Tag: gw bridge
Bridge-Scandal Panel Seeks Papers From Christie Campaign Strategist

Bridge-Scandal Panel Seeks Papers From Christie Campaign Strategist

By Melissa Hayes, The Record (Hackensack, NJ)

TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey lawmakers leading the inquiry into the George Washington Bridge scandal announced Wednesday that they’ve expanded their investigation to seek documents from the top strategist on Gov. Chris Christie’s campaign.

The move comes a day after Democrats questioned a former staffer in Christie’s office about the political nature of her team — which dealt with mayors and local officials courted by the campaign for endorsements — during an election year.

By demanding that Michael DuHaime provide documents, emails, text messages and his calendars, the committee is furthering its “bipartisan investigation into the lane closings and apparent abuse of power,” its co-leaders, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, said in a statement.

The subpoena seeks information about conversations and meetings DuHaime had months after the lane closures with Christie; Bill Stepien, the governor’s campaign manager; and David Wildstein, the Port Authority appointee at the heart of the controversy.

Republicans said this latest request coupled with repeated questions at Tuesday’s hearing about endorsement efforts show the Democrats who control the committee are more concerned with investigating the governor’s re-election bid than reforming the Port Authority.

DuHaime’s attorney, Marc Mukasey, said his client has been cooperating with the committee and questioned whether Wisniewski was using the investigation to further his own political career.

“He was not involved in the decisions around the lane closures as has been well established at this point,” Mukasey said in the statement Wednesday. “That simple fact, plus the fact that Mike offered to cooperate without need of a subpoena, gives us great concern that this is really about politics and the chairman’s political future. That would be unfortunate to say the least.”

But Wisniewski disputed Mukasey’s allegation as “not true” and also defended the questioning of Christina Renna, who worked as director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs until she resigned in January. Renna worked for Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff Christie fired after learning she sent the email, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” to Wildstein.

Stepien was a deputy chief of staff to Christie before leaving to run the campaign; he supervised Kelly and Renna.

The lane closures were allegedly an act of retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for declining to endorse Christie.

Wisniewski said the subpoena seeks to answer questions raised in the summary of an interview DuHaime consented to with attorneys from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm Christie hired to lead an internal investigation into the lane closures.

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, one of four Republicans on the committee, raised concerns with both the subpoena and Tuesday’s hearing.

“This seems to be shifting from the stated purpose of implementing reforms at the Port Authority to more of an indictment of Governor Christie’s campaign,” said Schepisi (R-River Vale). “And if we’re truly focused on what the stated objective of the committee was, which was to understand what occurred at the Port Authority, to put forth appropriate reforms legislatively, we seem to have really gone off on a tangent of an indictment of (the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs) and the inner workings of Governor Christie’s campaign.”

Schepisi said Renna’s nearly five hours of testimony did not offer much new information and Democrats were asking her to speculate on things she did not have answers to.

But Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said Renna provided critical details, including information about Kelly’s request that she delete an email related to the lane closures in December, months after it had been sent. Renna also testified that she did not think Kelly was the “architect” of the lane closures, a term Christie had used to describe her after he fired her for her involvement.

Kelly’s lawyer, Michael Critchley, disputed Tuesday that his client asked Renna to delete the email.

The issue is important because such a request could expose Kelly to criminal charges, two former federal prosecutors said.

“She’s trying to get rid of evidence that would suggest an ulterior motive to what had occurred,” said Robert Del Tufo, a Democrat who served both as U.S. attorney and attorney general in New Jersey. Del Tufo said it could lead to a charge of obstructing justice.

Matthew Axelrod, a lawyer in private practice who until this year was a top official in the Department of Justice and who advised U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on white-collar criminal issues, agreed and said the timing of the deletion would determine whether the potential charge would come in federal court or state court. At the time Renna said the request was made, the only requests for documents to the governor’s office had come from the Assembly committee investigating the lane closures; federal subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office arrived later.

Photo:  Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr

Port Authority Cop Offered To Reroute Bridge Traffic, Document Shows

Port Authority Cop Offered To Reroute Bridge Traffic, Document Shows

By Melissa Hayes, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)

TRENTON, N.J. — The Port Authority police officer whose involvement in the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge has come under question in recent days, suggested rerouting local traffic toward the closures on the first day of the gridlock in September, according to a document released Tuesday.

