Indictments Soon in Port Authority Case? Finally!

It is so reprehensible that she is using her children in this way 

She digs her own hole deeper and will eventually lose all four of them ..she has no sense 

or regard for truth and helping the four children ...

All of them are scoundrels ..I cannot think that Christie will not have charges against him in the end ...the money he has cost the state is unreal . 

I worked with her father. Personable guy, but I can see where she gets it from...

Now that the indictments have finally happened, I suspect that these events -- not necessarily in order -- will play out:

a) Bridget Kelly will cut a deal since the MAXIMUM prison time for the charges, if found guilty on all counts, is 86 years. So even a few years time would be a huge issue for her and her attorney will use every piece of information to nail someone else, such as the Governor. She has to plea bargain, take small prison time in exchange for real testimony against others. It may lead to other charges against people around the Governor perhaps not related to the GW Bridge event, but to Samson et al. Why her attorney held out for so long while Wildstein's got him to make a deal is beyond me.

b) Baroni will probably have to leave his job -- didn't he take a job with some investment firm or law firm? He likewise will have some info of use and there is no utility in holding back. Fishman will push Baroni pretty hard now and Baroni will not do well in prison. Again, his information may go well beyond the GW Bridge issue.

c) Christie's campaign is likely to go nowhere despite the feeble attempts of his closest supporters to claim that this is now behind him (since he didn't get indicted.) One article quotes all the people in his campaign trying desperately to make the best of a crappy situation. What do they think Kelly and Baroni will do? Go to prison to protect Christie? Why would they do that? Kelly will give up her kids to protect Christie who threw her under the bus at that famous press conference in January or February of 2014? Really? She'll go to prison for him? Did he set up a bank account in the Cayman Islands or something? When she and Baroni give their information -- and Kelly stated yesterday that the idea that she was the only one in the Governor's office who knew of the bridge closures was ludicrous -- things will move quickly. Either she is saying no one knew or a lot of people knew. I bet the latter. Wildstein's attorney said he had proof about the Governor's knowledge of the closures. So the continuing discussions with Fishman by Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein will (1) last a long time and (2) be not helpful to Christie. I think his campaign is not going to be successful and he will drop out by summer. All one has to do is consider every campaign debate where the other candidates blast him -- is this what we want in a President? kind of thing.

d) If worse revelations do come out from Wildstein and Fishman's indictment's of Kelly and Baroni that lead to tying the knot around Christie, then the legislature, corrupt as it is, may have to consider impeachment. Christie would resign first if things ever got that bleak, or at least I think he would resign first. But the legislature could, if it wanted to try to regain a few shreds of integrity, move towards impeachment. They would only try this if the testimony of Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein, with their documentary evidence, leads to the Governor.

e) Waiting in the wings are the investigations into Samson's role at the PANYNJ. He may also go down for the count on a variety of corruption charges and misuse of public monies and why would he protect Christie if the Governor had anything to do with any diversions of PANYNJ funds for  NJ (sorry, typo before and said NY) projects clearly not within the scope of the PANYNJ charter. This will lead to enormous friction with Governor Cuomo who might be asked why this crap was going on? What did he get in return for letting Christie run amok? Such investigations can turn up some ugly things and who is to say that Cuomo won't have problems. He may slowly start to push all the dirt on to Christie to try an avoid investigation into his own role at the Port.

I just hope it moves quickly so we can get our house in order here in NJ.

Jude said:

...

e) Waiting in the wings are the investigations into Samson's role at the PANYNJ. He may also go down for the count on a variety of corruption charges and misuse of public monies and why would he protect Christie if the Governor had anything to do with any diversions of PANYNJ funds for NY projects clearly not within the scope of the PANYNJ charter. This will lead to enormous friction with Governor Cuomo who might be asked why this crap was going on? What did he get in return for letting Christie run amok? Such investigations can turn up some ugly things and who is to say that Cuomo won't have problems. He may slowly start to push all the dirt on to Christie to try an avoid investigation into his own role at the Port.

