Christie Administration Hires Former Federal Prosecutor To Conduct Internal Review And Cooperate with U.S. Attorney’s Bridgegate Inquiry

Trenton, NJ – Today, the Christie Administration announced the retention of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP to assist with the internal review announced by Governor Christie last week and to further cooperate with the U.S. Attorney inquiry. As part of the review process, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP will review best practices for office operations and information flow, and assist with document retention and production.

“Governor Christie made clear last week that he will conduct an internal review to uncover the facts surrounding the lane closures in Fort Lee. His Administration is fully cooperating with the U.S. Attorney inquiry and other appropriate inquiries and requests for information. To assist in conducting that internal review and furthering that cooperation, the Christie Administration is announcing today that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP has been retained as outside counsel. Their presence will bring an outside, third-party perspective to the situation, and they will be a valuable asset as we move forward. This Administration is committed to ensuring that what happened here never happens again. That’s what the people of New Jersey deserve.”

Heading up the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP team is former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro. Mastro is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he specialized in organized crime cases and spearheaded the federal government’s landmark racketeering suit that compelled the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to hold democratic elections and to undergo court supervision. Mastro also served as former Deputy Mayor of New York City.

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Assemblywoman Amy Handlin named to Bridgegate Investigation Committee

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) has been named to the Special Assembly Committee that will investigate the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that have dominated the state and national news for the last week since The Record published emails that revealed that Governor Chris Christie’s then Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Ann Kelly, ordered the lane closures with an email to Port Authority’s then Director of Interstate Capital Projects, David Wildstein.

During her public service career as an Assemblywoman, Monmouth County Freeholder and Committeewoman in Middletown, Handlin has earned a reputation as a ethics hawk and outspoken critic of governmental excesses.

Handlin is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Monmouth University and the author of Crony Capitalists in our Backyards: Who they are, What the do and How to fight back.

Joining Handlin on the twelve member committee are eight Democrats; Chairman John Wisniewski, the Assembly Transportation Committee Chair who has spearheaded the Bridgegate to date, Marlene Caride (Bergen/Passiac), Lou Greenwald (Mercer), Gordon Johnson (Bergen), Paul Moriarty (Gloucester), Linda Stender (Union) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (Mercer).

The other Republicans on the committee are Michael Patrick Carroll (Morris), BettyLou DeCroce (Morris), and Holly Schepisi (Bergen).

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Quinnipiac Poll: New Jersey Voters Don’t Believe Christie Ordered GWB Lane Closures

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Christie’s Pals, Springsteen and Fallon, Spoof Bridgegate

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Reports of Christie’s Political Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

New Jersey and national Democratic politicos who are dancing with glee over the ‘damage” they think they are inflicting on Governor Chris Christie’s second term effectiveness and his presidential ambitions might as well enjoy the moment.  Reports of Christie’s political demise are greatly exaggerated.

Starting today with his State of the State address (which can be viewed live here at MMM at 3PM) Christie’s comeback will begin.  A comeback that the governor starts with a 59% job approval rating, according to the Monmouth University/USA Today-Monmouth/Ocean Edition Poll released yesterday.

The poll that was taken Friday through Sunday, indicated that even with the onslaught of negative publicity that Christie has gotten locally and nationally, New Jersey residents don’t care about Bridgegate with regard to how they view Christie.  His job approval rating is net positive 27%.  His personal approval rating is down to net positive 16%, but his negatives haven’t moved since Patrick Murray last asked the approval question in November when the net positive number was 31%.  28% had a negative opinion of Christie is Murray’s pre-election November survey. 28% expressed a negative opinion in the survey published yesterday.  The 15 point drop in Christie’s net personal approval rating is the result of New Jerseyans waiting for the full Bridgegate story to come out.  Those who said they have “No Opinion” of Christie personally, increased by the exact 15 points from November to January and the 15 point drop in those who said they had a favorable personal opinion.

