Gov. Christie Blames His Senior Staff For ‘Brideggate’ Scandal

Report by Mark Lagerkvist - NJ Watchdog
January 9, 2014

CHRISTIE BLAMES STAFF; TROTS TRENTON TWO-STEP TO SAVE 2016 BID

Nearly three years before the 2016 election, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is already in damage control in an effort to save his unannounced campaign for president.

Trotting the Trenton two-step, Christie took responsibility for the Bridgegate scandal while squarely placing the blame on others. According to the governor, his chief misstep was trusting a hand-picked staff that lied to him.

“I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution, and I am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here,” said Christie at a press conference. “This is not how the administration has conducted itself for the last four years – and not the way it will conduct itself for the next four.”

So heads rolled at the Statehouse, as a contrite Christie declared himself “embarrassed and humiliated,” then quickly cut his losses with an eye on the future.

The governor fired a key aide, severed ties with his top political adviser and apologized profusely for his office’s role in closing traffic lanes as an act of political revenge.

“Time for traffic problems in Fort Lee,” wrote deputy chief of staff Bridget Ann Kelly in a smoking gun email. Christie said he first learned of her role yesterday. Then he threw Kelly under the bus this morning.

Former chief of staff Bill Stepien was also road kill from the controversy that caused four days of massive tie-ups on the George Washington Bridge in September. As a result, Stepien will not be the new chair of the State Republican Committee and will lose his consulting gig with the Republican Governors Association.

As part of Christie’s public mea culpa, the governor said he planned to travel to Fort Lee to personally apologize to Mayor Mark Sokolich. The lane closures were intended as political revenge against Sokolich, who refused to endorse Christie in the November election.

What remains to be seen is how the local scandal and Christie’s remedial maneuvers play to a national electorate that has so far smiled upon the bombastic governor in opinion polls.

A verbal slip at the press conference belied Christie’s presidential ambitions.

“I am not a focus group-tested, blow-dried candidate…or governor,” said Christie while expounding on the authenticity of his character. “I am what I am, but I am not a bully.”

The scandal is not likely to go away soon. New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman today announced an investigation into the lane closures. In addition, the Assembly Transportation Committee probe that subpoenaed the damning emails is expected to continue.

- See more at: http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/01/09/christie-bridgegate-scandal/#sthash.u8Sx9rYN.dpuf

Video: Christie and Bush: Politics

And how can we pass up this great piece of video that the Corzine team dug-up on Chris Christie. After months of running away from the Bush Administration and saying that his appointment as NJ's US Attorney Gerneral was not politically motivated, here is Chris Chirtie himself saying that he is proud of the fact he raised money for the president.

"And I did it in a completely appropriate fashion and enthusiastically for the President. And there's no mystery to the fact that I was appointed to this job because, in part, I had a relationship with the President of the United States"

"Anybody who receives a political appointment -- I am a political appointee -- there's going to be some measure of politics involved with that appointment." Christie states.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Christie's bad move

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Chris Christie, the Republican nominee for governor of New Jersey, showed poor judgment twice in lending $46,000 to a subordinate while he was U.S. attorney.
One mistake, as Christie acknowledged this week, was failing to disclose the loan on his income-tax and financial-disclosure forms. Even though the amount of interest income he receives is minimal (about $2,400 per year), Christie has prosecuted people for income-tax evasion in his former job.

The other mistake, which Christie can't quite seem to understand, was lending the money to a subordinate in the first place. Christie lent the money to a colleague, Michele Brown, who ran up credit-card debts with her husband after he lost his job.

Not only would it have become awkward if Brown failed to pay back the money, but the deal also creates a financial link between the gubernatorial candidate and the federal prosecutor's office. Christie supposedly broke his ties to that office when he resigned last December.

Christie said he wasn't trying to hide anything. Regardless, he created a potential conflict for himself that should give voters some concern about his judgment.

Click on headline for link to The Philadelphia Inquirer

Turning Back The Clock: Christie Opens Questionable Investigation Of Menendez And Ethics Are First Challanged

Lets turn back the clock to the summer of 2006, Democratic Candidate for U.S Senate, Congressman Bob Menendez, is the front runner over Republican candidate Tom Kean Jr.

61 days before an election U.S Attorney, Chris Christie, appointed by President George Bush after his family makes  large contributions to the President and to the New Jersey's Republican Party, decides to take an interest.

Christie files subpoenas  seeking documents related to a rental deal Menendez had with a nonprofit agency in Hudson County from 1994 to 2003, and not coincidentally, leaks to the press followed immediately. 

"There are serious questions about the timing of this inquiry and I will not allow an orchestrated concerted effort to smear and personally destroy those who oppose this administration.” Menedez said at the time.

Democrats from all over the state rallied behind Congressman Menendez in a show of support. Middletown's Democratic leader, Joe Caliendo, went as far as issuing a press release, which questioned the timing and motivations behind the Christie subpoenas.

At the time, Caliendo was one of the few people willing to address the questionable political donations made by the Christie family to various GOP organizations, which lead to Chris Christie's appointment as  U.S Attorney.  

In his press release dated September 18, 2006, Caliendo also questions why Christie wouldn't investigate his old college buddy Joe Kyrillos and his shady dealings with John Lynch and Jack Morris over the Matawan-Aberdeen Train Station restoration:

CALIENDO CALLS INVESTIGATION POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, QUESTIONS TIMING, MOTIVATION OF CHRISTIE CONTRIBUTIONS

Middletown Democrat Chairman Joe Caliendo has called the investigation into Sen. Bob Menendez highly suspect.

"We have a U.S. Attorney who is playing politics for a party he owes deeply," Caliendo said. "At the end of the day, Christie is a political appointee."

Caliendo noted that it is difficult for the U.S. Attorney to claim objectivity in investigating a Democrat candidate in an important national race, especially when the money trail between Christie and the state Republican Party are seen in the broad light of day.

"Look, the timing of the contributions by Chris Christie and his family are pretty suspect, if you ask me," Caliendo said. "First, you've got the fact that Todd Christie, the U.S. Attorney's brother, has helped raise over $200,000 for the Bush White House. But you've also got to look at what's been paid to the state Republicans."

Caliendo said election reports show that before 2001 Christopher J. Christie and his family members donated a total of $800 to the New Jersey Republican Committee.

But in the months before September 2001, when Christie learned of his appointment, Christie donated $10,000 to the party and his brother Todd's household contributed $64,000 to the party. Todd Christie went on to contribute $70,000 to the party in three lump sums from 2002 to 2004.

"Look, you don't just jump from giving $800 in a lifetime to giving $74,000 in less than a month without strings being attached to both sides," Caliendo noted. "That's just not how politics works and certainly not how politics works in New Jersey."

Caliendo noted that while the U.S. Attorney launched a curiously timed investigation into Menendez's finances, Christie has ignored potential wrongdoing by the state's GOP brass.

"Christopher J. Christie will not investigate the dealings of the Matawan-Aberdeen Train Station, in which over $50,000 passed between John Lynch business partner Jack Morris and state Sen. Joe Kyrillos' campaign accounts," Caliendo said. "Christie will not investigate the fact that Sen. Kyrillos may have used some strangely times campaign contributions to influence the Keyport Republican Party (including two councilmen arrested for corruption) to help his employer Woodmont Properties develop condos on waterfront property in the town, which he's supposed to represent."

Caliendo said Christie would not investigate these dealings by Kyrillos because of his very relationship to Kyrillos and the Middletown Republicans.

"Look, Kyrillos is this same man who swore Chris Christie in as a Morris County Freeholder, the same man who Todd Christie called a 'family friend' and the same man who was taking the helm of the state GOP just as the Christies dropped $74,000 a couple months before the U.S. Attorney learned of his appointment."

Caliendo concluded by saying, "Of course Christie is going to investigate Menendez. Menendez isn't George W. Bush's candidate, and Menendez wasn't taking the helm of the state GOP when the Christies were paying tribute to that organization's coffers."

Caliendo characterized the State Republican Party as being both "corrupt and vindictive" and may come after him in some political way because of this. "But the truth is just that and I do have proof about every assertion that I am making," he said.

The Skeletons in Christie's Closet: When is a Prosecutor Not a Prosecutor?

Hat tip to Pat Walsh and her Middletown Musings blog for finding  "The Public Needs To Know" website , the idea behind this site is to let the public know about waste, abuse and stupid government actions that lead to the misuse of tax payer dollars.

I found the following post about Republican Candidate for Governor, Chris Christie rather revealing particularly when you read similar stories about Mr. Christie on conservative blogs such as Conservatives With Attitudes :

When is a Prosecutor Not a Prosecutor?

Answer: When a prosecutor chooses, selectively, not to prosecute an individual accused of a crime that 14 others are indicted for. It is not a
trick question.

One of the most prestigious positions on Wall Street is serving on the Board of the NY Stock Exchange. In 2003 it was even more prestigious given the boom market the economy was experiencing. Todd Christie, Chris Christie’s brother was nominated to serve on the NY Stock
Exchange Board. However, something happened.

Todd Christie was head of Spear, Leeds & Kellogg which he sold to Goldman Sachs (Jon Corzine’s old firm) in 2000 for $100,000,000.00. As the head of Goldman Sachs’ NYSE trading unit and had been asked to serve as the industry rep to the board. However, before he could be
confirmed to that position, he withdrew his nomination amid a number of issues that arose.

One of them included an accusation that he made 1,600 illegal trades resulting in clients getting ripped off to the tune of $1.4 million. Not only did he withdraw his nomination but he totally quit his job at Goldman Sachs in March of 2003.

Keep in mind that Todd Christie, who lived and lives in New Jersey, is the younger brother of Chris Christie, the US Attorney for New Jersey who is noted for fighting crime and corruption.