I just hope it moves quickly so we can get our house in order here in NJ.

 Oh man. The thought of both Christie AND Cuomo going down for this is just too delicious.

Wow !!!

A detailed step by step guide of the Ft Lee bridge conspiracy. Too bad for those who needed emergency police, fire or medical services.

Quite an indictment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/nyregion/us-indictment-details-plotting-in-new-jersey-bridge-scandal.html

Some fun articles pondering Christie's future:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/us/politics/christies-white-house-hopes-seem-to-be-fading.html?_r=0 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/02/charges-christies-troubles-persist/26793945/ 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0502/Chris-Christie-Will-Bridge-gate-put-an-end-to-his-presidential-bid 

Consensus is that his campaign will not go very well. Close supporters are saying the problem is behind him and, in my opinion, they are hopelessly deluded. Do they really think these investigations are going to end, that Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein do not have more bombshells? And there is still the Samson investigation. I guess everyone in the campaign and close supporters got the memo: "say something upbeat, problem solved, we're moving on."

Samson is in his mid 70s and dealing with health issues. He's also under investigation for bullying United Airlines into giving him his own weekly flight so he could shorten the drive to his weekend house by 100 miles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/nyregion/call-it-coincidence-or-corruption.html?_r=1

No way that dude wants to go to jail. He will say what he needs to say. Next week should be fun.

Oh, and stay tuned re: Cuomo.

I suspect, had it not been for the emergency response issues, there would be no indictments. I mean, who isn't used to a little traffic problem at the GWB.?

Btw, you know it's trouble when the named partner of a law firm resigns and the law firm changes its name...

With the indictments, Christies national ambitions are toast. It's just a question of how long it will take him to face the inevitable reality and withdraw from the the campaign. It's hard for him to accept the loss of his grand hopes from before Bridgegate, especially because he's so wrapped up in a winner-loser take all, perspective on life.

I probably just missed this, but what was the reason why the Fort Lee Mayor was singled out?  There were certainly other Democratic mayors who did not endorse Christie for re-election.  (Honestly, I think it was pretty shameful how many of them DID, but that's a different topic.)  What was special about Sokolich?

marylago said:

I suspect, had it not been for the emergency response issues, there would be no indictments. I mean, who isn't used to a little traffic problem at the GWB.?

Btw, you know it's trouble when the named partner of a law firm resigns and the law firm changes its name...

The effect on emergency services was the result of the commandeering of the Nation's largest, most important port agency by Christie and his faithful lieutenants.  Christie's stuffing of the PA with 50 patronage appointees, along with putting

Wildstein in a top level no-description job as his enforcver, along with Samson and Baroni establishing their own unaccountable Port Authority within the PA, is what led to this unprecedented act of political revenge.  It's the abuse of that agency that led to the indictments, which are for conspiracy to abuse and actually misusing, property of an organization receiving federal benefit, conspiring to and then committing mail fraud, and conspiring to and then depriving individual's civil rights.  

It is critical that Christie's thugs be held to task for their use of the PA as Christie's political enforcement agency.  The notion they were able to close the world's busiest bridge for three days with the aid of Christie's soldiers, including parts of the PA police, before Executive Director Ward was able to shut down the operation speaks volumes as to the degree of lawlessness Christie instilled in his appointees. It's this broad based conspiracy and abuse of public property that led to the indictments.  Impacting emergency services was just further evidence of how callously public safety was ignored to dole out political revenge.

Despite Fishman's apparent promise of more to come on Bridgegate, the other two investigations could be far more damaging to Christie if charges are filed.  We have the SEC and NY investigation of the illegal diversion of PA bond funds to the Pulaski Skyway Rehab, in violation of the PA's charter.  Such deception qualifies as defrauding PA bondholders under SEC regulations and NYS's Murphy Act.  The players here are Christie, Samson, his aide Patrick O'Reilly, Baroni, and Jeffrey Chiesa.

http://www.mainjustice.com/2014/04/25/sec-joins-manhattan-da-to-probe-christies-diversion-of-port-authority-funds/

In my mind, the investigation of Samson's actions, if they prove true, could end up being the single largest diversion of public funds for personal and political gain in our state's history.  Samson's role in the Pulaski diversion is quite serious.  But his funneling of work to connected firms and receipt of paybacks could total in the billions. 

http://www.wnyc.org/story/atlantic-city-airport-samson/

I think that you mean the "Martin Act," not the "Murphy Act," right?  Also, what's Chiesa's involvement?

