It’s not considered likely that Senator Bob Menendez will resign as a result of the bi-partisan admonishment he received from the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics. NJ and Washington Democrats have become a much more forgiving people since Senator Bob Torricelli was forced out of office after his admonishment 16 years ago.
As Bret Stephens wrote in a Trump bashing piece in the NY Times yesterday, America’s standards have declined over the years. Menendez’s admonishment for trading the power of his office for luxury travel and massive campaign contributions will likely blow over as the Democrats and their media partners continue their mission to destroy the Trump presidency.
But what if the Russian collusion with the Senate Ethics Committee works and Menendez decides to take a job running Dr. Salomon Melgen’s port security business in the Dominican Republic while looking over his luxury villa?
If Menendez resigns, Governor Phil Murphy gets to appoint someone to fill the vacancy until January. That person would run in Menendez’s place for a six year term in the November election. Who would Murphy choose? Read the rest of this entry »
The second debate among the candidates for the Democrat nomination for NJ Governor will be broadcast tonight on NJTV at 8PM.
According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy has a commanding lead over former U.S. Treasury Official Jim Johnson, Senator Ray Lesniak and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, but over half of Democrat voters are still undecided.
The Democrat and Republican primaries will be held on June 6.
Governor Chris Christie yesterday called on the New Jersey Press Corps and law enforcement agencies to deploy the same aggressiveness towards Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the co-Chairs of the Legislative Committee that investigated the George Washington Bridge scandal, that they have applied to him .
During a recent radio program, Gov. Chris Christie told his audience that New Jersey has no transportation “crisis at the moment,” a comment that angered a number of transportation advocates who spoke out during a hearing in Trenton yesterday. They pointed to potholes that are opening up seemingly everywhere on roads across the state, another possible… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — New Jersey’s cheap gas is a point of pride in an otherwise high-tax state. On the other hand, the Garden State is notorious for its duo of death taxes often landing it a spot on superlative lists like “Where not to die” and “Worst states to die.” New Jersey is just one of two… Read the rest of this entry »
TRENTON — The Democratic leaders of the joint legislative committee investigating the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge “ran up exorbitant public costs” and “proved to be some of the most partisan elected officials in modern times,” according to a report released today by the Republican members of the panel. The 119-page “Minority Statement,” issued… Read the rest of this entry »
The Joint Legislative Committee led by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) have produced an ‘interim” report that has found no evidence that Governor Chris Christie had any prior knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September of 2013.
The report, which was made available to members of the committee yesterday and is scheduled to be made public on Monday, was reviewed by NJ.com who first reported on its contents.
“At present, there is no conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Chris Christie was or was not aware of the lane closures either in advance of their implementation or contemporaneously as they were occurring,” the report states. “Nor is there conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Christie did or did not have involvement in implementing or directing the lane closures.”
As has been widely reported since the “Bridgegate” story broke last January, the report indicates that Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly and Port Authority staffer David Wildstein ordered the lane closures. The Wisniewski/Weinberg investigation has not discovered why Kelly emailed Wildstein in August of 2013 “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” It has been widely speculated that the lane closures were political retribution aimed at Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for failing to endorse Christie’s reelection. The report repeats the speculation.
The legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal has so far been billed more than $725,000 in legal fees, according to bills submitted by two attorneys representing the committee. Jenner & Block, which has several attorneys…
A big development today in the bridge scandal investigation. A judge sided with two major figures in the case, tossing out the subpoenas against Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien and ruling against the select oversight committee that issued them. The committee…
The former prosecutors that the Christie Administration hired to perform an internal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures and allegations made by Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer that Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno told Zimmer that Sandy aid for Hoboken was contingent upon a development approval will release the findings of their investigation on Thursday morning at 11:30.
A New York Timesarticle about the report published on Sunday says it will address what and when Mr. Christie and his aides knew about the lane closings; analyze the structure, practices and culture of the Christie administration that contributed to the scandal; and issue pointed recommendations to prevent such conduct in the future.
Randy Mastro, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Deputy to former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, lead the team of lawyers from Gibson Dunn in conducting the investigation. Over 70 interviews were conducted and thousands of documents reviewed in the probe that cost New Jersey taxpayers over $1 million.
Three key players in the Bridgegate scandal, Christie former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly, Christie’s former political strategist Bill Stepien and David Wildstein, Christie’s former #2 at the Port Authority of NY/NJ, did not submit to interviews with Mastro’s team.
A joint legislative committee lead by Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Senator Loretta Weinberg continues to investigate the Bridgegate matters. U. S Attorney Paul Fishman’s office is also investigating.
Christie told NJ 101.5’s Eric Scott during his Ask the Governor radio show on Wednesday evening that if Mastro’s report implicates members of his staff, that punitive measures will be taken.
MMM will livestream Mastro’s press conference on Thursday at 11:30 AM
It’s not considered likely that Senator Bob Menendez will resign as a result of the bi-partisan admonishment he received from the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics. NJ and Washington Democrats have become a much more forgiving people since Senator Bob Torricelli was forced out of office after his admonishment 16 years ago.
The Joint Legislative Committee led by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) have produced an ‘interim” report that has found no evidence that Governor Chris Christie had any prior knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September of 2013.
