Another disaster brought to you by the fine people who brought you carcinogenic coal ash!
Residents of nine West Virginia counties have been warned not to drink or even touch tap water after a chemical spill. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Thursday in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and…
At least now, he’ll finally get that criminal investigation experience! How Christie became U.S. Attorney:
Star-Ledger Editorial: “This Is A Patronage Appointment, Plain And Simple.” The newspaper wrote: “He is not yet qualified for the job of U.S. attorney. He has never tried a criminal case. He has no substantial experience in federal court. He has never directed a corruption investigation or even participated in one. He is 39, can claim no distinguished academic or legal accomplishment and works primarily as a lobbyist and mediator. What Christie brings to the table is excellent political connections…Christie’s history as partisan rainmaker not only fails to qualify him, it could undermine trust in the office…This is a patronage appointment, plain and simple.” [Editorial, Star-Ledger 9/7/01]
Christie Lacked “Experience In Criminal Law.” “After winning the overwhelming support of the Republican organization in New Jersey, a lawyer and lobbyist who was counsel to President Bush’s campaign in the state has emerged as the leading candidate to become the next United States attorney for New Jersey. But many lawyers say they are surprised and disappointed that the candidate, Christopher J. Christie, has no experience in criminal law, and a few are trying to produce another contender before the White House submits a nomination to the Senate.” [New York Times, 8/26/01]
Christie’s Appointment “Generated Concern From Some Former Federal Prosecutors, Who Believe His Appointment May Be Too Political” Including A Former Republican Us Attorney. “The choice of Christie, though, has created some unease among members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, and generated concern from some former federal prosecutors, who believe his appointment may be too political. Jonathan Goldstein, a former U.S. attorney for New Jersey and a Republican, is one of those who believe the job as the state’s top federal prosecutor requires a candidate to have extensive law enforcement experience.” [Star-Ledger, 9/6/01]
William Palatucci “Boasted Of Selecting A United States Attorney By Forwarding Mr. Rove The Resume Of His Partner, Christopher J. Christie, A Corporate Lawyer And Bush Fund-Raiser With Little Prosecutorial Experience.” “Democrats have seized on a connection to Mr. Rove to attack a prosecutor’s credibility. In New Jersey, William Palatucci, a Republican political consultant and Bush supporter, boasted of selecting a United States attorney by forwarding Mr. Rove the resume of his partner, Christopher J. Christie, a corporate lawyer and Bush fund-raiser with little prosecutorial experience.” [New York Times, 3/29/07]
Rove “Helped Arrange The Nomination Of A Major Bush Campaign Fund-Raiser Who Had Little Prosecutorial Experience.” “Political advisers have had a hand in picking judges and prosecutors for decades, but Mr. Rove exercises unusually broad influence over political, policy and personnel decisions because of his closeness to the president, tenure in the administration and longstanding interest in turning the judiciary to the right. In Illinois, Mr. Rove once reprimanded a Republican senator for recommending the appointment of Patrick J. Fitzgerald, a star prosecutor from outside the state, to investigate the state’s then-governor, a Republican. In New Jersey, Mr. Rove helped arrange the nomination of a major Bush campaign fund-raiser who had little prosecutorial experience. In Louisiana, he first supported and then helped scuttle a similar appointment.” [New York Times, 3/29/07]
If you’ll recall, yesterday I talked about the most likely scenario about how and why the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge came about. Now, while we don’t know for certain exactly who the Christie team was trying to screw (Rachel Maddow wondered last night if it wasn’t actually state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who represents Fort Lee), we do know they were trying to screw somebody.
Remember what I said about plausible deniability? At this point, with the feds involved, Christie’s not just looking for political deniability. The former U.S. attorney is looking to avoid criminal charges, and that requires him to distance himself. He knows how the feds work — and he knows how things look to a grand jury. He must be sweating bullets. From the things he’s said and done, I imagine he’s already retained a criminal attorney.
(It’s a neat trick that he already nominated Kevin O’Dowd, his chief of staff and chief counsel, as NJ’s attorney general. O’Dowd’s confirmation hearing today will probably be a lot more adversarial than anyone expected.)