From Wikipedia:

Possible motives

The May 2015 indictments of Wildstein, Baroni and Kelly contend that the lane closures were political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not supporting Christie in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election.[92] Sokolich initially claimed that he was asked for an endorsement once, in the spring of 2013, months before the August "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email by Bridget Kelly to David Wildstein.[8][93] Although the two men are from different parties and an endorsement would normally not be expected, Christie ran on a platform of bipartisanship and had secured the endorsement of many other Democratic officials.[8]

In an interview on February 6, 2014 with The Record, Sokolich said that the Christie administration courted his endorsement over a period of time going back to around 2010, when Christie invited Sokolich and a handful of other mayors, including Hoboken's Dawn Zimmer, to have lunch at the governor's mansion in Princeton. Christie was shown in a picture talking with local mayors in a line-up, including Sokolich, after a news conference in Teaneck on December 8, 2011. In 2012, Sokolich and his cousins were given a personal tour of the 9/11 Memorial Plaza by Wildstein, who repeatedly told Sokolich, "I've been told to be nice to you." Matt Mowers, regional political director for Christie's re-election campaign, who had previously worked in the governor's intergovernmental affairs office, met with Sokolich regularly in 2013 and told him about other Democrats who endorsed Christie for governor. On at least three occasions, Sokolich noted that Mowers brought up the subject of Sokolich's possible endorsement. Sokolich eventually supported Barbara Buono, Christie's Democratic opponent in the 2013 election.[94] Christie said at his January 9 press conference that Sokolich was "never on my radar screen" and that he would not "have been able to pick him [Sokolich] out of a lineup."[25]

Emails indicated that Wildstein and Baroni were aware the closures would harm Sokolich. In an email from Wildstein responding to Bill Stepien,[72] Wildstein wrote "It will be a tough November for this little Serbian", derogatorily referring to Sokolich, who is Croatian-American.[78] Baroni referred to "Serbia" in text messages in another apparent reference to mayor Sokolich.[79][80]

The May 2015 indictment, citing text messages between Wildstein, Baroni and Kelly, contends that the lane closures were designed to have maximum impact upon motorists and the city of Fort Lee. The closures targeted the first day of school, and deliberately steered cars to the cash lane, so as to maximize traffic disruption in the surrounding areas. The New York Times reported that "the three plotting like petulant and juvenile pranksters, using government resources, time and personnel to punish a public official whose sole offense was failing to endorse their political patron. The three were in constant contact, brazenly using government emails, their tone sometimes almost giddy. They even gave the increasingly desperate mayor of Fort Lee their own version of the silent treatment."[92]

Another theory is that the closures were intended to affect Sokolich's promotion of Hudson Lights,[95] a $1 billion redevelopment project that was underway at the Fort Lee bridge access point.[9][11][96] It has been noted that "the Hudson Lights project is a billion-dollar project because it offers unparalleled access to the George Washington Bridge. But take away that access and it's no longer a billion-dollar project."[97] In a September 12, 2013, email to Bill Baroni, during the time when the closure was still on-going, Mayor Sokolich raised concerns about the redevelopment project, asking "What do I do when our billion-dollar development is put on line at the end of next year?"[98]

On January 9, Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, alleged that he was also targeted for political reprisals by the Christie administration for declining to endorse Christie in the 2013 governor election.[99] His claim may be supported by a September 9, 2013 email by David Wildstein after Bridget Kelly asked about his response to Fort Lee Mayor Sokolich about the toll lane closures. Wildstein responded: "Radio silence. His name comes right after Mayor Fulop."[62]

And Christie continues to lie, in big ways and small. Friday he said, "Today's charges make clear that what I've said from day one is true."