Port Authority Police Lt. Thomas “Chip” Michaels sent a text message to Fort Lee (N.J.) Police Chief Keith Bendul in which he proposed sending westbound traffic from Hudson Terrace to Center Avenue. In effect, that move would have forced traffic to pass by the lane closures to reach Center Avenue, which provides another access to the bridge. He ended the message with, “Papd covers lemoine ave. Thoughts?”

Bendul responded, “Can’t center ave gridlocked. Suggestion open up 3 toll lanes,” according to the document The Record received Tuesday through an Open Public Records Act request.

The closures cost the region $100,000 in economic activity, according to a report prepared by the Port Authority and obtained by The Record on Tuesday.

Michaels also exchanged texts with David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official appointed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who carried out the lane closures creating traffic jams for parts of five days.

The new document comes after a lawmaker leading the legislative inquiry into the traffic jams said the committee may need to call Michaels to answer questions.

The Democratic leaders of the New Jersey Select Committee on Investigation on Tuesday said they plan to continue pursuing documents from Bill Stepien, Christie’s two-time campaign manager, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff Christie fired after she sent the now infamous email to Wildstein, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Kelly and Stepien have invoked their constitutional right to protect themselves against self-incrimination.

The legislative panel voted along party lines last week to find that argument “invalid” and deemed the documents Stepien and Kelly possess as critical to their investigation.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) who heads the committee with Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said the text message between Michaels and the Fort Lee police chief raises additional questions about Michaels’ involvement and knowledge of the lane closures.

“These are all questions that need to be answered when these people appear before our committee,” she said.

Weinberg said she wasn’t sure yet if the committee would subpoena Michaels, but called him a “person of interest” who could potentially “fill in some gaps of what took place here.”

Michaels’ exchange with Wildstein, and an email in which Wildstein says he’s taking a ride to view the traffic with Michaels, was the focus of an MSNBC report over the weekend.

Michaels and his brother Jeff, a lobbyist, grew up in Livingston with Christie, but a spokesman for the governor said Monday that Christie hasn’t spoken to the brothers about the lane closures.

Wisniewski said that he and Weinberg sent a letter to Pat Foye, executive director of the Port Authority who has called for an internal review of the Port Authority Police Department’s involvement in the lane closures. Wisniewski said the letter asks Foye to share any information his investigation uncovers with the committee.

Weinberg said the committee also plans to interview Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. The mayor declined to comment Tuesday, but has previously said he would cooperate with the legislative investigation and the federal inquiry being carried out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sokolich declined to respond to a request from Randy Mastro, the former federal prosecutor Christie hired to conduct an internal investigation of his office after he fired Kelly.

In a letter to the committee Tuesday, Stepien’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, called the legislative investigation “politically charged” and said if the committee does not withdraw its subpoena it should let a judge decide the matter. He asked the committee to explain why it believes Stepien cannot invoke his Fifth Amendment right.

Wisniewski and Weinberg said they received the letter and are reviewing it.

Kelly’s attorney, Michael Critchley, said his position on the subpoena has not changed since he notified the committee Feb. 3 that Kelly would not be providing documents.

“I believe the subpoena, as drawn, is legally defective and accordingly I will not be turning over any documents requested by the subpoena,” he said Tuesday.

The Democratic-controlled panel authorized its attorney last week “to take all necessary steps” — including legal action — to enforce the initial subpoenas sent Jan. 27 and the amended subpoenas from Feb. 4.

Wisniewski, an attorney, declined to say what steps the committee would take next to obtain the documents.

The panel has sought documents from Port Authority officials, members of Christie’s campaign, the governor’s office and the state Republican Party.

Christie fired Kelly last month, saying she had lied by telling him she had no knowledge of the lane closures. The governor also cut ties with Stepien, one of his closest political advisers, after Stepien called Sokolich an “idiot” in an email. As campaign manager, it was Stepien who coordinated efforts to secure Democratic endorsements for the Republican governor’s re-election bid last year. Christie, who easily won a second term, gained the support of 61 elected Democrats, but the Fort Lee mayor was not one of them. Democrats allege the lane closures were retribution against the mayor for failing to endorse Christie.

Photo:  Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr