If Wildstein took the fifth, then things could get a lot more interesting. He and others may go into cya mode and start making deals.
Christie addressed this in detail in his press conference. This “longtime friend” is someone he met a few times in high school and had no contact with for approx. 23 years before both ended up in NJ government. But it does make a good story.
That said, Christie is one of the least odious potential candidates from the right side of the aisle. If you want the left (probably Clinton) to win, better he doesn’t run. What joyous choices we will have in 2016.
Christie says he was lied to. Certainly the appointees directly responsible were not only thrown under the Christie bus, but he rolled back over them a few times. Until there is a smoking gun saying otherwise, I’ll take him at his word.
He did.
Has anyone found a link to the emails? All I’ve found are tiny excerpts. One article says 23 pages of emails were publicly released. A link would be appreciated.
I’m watching the hearing now. They mentioned the emails are heavily redacted.
Da Feds are on it.
found the link to the full emails. pdf
http://dng.northjersey.com/media_server/tr/2014/01/09gwb/port_authority_2014.pdf
I got a bad feeling David Wildstein will plead the 5th all the way to prison. We’ll probably never know what really happened or who else is involved.
They could offer him immunity and make him talk.
Already posted in post #4
My guess is that the Christie administration expected Sokolich to know that it was done in retaliation but not be able to do anything about it. They probably figured that Sokolich wouldn’t be able to prove it was intentional and would be intimidated by the show of power.
The mistake they made was forgetting that Christie is no longer just a state politician. He’s being considered as a Presidential candidate and that makes him a national figure who gets national media attention. So his administration has to stop thinking “This is the way things work in New Jersey” and start thinking “Is this something a Presidential candidate could get away with?”
It should be pointed out here that Christie used to be a federal prosecutor, so of course it’s understandable that he wasn’t all that curious about what was going on.
Who the hell on that side of the equation had the legal right and authority to redact anything in those emails?
With all due awe, I’m not seeing how that follows. My reading is that he is claiming not that he lacked curiosity about what was going on, but that he didn’t know it was going on.
Would the US Attorney have the right to see unredacted copies of those emails?
This does seem like a really bad script from Hollywood. This quote makes a interesting point that the Port Authority serves both states. Impinging on that role was so stupid.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/09/who-is-david-wildstein/
No one had the right to redact them in the first place. As far as I’m concerned this is another major fuck-up to add to the pule.
No, he didn’t claim he lacked curiosity. I’m saying I have a little trouble believing he just let the matter drop when people lied to him.
Wildstein’s attorney said in the live committee hearing that he produced the documents and redacted them. The committee chair requested a full index of each redaction and explanations.
Maybe. Though it does remind me of “Kenny Boy Who?” back in the halcyon days of George W. Bush.
Oh please. At a minimum, he’s guilty of creating a workplace environment where none of his staff or political appointees even think to ask, “What does the governor have to say about all this?” That’s incompetence on his part right there.
Christie Point Man At The Center Of Bridge Scandal Pleads The Fifth — Held In Contempt
A CNN anchor suggested prosecutors threaten the COS with a charge of felony murder to get her to testify as to Christie’s involvement.