Interesting. What he said from day one was ... nothing. His office did not comment other than to say that the governor does not get involved in traffic decisions, for several months. It wasn't until December, when asked about it in a press conference, that he came up with gems like, "Just because [Rep.] John Wisniewski [D-Middlesex] is obsessed with this and [Sen.] Loretta Weinberg, it just shows that they really have nothing to do,”and “I moved the cones, actually unbeknownst to everybody,"

He even went so far as to justify the closings. “We should look at this policy because I don’t know why one town gets three lanes. One lane maybe; three lanes?”

And "The fact that one town has three lanes dedicated to it, that kind of gets me sauced." it's not hard to suspect that he was the instigator, based on a statement like that. 

So what he's actually been saying from day 60 was, it was a great idea and the people who are complaining about it are just picking on me.

Quelle surprise - Baroni and Kelly are *innocent* , INNOCENT I TELLS YA!

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/bridgegate_kelly_baroni_in_federal_court.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

...so innocent Baroni "resigned " from Hill Wallack today.

From the nj.com article... I hate when that happens...

Baroni spoke publicly for the first time since the sandal broke 16 months ago.

Steve said:

I think that you mean the "Martin Act," not the "Murphy Act," right?  Also, what's Chiesa's involvement?

Steve, you are absolutely correct, it's the Martin Act. As for Mr. Chiesa, he became ensnared in this mountain of fraud when as State AG he singed off on the characterization of the Pulaski as a Lincoln Tunnel access road to allow diversion of the PA's $1.8 billion to its rehab.  As a result, Manhattan DA Vance subpenaed Chiesa and Deborah Gramiccioni, who also vetted the deal as Dir. of  the Authorities Unit under Christie.  If her name's familiar, it's because she left that job to replace Baroni as Deputy ED of the PA, until both ED and that post were eliminated last February.  Some of this was covered in the MainJustice link, but here's some more..

http://www.thenation.com/blog/180078/1-billion-port-authority-heist-could-be-final-nail-christies-political-coffin

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/lawmakers_applaud_port_authority_officials_departure_as_step_toward_reforming_leadership_structure.html

And if your saw who's shingle now headlines Wolff & Samson's new name, you'll know where to turn for the NJ law firm that leads the Nation in first-hand expertise stealing from and defrauding the public..

http://wolffsamson.wiseadmin.biz/?t=40&an=36430&format=xml&p=7381

As for Baroni, it's gratifying to see that he still hasn't learned that lying doesn't work when the people, media and justice system are listening to your fabrications.   Hilariously, his lawyer insists Baroni beleived there was a traffic study!   Man, I hope he kept a copy so he can easily clear his good name.  Since the PA doesn't have sufficient in-house transportation planning staff to do such a study, I hope the name of the firm that conducted it becomes public, so that they can never be hired again for creating an actual 3 day traffic armageddon rather than conducting a computer simulation.  

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/no_really_the_lane_gwb_lane_closures_were_a_traffic_study_baroni_lawyer_insists.html

And the fish continues rotting from the head down as Christie makes fabrications his talking points on his campaign trail to nowhere.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/04/christies_presidential_hopes_are_blocking_a_pensio.html

Thanks   Didn't realize that about Chiesa.  I had understood him to be a straight shooter.  Learned something new today.

Fun article ihttp://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/chris_christie_is_just_pathetic_governor_bridgegate_just_cant_give_up_his_presidential_fantasy/n Salon:

https://youtu.be/VKHV0LLvhXM

Tried to embed, but couldn't figure out how in the new system.

It's the BTR/Christie Traffic Jam parody with Jimmy Fallon and that guy.  Need to keep this in mind, regarding this topic.

His excellency using taxpayer funds: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/05/christie-spent-82000-on-snacks-at-nfl-games.html?mid=google&google_editors_picks=true  

The $82k number is just short of what it costs to put a full-time teacher in a school with salary, social security, medical etc. Nice trade-off.