Is There Any Chance Christie Did NOT Know About the Dirty Tricks?

Lois Lerner's fear of self-incrimination is not an admission of guilt

The Supreme Court affirmed this in Ohio v. Reiner.

She has a reasonable fear that the Government's investigation of the IRS will use her words to incriminate her.
Even though she may not be guilty of any malfeasance.

This is such BS. If she is innocent, she has nothing to fear. If she's guilty then she has everything to fear and therefor would not want to testify. She's guilty as sin and she knows it. Innocent people have no fear of the truth, guilty people have everything to fear from the truth.

We all know guilty people plead the 5th so they don't have to lie.

because no innocent person is ever wrongfully convicted and CERTAINLY no criminal ever gets away with it.

Well it seems the IRS and Obama administration have gotten away with it.

AHA! You've been watching a Godfather Marathon again.

Baldimo: We all know guilty people plead the 5th so they don't have to lie.
----------

And you guys are always bragging about how you know and respect the constitution.

maybe maybe not

Did you live in a cave last May? The story was much larger than the bridge scandal.


Few and far between?
A search of the Washington Post website shows they have over 400 articles on the IRS targeting Conservatives in May of 2013.
A search for Christie Bridge Scandal only comes up with 200 in the month that broke.

New York Times BREAKING NEWS:


BREAKING NEWS Thursday, March 27, 2014 11:34 AM EDT

Report Says Port Authority Official Told Christie of Lane Closings; Christie Doesn’t Recall

The Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closing at the George Washington Bridge said that he had he informed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey about it at a Sept. 11 memorial while the closings were occurring, according to an internal investigation released on Thursday by lawyers for the governor.

The official, David Wildstein, told Mr. Christie’s press secretary of the Sept 11 conversation at a dinner in December just before his resignation from the Port Authority, according to the report.

The report said that Mr. Christie did not recall any such conversation and finds no evidence that he was involved in the scheme, which snarled traffic for thousands of commuters in Fort Lee, N.J., from Sept. 9 through the morning of Sept. 12.

It was one of many revelations unearthed by the inquiry, commissioned by Mr. Christie’s office, into what prompted the lane closings and what role his administration played in it.


The "report" cost the tax payers of New Jersey about $1 million.

The report was prepared by a commission Gov. Christie appointed...and was chaired by a Christie supporter...who also has been Christie's attorney for years.

How have we sunk so low that politicians think they can pull stuff like this?

Anyway...the US Attorney...and the State Legislature are both still investigating...and my guess is they will come up with a less cleansing appraisal of what happened.

_______
Talking about Chutzpah?! This Christi report, defense lawyers hired by him and paid for by New Jersey tax payers, is a direct insult and rebuke to all New Jerseyites! How on earth can Christi's lawyer, Randy Mastro, of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, claim the report exonerates the governor when key wittnesses, former campaign manager Bill Stepien, Port Authority official Bill Baroni, Bridgett Anne Kelly, and David Wildstein have refused to meet with them; these Christi lawyers only have half a report. The colossal brass of Christi who still claims "I know nothing" only makes one salivate at the expectation of his fast approaching downfall.

The fact that he, Governor Christi, has shown no compunction regarding throwing his former cabinet level people under the bus, means they should no longer remain silent, but let it all hang out, shining light in on Christi's underhanded methods of manipulation. The Christi report also said there was no valid proof the NJ governor had anything to do with Mayor Zimmer's claim she was approached by his Lt.governor Kim Guadagno with respect to Sandy funds in exchange for giving Christi's a yes answer to his building and investing in Hoboken....The federal government is looking into that.

I suspect this lopsided report is just the tip of the iceberg and when the sh*t does hit the fan, Christi might be forced to resign or end up in prison.

Later.....

The timing of the results is interesting. The results came available in time for Shelly Abelson to find Christie as pure as the fresh driven snow. Abelson may even lay some big money on Christie.

True! Governor Christi needed such a report to bolster his viability as a conceivable presidential possibility as he stooped to kiss the ring of his mega donor, Sheldon Adelson. Christi's defense lawyers went over the top, rhapsodizing over Christi's good character/innocence, describing the governor as tearing up by the deception from his closest cabinet members.