Why didn’t Christie talk to Bridget Anne Kelly? Because he couldn’t have her tell him who ordered her to close the bridge. That would put him in a bad legal position, because if he had to follow that trail, where would it lead?
Why didn’t he talk to his pals David Wildstein or Bob Baroni? Same thing.
Christie already knows who told them. He knows because whoever it was was carrying out his wishes. During a campaign, the highest ranking staffer is still outranked by the campaign manager. That leaves Bill Stepien as the logical set-up man.
Campaign culture is traumatic. It’s like being at war. By the time you’re within spitting distance of Election Day, you’re frothing at the mouth over the opposition, and a lot of the ideas that get kicked around the higher levels are childish, mean, and yes, even criminal. You’re stuck in the inner circle of hell with a bunch of frat boys drunk on their own power.
But things like this, with the opportunity for real blowback? That’s not initiated by staffers. They would lose everything if it came out. No, these plots are launched in private conversations, with no one in the room but the candidate and the campaign manager.
Stepien was the man who put Christie in the governor’s mansion — twice. He helped Christie strategize his way to serious consideration as Mitt Romney’s running mate, and then as a presidential candidate. He was just named as head of the New Jersey GOP — and also as consultant to the Republican Governors Association, where Christie is now serving as president. Imagine the fun he would have had there!
Suddenly, he’s gone. Kaput.
Me, I don’t have any questions. I think the answers are clear: Chris Christie is trying to keep himself out of jail.
I didn’t know this — did you? Republican obstruction of yet another federal commission is preventing states from buying better voting machines, making long lines and other election administration failures more likely in 2014 and 2016. The Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan commission created after the 2000 presidential election to improve voting mechanics, hasn’t updated its voting machine standards since 2005.
I couldn’t watch, because I was at the dentist this morning, but I was following closely on Twitter. There were so many holes in Christie’s version of events, it resembles a block of Swiss cheese!
“I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team,” Christie said. “I am who I am, but I am not a bully.”
Christie said he has dismissed his deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman – whose job Christie held before he was elected governor – has opened a probe into the lane closures, his spokeswoman said.
“The Port Authority Office of Inspector General has referred the matter to us, and our office is reviewing it to determine whether a federal law was implicated,” Rebekah Carmichael said in a statement.
So now we see whether Christie has as much sway with the administration as the teabaggers seem to think. I do know the feds don’t like to go into a case unless they have good odds of winning.
My dentist asked me what I was laughing at as I read Twitter. “Chris Christie,” I said.
“That’s really awful, isn’t it? Do you think he knew?” he said.
“Let me put it this way. What are the odds of you walking into the office and finding that one of your hygienists decided to pull someone’s teeth? Because that’s how likely it is that a staffer did this without him knowing,” I said.
There are several moving parts to this narrative. One is, as I just mentioned, it is pretty much unheard of that a senior staffer would do such a thing without direct orders from a higher-up to do so. That’s not how political operatives work — they do nothing that will affect their candidate without permission. Did those orders come from Christie himself? Don’t be silly, that’s what campaign managers are for: plausible deniability!
Did Christie bemoan “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome mayor?” to his campaign manager. Very, very likely. Did the campaign manager understand what Christie was asking? Of course. This is politics, after all. Dirty tricks are a given.
It was understood that Bill Stepien would fall on his sword, and that Bridget Kelly would get shitcanned. A public offering to the press gods requires ritual sacrifice.
And that’s the other part in this play: The media. Not the New Jersey media, because they’ve done a bang-up job, dogging this story for the past four month. But as I followed along on Twitter, it was clear that the national reporters either don’t know how to ask pertinent questions — or don’t want to. Perhaps we’ll have to assist them.
In other news, the NJ state committee hearing where Christie pal and former Port Authority executive David Wildstein appeared? He was just held in contempt for refusing to answer questions –even though he was immunized.
This story’s not going away anytime soon.
H/t Price Benowitz LLP.
Posting shortly!
Lots of great front pages on the Christie scandal, but this is my favorite:
Notice the Murdoch-owned NY Post is suddenly shy about implying guilt!
You never know what will be the death of a politician. People can read all kinds of stuff and still cling fast to their idea of who that person is. So you never really know what will finally get people riled up and turn them against a candidate.
