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Latest on Christie
Topic Started: Jan 31 2014, 12:56 PM (1,201 Views)
VPG
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Pisa-Carp
Christie Knew About Lane Closings as They Happened, Ex-Ally Says

The Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.

In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.

The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie was aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during a two-hour press conference earlier this month.

In early January, documents revealed that a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, Bridget Anne Kelly, had sent an email to Mr. Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the town at the New Jersey end of the bridge, where Mr. Christie’s aides had pursued but failed to receive an endorsement from the mayor.

Mr. Christie has steadfastly denied that he knew before this month that anyone in his administration was responsible for the lane closings, and his administration has tried to portray it as the actions of a rogue staff member.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyregion/christie-bridge.html?emc=edit_na_20140131




I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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jon-nyc
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Cheers
If that's true he's done.

(I was just coming here to post this)
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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VPG
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My Left Wing GF sent the article to me. My reply was,
"He hugged Obama and helped get him reelected, this is the lords will!
I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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Kincaid
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HOLY CARP!!!
jon-nyc
Jan 31 2014, 12:58 PM
If that's true he's done.
I'd agree. It amazes me what stuff you can keep under wraps until you are running for President.
Kincaid - disgusted Republican Partisan since 2006.
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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
Is this sort of like the OJ trial where everybody knows what happened and now we're watching the mechanical process of whether it can be proved? I mean does anybody actually think Christie might not have known?
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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Mikhailoh
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I'm not convinced he was going to run. I think you have more room to really change things for your constituency as a governor than a president.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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John D'Oh
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Mikhailoh
Jan 31 2014, 01:46 PM
I think you have more room to really change things for your constituency as a governor than a president.
Traffic, for starters.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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George K
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Not that I'm disputing that he knew - as a matter of fact I'd consider him incompetent if he *didnt* know - you must realize that the person making the accusation is one of the people Christie dismissed. That tidbit is in the last paragraph of the article. Axes grindstone and all.
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George K
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MT @mlcalderone: NYT orig reported Wildstein "has the evidence,": http://bit.ly/1n3mY1T Now: "evidence exists" http://nyti.ms/1a8j8nw
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somebody else's sock
Middle Aged Carp
The letter from Wildstein's attorney to the Port Authority: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/01/nyregion/bridge-letter.html?_r=1

See the highlighted section.
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jon-nyc
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George K
Jan 31 2014, 03:34 PM
Not that I'm disputing that he knew - as a matter of fact I'd consider him incompetent if he *didnt* know - you must realize that the person making the accusation is one of the people Christie dismissed. That tidbit is in the last paragraph of the article. Axes grindstone and all.
Yep. When the staff who take the fall realize they're on their own facing poverty and prison, they sing.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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jon-nyc
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By the way, through most of this I figured Christie didn't know. I changed my mind briefly when the emails linking his staff came out, mostly because he spent the whole day in the bunker. Not only did he not comment publicly, he didn't even issue talking points to his defenders. The silence throughout the day at NRO was painful.

Then after the presser I figured maybe he really didn't know. Not so much that I thought he was above such things, rather he really convinced me that he recognized just how stupid an idea it was.

Either way, I agree with Krauthammer. He's now 'a hostage to the truth'. If it comes out he was lying in the presser, he's done. And if he was involved, it will come out, for the reasons stated in the previous post. His former deputies would rather turn states evidence then do time and watch someone else raise their kids.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Copper
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Shortstop

How could he not know? It was big news. I think it was posted here as it happened. We all knew, of course he knew about the closings.

I think the question is whether he ordered the closings as political retaliation. That would put him in the same political category as Mr. Obama - toast.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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John D'Oh
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Copper
Jan 31 2014, 04:29 PM
That would put him in the same political category as Mr. Obama - toast.
I bet you $50 Obama sells more memoirs than Christie has hot dinners, including toast or otherwise.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Is it just me, or have recent doings by the Romney clan have him looking at another run?
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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jon-nyc
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Hmmm. I'd be surprised. But then I've been surprised before.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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VPG
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FWIW, here is the latest latest.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/31/ny-times-christie-tweak_n_4705383.html
I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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George K
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Can't get the HuffPo link here at the auto dealership. But, from the (admittedly conservative) Washington Free Beacon

Quote:
 
Political reporters collectively freaked out on Twitter on Friday afternoon when the New York Times came out with a story pointing to new evidence that Chris Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge closures as they were happening. But on further examination, the story may not be the bombshell it initially seemed to be.

To be sure, if it turns out that Christie's knowledge of the closures contradicted his claims in a two-hour press conference earlier this month, it would almost definitely be fatal to his political career. But it isn't yet clear that this is the case.

The impetus for the Times report was a letter released by the lawyer for David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who had overseen the lane closures.

But a closer look at the letter, which was posted by the Wall Street Journal, leaves a lot of questions. According to the relevant paragraph from attorney Alan Zegas, "It has also come to light that a person within the Christie administration communicated the Christie administration's order that certain lanes on the George Washington Bridge were to be closed, and evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference he gave immediately before Mr. Wildstein was scheduled to appear before the Transportation Committee. Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some."

This is all very slippery language. For instance, "evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of" leaves a lot of wiggle room.

In the press conference, Christie didn't necessarily deny having knowledge that the lanes were closed. In the press conference, he said, "I knew nothing about this. And until it started to be reported in the papers about the closure, but even then I was told this was a traffic study."

What would be damning is if there were evidence that Christie either ordered the closures or had knowledge at the time that they were launched by officials in his administration. But until Zegas releases the evidence he claims exists, there's no way of knowing. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a lawyer exaggerated evidence on behalf of a client.
Edited by George K, Feb 1 2014, 06:12 AM.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
I am wondering if that was an accident. Once it is out there many believe it is true.

Whole thing is starting to look like a Clinton hatchet job to taint any serious competition.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Mikhailoh
Feb 1 2014, 06:10 AM
I am wondering if that was an accident. Once it is out there many believe it is true.

Whole thing is starting to look like a Clinton hatchet job to taint any serious competition.
You cynic, you.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
It simply does not make sense to me that Christie would choose to punish the Ft. Lee citizens in that manner to get to the mayor. There has to be something a bit more subtle, probably financial, if he wanted to do that.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Mikhailoh
Feb 1 2014, 06:18 AM
It simply does not make sense to me that Christie would choose to punish the Ft. Lee citizens in that manner to get to the mayor. There has to be something a bit more subtle, probably financial, if he wanted to do that.
That's sort of what I implied when I said that if he didn't know about it, he's incompetent. I can't imagine him being that stupid, not realizing that a stunt like that, when revealed - and it would, eventually - would doom his political future.

OTOH, political deniability? Hmmmm....
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
I see three possible scenarios here, none of them good.

1. Christie was behind it, implicitly or explicitly. That is bad for obvious reasons.

2. Christie was not aware of it and it was done on his behalf by his staff. While I do not have much respect for it, it reminds me of the current president who seems only to learn of anything bad going on in the newspapers. I don't see how we can ethically hold Christie to a higher standard.

3. It was in fact a set-up hatchet job. That has its own implications.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
Mikhailoh
Feb 1 2014, 06:10 AM
Whole thing is starting to look like a Clinton hatchet job to taint any serious competition.
It could just as easily be the baggers as the Clintons.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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John D'Oh
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Mikhailoh
Feb 1 2014, 06:39 AM
2. Christie was not aware of it and it was done on his behalf by his staff. While I do not have much respect for it, it reminds me of the current president who seems only to learn of anything bad going on in the newspapers.
Colonel Oliver North sprung more immediately to my elephantine mind.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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