Since early in 2001, when Chris Christie was lobbying to become the US Attorney for NJ, Todd Christie and his wife had donated more than $400,000 to various GOP coffers. He not only opened his own checkbook, but teamed up with his brother’s current campaign spokesman, Bill
Palatucci, and current campaign fundraiser, Jon Hanson, to raise money for the George W. Bush campaign. Together, the three were approaching Bush’s “Super Ranger” status by closing in on the $300,000 contribution mark.

In 2005, Todd Christie was among 20 former Wall Street specialists accused of fraudulent trading practices. Fifteen of the 20 specialists also were indicted on criminal charges by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan for the same practices. On the criminal charges, each defendant faced up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $5,000,000.00

“These defendants broke the rules repeatedly, they cheated the markets and the cheated the investors who relied upon them, “said David N.Kelly, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“The conduct here was quite egregious,” said David Rosenthal, an associate regional director for the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Christie was one of the worst.” Christie was a specialist in IBM, AOL and AIG stocks. Yes, that AIG!!

According to the SEC, Todd Christie committed more that 1,600 improper trades between January 1999 and March 2003, generating “riskless profits” of more than $1.59 million for Spear Leeds (his own company) and costing his clients more than $1.4 million. The SEC would later demand that Todd Christie pay $3,820,000.00 in penalties and restitution for allegedly ill gotten profits.

Christie ranked fourth in the SEC complaint among the 20 traders who earned the biggest profits at customers’ expense. The top three were indicted, as were 11 traders lower down. Somehow he avoided being indicted but still faced civil proceedings. Is this preferential treatment? Is it the appearance of impropriety or something else?

Question: Why did U. S. Attorney David Kelly not indict Chris Christie’s younger brother for the same things he indicted other people for?

Shortly after the civil proceedings started against Todd Christie another fraud case ensued under the jurisdiction of the US Attorney from New Jersey’s office. It involved 5 makers of hip and knee implants who avoided prosecution by agreeing to pay $311 million to settle allegations that they secretly paid off orthopedic surgeons to endorse and use their products.

According to prosecutors, by not disclosing they collected as much as $1 million a year in consulting fees, surgeons, cheated patients and broke Medicare laws. Four of the companies agreed to pay civil settlements with the Department of Health and Human Services, ranging from $169 million to $26.9 million. They signed deferred prosecution agreements pledging to change their practices and to accept a federal monitor asconditions for avoiding future fraud charges.

One of the firms was represented by Herbert Stern, a former federal judge who has served as a mentor to Chris Christie and a contributor to his campaign for Governor.

According to newspaper reports, the firm Stern represented avoided the penalties handed out by Christie to the other firms. Christie would later give Stern a multi-million dollar no-bid contract as a federal monitor in an unrelated case.

One other firm agreed to pay $169.5 million and was to be monitored by former US Attorney General John Ashcroft, Christie’s boss when he was US Attorney for New Jersey. Ashcroft’s firm was poised to collect more than $52 million in 18 months, among the biggest payouts reported for a federal monitor.

“But I also understand in the aftermath there was the perception of coercion and you have to deal with that perception,” said Chris Christie.

However, while most stories seemed to focus on Ashcroft, what most failed to ever zero in on is David Kelly. Kelly was the prosecutor who didn’t indict Chris Christie’s kid brother in April 2005. Just a few months later, Kelly left his position to practice law privately.

Todd Christie was the only one of the top 15 defendants that did not get indicted.

In 2007, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie “hand-picked” David Kelly for a no-bid monitoring contract worth as much as $8 million.

Question: Why did U. S. Attorney Chris Christie give a multi-million dollar no-bid contract to the man who let Christie’s brother off the hook?  Wasn’t he concerned about appearances?

For those who want sources and documentation click the following PDF link: Todd Christie’s SEC Timeline.  

It’s all there. All reference material is contained and you will be able to go to the original documents if you question any part of this story.

Bush Grants 14 Pardons, Two Commutations

From the Hill- Leading the News
President Bush on Monday granted what could be a first round of pardons for a number of convicted criminals before he leaves office in January.

Bush granted 14 pardons and two commutations Monday. Speculation has swirled around whether the president will grant a full pardon to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, after commuting his sentence in 2007 for committing perjury in the CIA leak investigation. In addition, Bush could grant some form of executive clemency to a number of Republican congressmen who have been convicted and jailed for corruption.

But no big Washington names were present in the batch of pardons released by the Justice Department on Monday. Instead, many small-time criminals benefited from Bush’s pardon power. Several drug dealers, a bank embezzler and even someone who violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act saw their criminal records wiped clean by the White House.

Additional high-profile figures have petitioned the Justice Department’s Office of the U.S. Pardon Attorney, such as media baron Conrad Black and "America Taliban" John Walker Lindh. Several lawmakers have also pushed for Bush to weigh in on behalf of Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, two U.S. Border Patrol agents who have been sentenced to prison after shooting a Mexican drug smuggler during a routine border stop three years ago.

Bush has not been known to be generous with his power to wave away a criminal record, though. The president has now pardoned 171 individuals and commuted sentences for eight people, a relatively small number compared to past administrations.