Even though New Jerseyans think Christie knows more than he is saying about Bridgegate, we are giving him the benefit of the doubt.  We still like him.   If a smoking email surfaces that proves he knew of the George Washington Bridge lane closures, and what they were really about, he’s toast.  If such an email exists, it will probably come out. If it doesn’t exist, Christie will come out of Bridgegate a stronger political force than he was last Tuesday, before The Record published the damning emails.

Christie knows if such an email exists.

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Monmouth Leaders Speak Out On Bridgegate, Christie’s Response.

We’re hearing plenty about Bridgegate and Governor Christie’s response to it from cable news pundits and late night comedians.  MMM thought it would be interesting to hear what our Monmouth County leaders, from both parties, have to say about the controversy and Christie’s response to it at his press conference last Thursday.

Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long, said “No, and I’m angry that some are tossing by name around as if I’m waffling about my endorsement,” when we asked her if she regretted endorsing Christie in light of the Bridgegate scandal. “Bridgegate is terrible, but it does not undue the Sandy recovery.  My endorsement was based on the Sandy recovery.   Let’s wait and see what happens when all the facts come out. Right now it’s a feeding frenzy.”

Senator Jennifer Beck said, “The governor has always straight forward me with, and he was forthcoming in his press conference on Thursday.  I believe him.”

Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett said, “Governor Christie was open and sincere in his press conference.  He said that he will now talk to everyone on his staff himself to get to the bottom of what happened.  This issue may have gotten away from him because he departed from his usual practice of doing it all himself.

“Unfettered and overzealous politicos on Christie’s staff went way over the mark.  The lane closures were a bad, bad idea that never should have happened.”

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal hasn’t returned our calls since we debunked his malicious and inaccurate attempted character assassination of a Red Bank Republican Council Candidate last October, so we asked his predecessor, Victor Scudiery, and the man who opposed him in the chairman’s race in 2011, Frank LaRocca to comment.

Former Monmouth Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery said, “I take Chris Christie’s word for it. We’ll have to play it out and see what happens.  Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, it’s frightening, but we have to wait and see.”

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Bridge scandal to be investigated by special committee empaneled by N.J. Assembly

Bridge scandal to be investigated by special committee empaneled by N.J. Assembly (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Leaders in the state Assembly said today they will form a special investigatory committee with subpoena power to continue the probe of the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. The committee will be led by Assemblyman…

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Bridge scandal: Democrats say they will pursue investigation into lane closures

Bridge scandal: Democrats say they will pursue investigation into lane closures (via NJ.com)

By Salvador Rizzo and Mark Mueller Democratic lawmakers say they will “aggressively” press on with their investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal after Friday’s release of thousands of pages of documents showing key members…

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Best of Bridgegate Funnies

Found on facebook and twitter

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Kean Sr joins the Christie feeding frenzy

Former Governor Tom Kean, Sr dealt a body blow to his former protégé today in an interview published by The Washington Post.

Governor Chris Christie and former Governor Tom Kean Sr celebrate the first annual Livingston Day, April 11, 2013. Photo by Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office

“On the one hand, I think he’s got a lot to offer. I think he’s the most able politician since Bill Clinton,” Kean (R) said in an interview with The Washington Post. “On the other hand, you look at these other qualities and ask, do you really want that in your president?”

Kean’s comments come as the current governor is beset by controversy over revelations that officials loyal to Christie engineered closure of part of the George Washington Bridge in September, inconveniencing tens of thousands of state residents in an apparent act of vindictiveness against a local mayor.

There is no evidence that Christie knew of the actions of his subordinates and appointees, some of whom he has since fired. But Kean — who has known Christie since the current governor was a teenager — faulted Christie for establishing a culture in his tight inner circle in which no one “will ever say no to him, and that is dangerous.”

He also said that Christie’s approach to governing is overly aggressive and his agenda is personal.

In a press conference last month, Christie said he had not talked to Kean Sr since the attempt to oust Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr from his leadership post.  Kean Sr has characterized Christie’s ill-fated attempt to replace Kean Jr with State Senator Kevin O’Toole as a personal betrayal.

Christie’s got some fence mending to do.

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