I have to say, I think Chris Christie’s presidential ambitions are done. People see him clearly now.
I was reading comments all over the intertubes yesterday, and I was surprised to see how many people who said they’d planned to vote for him — until now. There’s just something about leaving little kids sit in hours of traffic on their first day of school that really pisses people off, even people who like him — especially in light of Bridget Anne Kelly’s email saying, “They’re the children of Buono voters.” (I’m sure she’ll have a gig on Fox soon.)
Plus, you just don’t fuck with the GWB, one of the world’s worst traffic ordeals.
From the New York Daily News editorial page:
In the best possible light, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built a top staff of lying thugs who threatened lives and safety to serve his political ends. If not, Christie is a lying thug himself.
Mr. Christie, caught out on Wednesday, could no longer scoff at or dismiss the scandal, or blame Democrats for it. There were two possible explanations: either he had been pathetically misled by his scheming staff, and failed for months to get to the bottom of the scandal, or he had spent those months dissembling to any and all. His excuse? He was a dupe.
“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable,” he said. “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.” He added: “This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.”
Mr. Christie can start by getting rid of every one of his aides and cronies who knew about this scheme and show what actions he will take against the person with ultimate responsibility for his administration: himself.
Folks are genuinely outraged. This time, I think it made a difference. How about that?
New Jersey mayor rips Chris Christie: We will be ‘the butt of every political joke for the next 20 years’ (via Raw Story )
Fort Lee, New Jersey Mayor Mark Sokolich (D) blasted Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) administration on Wednesday over the revelation that members of Christie’s staff orchestrated massive traffic jams affecting his town. “New Jersey needs this like we…
After Kennedy took office, he was unaware that the CIA, in accord with an OK from President Eisenhower and working with the Belgians, had overseen the gruesome torture and brutal murder of the Congo’s popular first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. With Lumumba already dead a month and his body dissolved in sulphuric acid, Kennedy called for him to be reintegrated into the new nation’s government. The CIA– Allen Dulles, who JFK foolishly kept on as director– hadn’t told him that they had carried out Eisenhower ‘s orders to have him murdered as a commie dupe. According to Stephen Kinzer’s book about Allen and John Foster Dulles, The Brothers, “Less than two years later, Allen casually admitted that he might have exaggerated the danger Lumumba posed to the West. A television interviewer, Eric Severeid, asked him if he had come to believe that any of his covert operations were unnecessary. He named just one. ‘I think that we overrated the danger in, let’s say, the Congo,’ Allen said. ‘It looked as though they were going to make a serious attempt at takeover in the Belgian Congo. Well, it didn’t work out that way at all. Now maybe they intended to do it, but they didn’t find the situation ripe and they beat a pretty hasty retreat.'” There was worse to come.
Eisenhower had also authorized the assassination of Fidel Castro. When that didn’t work out, he authorized a half-assed invasion of Cuban that came to fruition right after Kennedy became president, the Bay of Pigs. As the clownish plot fell apart in the first minutes of the “invasion,” the CIA and some elements of the military tried to get Kennedy to U.S. commit Air Force, Naval and Army resources. He thought they were all out of their minds and realized he had made a terrible mistake by keeping Dulles– who was completely senile by then– in office. Again, from The Brothers:
At White House meetings the next day, Kennedy fended off more pleas that he send U.S. forces to support the Bay of Pigs invaders. The strongest came from his chief of naval operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke, who came into the Oval Office late in the evening with an equally agited [CIA official Richard] Bissell.
“Let me take two jets and shoot down this enemy aircraft,” Burke pleaded.
“No,” Kennedy replied. “I don’t want to get the United States involved with this.”
“Can I not send in an airstrike?”
“No.”
“Can we send in a few planes?”
“No, because they could be identified as United States.”
“Can we paint out their numbers?”
“No.”
Grasping for options, Burke asked if Kennedy would authorize artillery attacks on Cuban forces from American destroyers. The answer was the same: “No.”
Later that day Kennedy told an aide, “I probably made a mistake keeping Allen Dulles.”
…More than one hundred of the invaders had died. Most of the rest were rounded up and imprisoned. For Castro it was a supreme, ecstatic triumph. Kennedy was staggered.
“How can I have been so stupid?” he wondered aloud.
