Prieto for the budget impasse...Prieto, who had refused to allow it to be put to a vote in the lower chamber...and the state Senate health committee chairman tasked with tinkering with the bill...with state Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Horizon CEO Bob Marino...Within hours they had a new bill and a deal...which Christie promptly signed after making what he called "minor changes" to budget language...

...(T)he full restoration of government operations (on 7/5/17) will return about 30,000 furloughed state employees to work...
Did I call Christie a lame duck? Make that a quadriplegic duck! But seriously, folks, with six months left to his regime -- oops, I mean governorship, we can only hope that he'll allow us to "close the books" on this thread quietly. As for life after politics, I'm pretty sure that Exxon won't hesitate to hire him!

rocknation 07-13-2017 06:47 AM
Quote:
Reuters: ...David Wildstein, 55, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...a high school classmate of Christie's...(and) (t)he mastermind of the Bridgegate lane closure scandal...avoided a prison sentence...

(He) provided the key evidence that led to the conviction of two Christie allies...The judge sentenced Wildstein to three years of probation, noting that he was the only figure in the scandal to accept responsibility for his actions...
So Wildstein got his wish -- avoiding hard time. But then again, he can credit that to his willingness to read the writing on the wall. So there's not much left to do but give Bruce Springsteen a big thumbs up for being so right about Chris Christie, gratefully thank you JoviTalkers for three and half years of your views and support, and hope that the remainder of the Christie regime is the embodiment of respectability and dignity.

Quote:
N.Y. Daily News: Former Yankee pitcher Fritz Peterson wrote a letter of support for the Bridgegate maestro...The 75-year-old retired hurler is writing a book with David Wildstein, according to a letter to (the) U.S. District judge...

Peterson grabbed headlines during spring training in 1973 when he announced that he was exchanging wives and kids with fellow Yankee pitcher Mike Kekich.
Well, it was respectable and dignified while it lasted.

The Kekiches broke up soon thereafter, the Petersons are still together. With character references like him, who needs friends?

rocknation 07-24-2017 01:27 AM
Excerpts from Wildstein's Statement To The Judge
 
Cue the violins:
https://www.democraticunderground.co...ons/nopity.gif
Quote:
There should be no doubt that I deeply regret my actions at the George Washington Bridge...It served no sensible purpose other than a plan to punish one mayor...It was a callous decision...It was stupid, and it was wrong. I violated the law, and I profoundly regret it...

I have spent the past three and a half years trying to make amends...Before any cooperation agreement was in place, I met with Assistant United States Attorneys and the FBI...(although) admitting my guilt and accepting responsibility for my actions...does not lessen the seriousness of what I have done...
What he "did" was come up with idea and suggest it to Christie -- Wildstein only "callous decision" was implementing Bridge(t)-Gate once he knew he had Christie's approval. It isn't as though he's the one who gave the order to carry it out -- right?

Quote:
I take full responsibility for what I did, and hope that someday, others will too...I admit to being a willing participant in a culture that was, upon reflection, disgusting...I was supervised by a group of former federal prosecutors and experienced public servants who encouraged a behavior that I deeply regret -- and fully understand was illegal...
NOW we're getting somewhere!

Quote:
Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly were my friends, and my testimony at their trial was an agonizing moment in my life...Each of us put our faith and trust in a man who neither earned nor deserved it...
But each of them saw Governor Soprano as their shortcut to the big time. And maybe it wouldn't have been as agonizing if it had been clear which of them reported to who.

Quote:
I willingly drank the Kool-Aid of a man I had known since I was fifteen...I thoughtlessly followed his hubris, and must now accept the consequences...I don’t expect everyone to forgive me...It will define the remainder of my life...
Which brings us to the bottom line -- Wildstein seems to be a 55-year-old fifteen-year-old whose entire being was absorbed by playing cool kid wannabe Richie Cunningham to Christie's Fonzie. But just as Richie only got to subsist on just whiffs of coolness -- of being OF Fonzie's world but never IN it -- Wildstein never figured out that it would never be in Christie's best interests to give him a ticket out of Nerd-istan...oh, and Fonize was eventually reduced to jumping over a shark.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/cad53d56...rnbmo1_500.gif

(link to entire statement)

Kathleen 07-24-2017 01:48 AM
Yeah Wildstein avoided hard time by giving testimony, but the real crook is still getting off scott free.

rocknation 07-29-2017 04:35 AM
The corruption trial of Democratic New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez starts in September, and there's been some talk about what Christie will do if it comes down to having to replace him before his time before January:

Quote:
RawStory (April 2015): Like...Dick Cheney, who revived his political career by selecting himself as the running mate for eventual President George W. Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) could...choos(e) himself to replace embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, should he step down. Menendez, a Democrat...(who) assumed his seat in the Senate in 2006...is currently facing one count of conspiracy, one count of violating the travel act, seven counts of bribery and three counts of honest services fraud...
Quote:
Politico: Gov. Chris Christie's last days in office he may get to exercise enormous influence nationally: Choosing a successor to embattled U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez...if (he) is convicted and the Senate acts quickly to expel him, or if he cuts a plea deal and leaves office even earlier...

As the battle over replacing the Affordable Care Act has made abundantly clear(,) Republicans' slim two-vote majority in the Senate — and the fact some GOP incumbents up for reelection in 2018 reside in swing states — means every vote is crucial for passing parts of the Trump agenda...

Well, if it's technically and legally possible to nominate himself, why not?

Quote:
NJ.com: Gov. Chris Christie...was Waterford crystal-clear...on...one thing...

"Believe me: When I say I am never running for public office in New Jersey again? I mean I am never running for public office in New Jersey again. The only job left for me to run for is United States Senate, and let me just say this: I would rather die than be in the United States Senate. Okay? I would be bored to death. Can you imagine me bangin' around that chamber with 99 other people? Asking for a motion on the amendment in the subcommittee? Forget it. It would be over, everybody. You'd watch me just walk out and walk right into the Potomac River and drown. That'd be it."
Not even temporarily enough to get President Trump back by voting against him? Think of all the fun he could have undermining the Republican two-vote majority!

rocknation 07-31-2017 02:53 AM
Quote:
NJ.com: ...Appearing on his monthly call-in radio program "Ask the Governor" on NJ 101.5 FM, Christie said the blowback hurt his kids more than anything else that's happened in his time as governor.

"They were more hurt by this latest episode than they've been hurt by anything else that has happened in the eight years and they don't understand people's unfairness and, quite frankly, their ignorance."

...After NJ Advance Media published pictures of Christie and his family alone on 10 miles of Island Beach State Park shore, the internet erupted with photo-shopped pictures of the governor and his folding chair in a variety of ever more improbable scenarios...
Well, seeing as how I was a full-fledged contributor to the deliquency of Christie's four children (only one of whom is under age 18) with such traumatizing "unfairness," I will step forward and take accountability: Since I couldn't afford to spend Independence Day weekend on a even a state beach, I didn't have anything BETTER to do!

Quote:
Philly.com: ...Christie took his family and a group of his children’s friends to the governor’s beach house at Island Beach State Park...even though the park had been closed as part of the government shutdown that resulted from the Legislature’s failure to adopt a budget by July 1...Christie has said the trip had been planned for months.
Quote:
NJ.com: ...Christie disclosed he has avoided looking at the memes of the infamous beach snaps and said his kids haven't discussed them with him..."They came to me and said, 'It's our fault, we should have just told you that we would have just told all of our friends to go away.' And I said to them, no, this was my decision. You're not the adult. I am."
Well, maybe the reason why Christie's kids were extra upset was because even THEY saw how unfair and ignorant their father was being. It sounds like they would have been willing to postpone or cancel the beach party -- that would have been "fair." More important, it also sounds like they had the capacity to have anticipated how bad it would make them all look, which tells us who the real "adults" in the Christie family are!

rocknation 08-04-2017 04:45 AM
UPDATE: The Beach-Gate is about to swing shut.
The New Jersey...Legislature voted 63-2 with two abstentions to prevent Christie — or any future New Jersey governor — from using the Island Beach State Park beach mansion during a government shutdown, officials said.

rocknation 08-04-2017 06:27 AM
A Sure Sign That the Press No Longer Has Christie's Back(Side)*
 
*A metaphor, not a weight joke.

Quote:
Asbury Park Press (8/2017): (A)ccording to...Black Keys...drummer...Patrick Carney...Jon Bon Jovi used (him) to avoid Gov. Chris Christie at a party...The revelation came during Carney’s High Standards Music Corner segment for Vice News Tonight in December (2016).

“I’ve met Bon Jovi once, and it was actually at Howard Stern’s birthday party,” Carney said. “Chris Christie was in the room, and Jon Bon Jovi came over and started talking to me, like really intensely. I was like, ‘Wow, why does Jon Bon Jovi want to talk to me?’ Then I realized it was just because he didn’t want to talk to Chris Christie.”

Christie and Bon Jovi did attend Stern’s birthday party in (January) 2014 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City...as details of the Bridgegate scandal were unfolding...The two did talk at the Stern party — on stage. Christie, who’s famously a fan of Bruce Springsteen, introduced Bon Jovi to the Ballroom crowd...

A Bon Jovi rep had no comment on the supposed incident. A rep for Christie said the story is false to the New York Post...
At the risk of overstating the obvious: The party took place in 2014, and Carney's Vice show took place seven months ago. So why does the Asbury Park Press and New York Post consider this news in August 2017? Has Christie been so successful at bullying the press that they're only beginning to feel it's safe to print negative stuff about him? If so, that means there's ought to be lot more to come!
Quote:
The subject of Bon Jovi came up on Carney's segment as he was reviewing the Bon Jovi song "This House is Not for Sale." He said he liked the guitars...
...and that he could tell that it was Bon Jovi by the drums...which I'll consider a compliment...

rocknation 01-23-2018 12:01 AM
ANOTHER Sure Sign That the Press No Longer Has Christie's Back(Side)
They don't seem to have MRS. Chrsitie's backside, either:

Daily News (11/6/2017): A statewide crackdown on distracted (driving) ordered by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s attorney general earlier this year netted a surprising offender: First lady Mary Pat Christie.

(An) officer tasked with specifically enforcing the state’s hands-free cell phone law...had no idea that it was the governor’s wife he'd spotted driving with her cell phone in hand...on April 10 (2017)...She initially tells him she was simply holding her phone, not using it to make a call...

In May...(Mrs. Christie) appeared in court and pleaded guilty to a charge of operating a motor vehicle while using a cell phone...(and) paid a $250 fine.

Not unlike the previous post about Christie, Jon, and the Black Keys drummer, this story didn't get into the press until seven months after the fact. If the media was hesitant because they didn't want to look like they were "picking on" the governor's wife, then why run the story at all -- never mind run it during the week before the election that would end Christie's reign?

Kathleen 01-23-2018 07:12 PM
So glad that this guy is out of office.

rocknation 01-23-2018 09:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathleen (Post 1233502)
So glad that this guy is out of office.
As I said, I'm sure the press sat on the Mary Pat story because it was such a minor offense, it would have make them look petty and willing to "stoop to any depth" to embarrass Christie -- which, of course, would have played right into his hands. But with his departure from office pending, there was even less reason to run the story.

Running it the week before the election effectively declared that the press thought so little of Christie, they were willing to muddy his wife regardless of any consequences. A major "sneak diss," as the hiphoppers would say.

rocknation 01-25-2018 10:57 PM
Bruce Springsteen Mocks New Jersey Governor: The Final Chapter
 

Now that the sun has officially set on Chris Christie's public service and personal credibility, I hereby use the power vested me by the stewardship of the new New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, plus the morally courageous ridicule of Bruce Springsteen, to pronounce this thread officially closed.

I had every confidence that Christie's departure from office would showcase his political/social tone-deafness and vulgarianism, and I'm delighted to report that he didn't let us down.

Quote:
Business Insider: On the day New Jersey elect(ed) a new governor...Chris Christie fell into an old habit that has come to define his governorship...

(To) a constituent who was upset that the governor hadn't attempted to merge the constituent's township...Christie said..."It's easier to sit here and complain. But you know what? That's the joy of public service. It's serving folks...like you that is really such a unique joy. It really is. You're fabulous."
But that was only the opening act:

Quote:
Bloomberg: ...(A)t Newark Liberty International Airport...Christie...and the state trooper who accompanied him for his security detail...was blocked from a VIP entrance he had used for eight years, and directed to stand in...screening lines at Terminal B like anyone else, according to a person familiar with the incident...The order came from police for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport...
About ten days after being laid off from a job I'd had for nine years, I had to make one last visit to the personnel department. I did so by doing what I'd done practically every day for each of those nine years: entering the office building, getting on and off the elevator, exchanging pleasantries with employees who were passing through the reception area, and bypassing the reception desk. As I was completing my appointment with the personnel representative, some security guards showed up.

Why? Because it had never entered my mind that since I didn't work there anymore, I should have conducted myself as a mere visitor "like anyone else." I suppose I should have been embarrassed by my carelessness, or offended that I'd been suspected of be a "suspicious" character. But all I could do was laugh and say "Force of habit -- guilty as charged!"

Quote:
Talking Points Memo: The former governor...attempted to enter the airport through a special access area with his state police escort that he reportedly used when he was governor. A Port Authority (police) officer stopped Christie from using that entrance and escorted him to the regular entrance...

Christie denied the claims in...tweet(s)...saying he was led to one entrance...but was then informed by the (Transportation Safety Administration) that it was the wrong entrance and he was directed to a different gate:
“Neither option was the way I entered the airport as Governor (wrong in the story) and (the) PAPD officer never denied me entry at either place (also wrong in story)...”
If Christie was "led" to the first gate, it was most likely the result of his telling the PAPD officer that he wanted to use the gate that was reserved for the New Jersey governor. But I'm willing to believe that Christie simply made the same innocent mistake that I had, and therefore neither he nor they were to blame. His response is the problem: retaliating by portraying himself as the victim -- then elevating himself to the hero -- by attacking "false" reports that he'd tried to "evade" both gates.

So it's appropriate that this thread is ending on such a sour note. In addition to making it that much easier to say "Good riddance, Governor Soprano," it also makes me that much prouder of the effort that everyone invested in reading all this over the past three years. So I won't say goodbye -- I'll just say "Thank you for the 30 views a day," and "Would you please take off your shoes before passing through the scanner, sir?"

Kathleen 01-26-2018 09:09 PM
He began as a scumbag and he ended as a scumbag - no socially redeeming feature at all. I'm with you - close the damn thread :D

rocknation 02-12-2018 02:35 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathleen (Post 1233693)
...I'm with you -- close the damn thread. :D


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