In spite of the "sword of Damocles" hanging over the governor's head, it is most transparent the NJ governor has not given up his pursuit for the WH in 2016; Christi aspired to provide crystal clear proof to Sheldon Adelson that the newly released report had been an exhaustive investigation absolving him of any wrong doing.

The irony of this scenario is this, following Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney's huge loss in 2012, the multi-billionaire having bestowed over 90 million on these presidential wannabes, discovered he could not win over mainstream Americans with these more rightwing types; however, the Republican Christi in a Blue state, NJ, would appear to be more of the persuasion Adelson is searching for...a moderate...alas!....The multi-billionaire is not stupid and realizes regardless how Christi presents his case with respect to his being exonerated, there are more significant investigations going on against him as we speak.

Whether Adelson "laid some big money on Christi" is anyone's guess, but personally, a shrewd action would be to await the outcome of these other investigations, especially by the former Federal Prosecutor, Reid Schar, US attorney's office in New York and the one who put the Chicago Governor, Rod Blagievich, in jail for the "Pay to Play" crime. "CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used some of the Sandy money to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family and tried to lure Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken,NJ, to give him something in return for Sandy relief aid funds." In fact, you, Advocate, were the one to alert me to this latter bit of info before I had heard it on the "Up with Steve Kornacki" show.

The embattled Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christi, has been caught seemingly in his own web which he had spun for others; he has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and his insidious bullying mode of operating is catching up with him.

Have a nice day.

You are funny MIT. Your outrage almost seems real.

Things are progressing on Bridgegate. Wildstein is now telling prosecutors what he knows in the hopes of getting an immunity deal. And you can be sure that Bridget Kellly is also working on a deal. In the meantime, a judge said that those taking the fifth can refuse to hand over their documents. (This will certainly be appealed by the prosecutors, who will probably win a reversal.)

Here is a good piece by Robert Kuttner, who says that Christie may not get away with the claim that he was the piano player in the whorehouse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/chris-christie-the-end-game_b_4634063.html

Your article is an interesting one, Advocate ––it endorses the overwhelming suspicion the NJ governor was well aware of what was happening in his own administration. Chris Christi has an in-your-face type personality, an intimidating blustering manner that defy any underling to try and put something over on him; they would be too wary to try and pull a major stunt like closing down three lanes on the George Washington Bridge without his knowledge. The governor's disavowal of what was going on when the lanes were closed for 4 days display a contempt for the citizens of New Jersey's intelligence, or a possible lack in his own mental discernment.

I, too, heard last week that David Wildstein had possibly made a deal and were talking....I agree, Bridgett Anne Kelly cannot be far behind, after all, in order to make his story more credible the governor had to throw these two most faithful under the bus...... his eyes were on the White House and his possibly residing there after 2016....what did loyalty matter when the US presidency was so clearly within reach?!?

I, too, believe Christi will NOT serve out his term and as far as the US presidency is concern, that pathway is now reasonably doomed.



P.S. When Mitt Romney's aides were doing a thorough background investigation on a possible Christi VP, the baggage regarding the GOP New Jersey governor was so alarming, the Romney team dared not take the chance. It also appeared that having a business card that says "Wall Street Lobbyist" is bad enough, but Chris Christie's client at the time was an organization fronted by blatant predatory con man Bernie Madoff.

Robert Kuttner could not have said it with greater clarity...or humor...than when he wrote:






I realize that people outside of New Jersey (and within New Jersey itself) thought Christie was a kind of second-coming. I cannot tell you how happy I am that this particular son of my state will almost certainly not be inflicted on the rest of the country!

Oh yes, that article nailed it.




I disagree with you somewhat, Frank, in that people who follow politics closely, especially in New York, my native home, have followed this Republican governor closely. Prior to the Sandy hurricane disaster, Christi's poll ratings were unexceptional. His ratings shot up after the storm Sandy hit the State and it seemed to take forever before funds from FEMA came through; the Governor used irate rhetoric aimed directly at the Speaker of the House, John Boehner: It's “disgusting ... outrageous ... callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state,” fumed Gov. Christie in his protest over the House not voting as soon as possible on an emergency bill for states hit by superstorm Sandy. (The Republicans were not in such a hurry to send aid to NJ, a blue state that voted for Obama.)

New Jerseyans truly appreciated their governor going to bat for the money promised the state and Christi's ratings shot up! Even I, native New Yorker, who never thought kindly of the New Jersey governor, was grateful to see him speak out forcefully. Little did anyone imagine he was planning to use the money for corrupt political purposes, i.e., slush fund geared towards New Jersey Democratic Mayors, bribing them to vote for him so his national image would be enhanced.



Even though we still have to wait until this drama play out, I feel almost buoyant that the ultimate end will NOT find Christi retaining his current position, not to mention the long shot at the presidency of the US. When the final page is written and all facts are in, I firmly believe the people of New Jersey will demand his impeachment!

Christie is now facing a new investigation. He allegedly shifted Port Authority funds to improperly improve a NJ bridge, pressuring Authority people to go along with this improper shift.

Ex-Christie Aide Tells of Push to Win Over Fort Lee’s Mayor

TRENTON — The administration of Gov. Chris Christie worked to cultivate Fort Lee’s mayor for at least a year and a half before lanes were closed at the George Washington Bridge in an act of political retribution, according to testimony from a former aide to the governor on Tuesday.

The description of the efforts to woo the mayor seemed to run contrary to the governor’s statement after the lane closings exploded into a scandal in January that Mayor Mark Sokolich had never been on his “radar screen.”

In seven hours of testimony before the legislative committee investigating the lane closings, Matt Mowers, who worked in the governor’s office and then for his 2013 re-election campaign, described an aggressive political operation that closely monitored its attempts to secure endorsements from Mr. Sokolich and other Democrats. The governor’s advisers hoped this would allow Mr. Christie to present himself as the Republican presidential candidate with bipartisan appeal.

The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where Mr. Mowers worked before he moved to the campaign, kept a list of the top 100 towns where Mr. Christie hoped to increase his margin of victory in his re-election. Staff members filed frequent memos noting their progress on various “metrics,” according to documents presented during Mr. Mowers’s testimony, filling out answers to questions such as how many meetings and phone calls they made to mayors of the towns on that list. They were asked to record progress toward endorsements as well as “conditions of endorsement (if applicable).”

Democrats on the committee pressed Mr. Mowers, who is now the executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, to explain how the list was created. He said he did not know, describing the towns as “politically intriguing.”

Mr. Sokolich, whose town was No. 47 on the list, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times, featured prominently in Mr. Mowers’s email updates to the governor’s office.

One email, under the subject line “Fort Lee List,” indicated a list of officials and community leaders, including the mayor, who should be invited to a sporting event, Mr. Mowers said — “one of dozens” where the governor’s office would invite favored political officials.

In May 2012, Mr. Mowers, now 24, suggested that the mayor and other Fort Lee officials be invited to breakfast at Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion. Mr. Mowers said the breakfast never happened. And under questioning about whether this was using government time to do campaign work, he defended the administration’s actions as wanting to develop relationships with local officials, noting, for example, that the school superintendent in Fort Lee had hosted the governor for a live broadcast of “Morning Joe” at a school.

“It made good government,” Mr. Mowers said, in the form of constituent services.

Late that month, Mr. Mowers sent a note to the town announcing “good news,” that the governor had asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to spend $162,000 on shuttle buses to help move Fort Lee residents across the Hudson River. In February 2013, Bill Stepien, a deputy chief of staff who later ran the governor’s re-election campaign, sent Mr. Mowers an email noting that the shuttle service had begun, and that the administration had approved it months ago. “Hope he remembers,” he wrote.

“I’ll be sure to remind him when we speak later.” Mr. Mowers wrote back.

The next month, however, Mr. Mowers sent another email noting that “Sokolich is going to be a no.”

“It’s a shame too,” he wrote. “I really like the guy.”

Mr. Mowers testified that “in colorful language” the mayor had told him he supported the governor, but could not endorse him because he feared he would lose business relationships, and would prompt retribution from Democrats.

He was asked if that surprised him.

“Given what I heard from other elected officials,” Mr. Mowers replied, “it didn’t as much, unfortunately.”

In August of that year, he said, Bridget Anne Kelly phoned to ask if the mayor’s endorsement was definitely out of the question. He confirmed that it was. The next day, Ms. Kelly sent the email to a Port Authority official saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/nyregion/ex-aide-tells-of-tabs-kept-on-mayor-of-fort-lee.html?mabReward=RI%3A10&module=WelcomeBackModal&contentCollection=Africa&region=FixedCenter&action=click&pgtype=article

Fri Jun 20, 2014 at 07:39:43 AM EDT

Major piece at Esquire describes Paul Fishman as "closing in" on Christie

Scott Raab and Lisa Brennan describe how the cast of characters down the food chain - Christie inner circle players Charlie McKenna, Bridget Kelly, Bill Stepien and "oddball" David Wildstein - face near-certain indictment and are being pressed to hand up Christie. But that list also includes David Samson, 74, rich and with Parkinson's Disease and likely not interested in dying in jail. He's the "quickest, clearest" road to Christie. Wildstein and Baroni both turned on Samson, and if Samson doesn't give Fishman Christie, Samson's toast. But even given all that ... it's still hard to imagine Christie not insulating himself.

The description of the efforts to woo the mayor seemed to run contrary to the governor’s statement after the lane closings exploded into a scandal in January that Mayor Mark Sokolich had never been on his “radar screen.”

In seven hours of testimony before the legislative committee investigating the lane closings, Matt Mowers, who worked in the governor’s office and then for his 2013 re-election campaign, described an aggressive political operation that closely monitored its attempts to secure endorsements from Mr. Sokolich and other Democrats. The governor’s advisers hoped this would allow Mr. Christie to present himself as the Republican presidential candidate with bipartisan appeal.

The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where Mr. Mowers worked before he moved to the campaign, kept a list of the top 100 towns where Mr. Christie hoped to increase his margin of victory in his re-election. Staff members filed frequent memos noting their progress on various “metrics,” according to documents presented during Mr. Mowers’s testimony, filling out answers to questions such as how many meetings and phone calls they made to mayors of the towns on that list. They were asked to record progress toward endorsements as well as “conditions of endorsement (if applicable).”

Democrats on the committee pressed Mr. Mowers, who is now the executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, to explain how the list was created. He said he did not know, describing the towns as “politically intriguing.”

Mr. Sokolich, whose town was No. 47 on the list, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times, featured prominently in Mr. Mowers’s email updates to the governor’s office.

One email, under the subject line “Fort Lee List,” indicated a list of officials and community leaders, including the mayor, who should be invited to a sporting event, Mr. Mowers said — “one of dozens” where the governor’s office would invite favored political officials.

In May 2012, Mr. Mowers, now 24, suggested that the mayor and other Fort Lee officials be invited to breakfast at Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion. Mr. Mowers said the breakfast never happened. And under questioning about whether this was using government time to do campaign work, he defended the administration’s actions as wanting to develop relationships with local officials, noting, for example, that the school superintendent in Fort Lee had hosted the governor for a live broadcast of “Morning Joe” at a school.

“It made good government,” Mr. Mowers said, in the form of constituent services.

Late that month, Mr. Mowers sent a note to the town announcing “good news,” that the governor had asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to spend $162,000 on shuttle buses to help move Fort Lee residents across the Hudson River. In February 2013, Bill Stepien, a deputy chief of staff who later ran the governor’s re-election campaign, sent Mr. Mowers an email noting that the shuttle service had begun, and that the administration had approved it months ago. “Hope he remembers,” he wrote.

“I’ll be sure to remind him when we speak later.” Mr. Mowers wrote back.

The next month, however, Mr. Mowers sent another email noting that “Sokolich is going to be a no.”

“It’s a shame too,” he wrote. “I really like the guy.”

Mr. Mowers testified that “in colorful language” the mayor had told him he supported the governor, but could not endorse him because he feared he would lose business relationships, and would prompt retribution from Democrats.

He was asked if that surprised him.

“Given what I heard from other elected officials,” Mr. Mowers replied, “it didn’t as much, unfortunately.”

In August of that year, he said, Bridget Anne Kelly phoned to ask if the mayor’s endorsement was definitely out of the question. He confirmed that it was. The next day, Ms. Kelly sent the email to a Port Authority official saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/nyregion/ex-aide-tells-of-tabs-kept-on-mayor-of-fort-lee.html?mabReward=RI%3A10&module=WelcomeBackModal&contentCollection=Africa&region=FixedCenter&action=click&pgtype=article