Trooper on Christie’s Security Detail Busted for Theft in PA

A 35 year old State Trooper assigned to protect Governor Chris Christie and his family was arrested on theft charges in Hamburg, Pennsylvania last month, according to a report at NJWatchdog.

Trooper William A. Carvounis of North Brunswick is accused of stealing $267 in gun supplies and other goods from a Cabela’s store.

“During the course of his shopping, (Carvounis) would place items in his shopping basket. While walking around and continuing to shop, he would take various merchandise out of the package and conceal in his pockets…He would discard the empty packages on shelves throughout the store,” wrote Schwoyer in his sworn statement.

Security video also caught Carvounis’ coup de grace: The trooper tore the price tag from a Cabela’s hat, which he wore while trying to leave the store.

When Carvounis was apprehended and searched, authorities found a concealed weapon along with the pilfered loot. They soon realized their suspect was a law enforcement officer.

The report said Carvounis tried to get the retailer and the local police to drop the matter as a “professional courtesy” and that he invoked his connection to Christie in his plea for leniency.

Carvounis has been suspended from the NJ State Police and is due in Berks County Court of Common Pleas for his arraignment on February 10.

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Chris Christie to speak at CPAC a year after snub

Chris Christie to speak at CPAC a year after snub (via NJ.com)

NEWARK — A year after being denied a speaking spot at one of the largest annual gatherings of conservatives, Gov. Chris Christie will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month, according to a report on Yahoo News. The gathering…

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Christie Uncorks On Wildstein, NY Times

Governor Chris Christie’s office went on the offensive today, attacking The New York Times and David Wildstein, in an email to friends and allies, according to a report at Politico.

The email reads as follows:

5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell That’s Not A Bombshell

 

1. New York Times Bombshell Not A Bombshell. A media firestorm was set off by sloppy reporting from the New York Times and their suggestion that there was actually “evidence” when it was a letter alleging that “evidence exists.” Forced to change the lead almost immediately, the Times was roundly criticized, and its editor was forced to issue this extraordinary statement to the Huffington Post:

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Who leaked the letter?

Most people who are paying attention to ‘Bridgegate’ now realize that the letter from David Wildstein’s attorney, Alan Zegas, released to the press yesterday afternoon is not the smoking gun that many in the media have been hoping for that would put an end to Governor Chris Christie’s presidential ambitions or possibly lead to his resignation or impeachment.

The letter, part of a negotiation with Port Authority over Wildstein’s legal fees, is not evidence that Christie lied in his January 9, 2013 press conference.  The letter raises many questions and answers few if any.  Some of those questions could complicate Wildstein’s legal problems.  Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the co-chair of the state legislative committee investigating Bridgegate, wants to know why Wildstein did not include the evidence referred to in the letter with all the other documents he provided to the Assembly Transportation Committee, including the now infamous email exchange between Wildstein and Bridget Ann Kelly that blew the Bridgegate story open on January 8.

If any of the news outlets that reported on the letter revealed who released it, I missed it.

The release of the letter reignited the media frenzy over Bridgegate just as Christie was generating non-scandal related publicity associated with the Super Bowl and Howard Stern’s birthday.   That was obviously the intent of releasing the letter. By protecting the identity of the leaker, the media is complicit with that agenda.

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GWB letter raises credibility questions for Chris Christie, Port Authority official, politicians say

GWB letter raises credibility questions for Chris Christie, Port Authority official, politicians say (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — If true, the claims in former Port Authority official David Wildstein’s letter are explosive and potentially deadly to Gov. Chris Christie’s political future, New Jersey politicians agreed today. But they also conceded the letter raised…

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Christie Responds to Wildstein’s Allegations

Governor Chris Christie’s office released the following statement addressing the allegations made in The New York Times today:

“Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer confirms what the Governor has said all along – he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein’s motivations were for closing them to begin with.  As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th. The Governor denies Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer’s other assertions.”

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Wildstein: Christie Knew About GWB Lane Closures

David Wildstein, the former Port Authority Official who ordered the September 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that have come to be know as Bridgegate, claims that he has evidence exists that Governor Chris Christie knew about the lane closures as they were happening, according to a report in the New York Times. 

In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.

The letter from Wildstein’s attorney, Alan L. Zegas, can be read here.

Christie’s two hour press conference wherein he denied any prior knowledge of the lane closures and announced the termination of his Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Ann Kelly, and his top political adviser, Bill Stepien, can be viewed by clicking here.

Christie press spokesman, Michael Drewniak, has not responded to a phone call and an email requesting comment on Wildstein’s allegations.

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Christie Has New Fleece, Baby. The Super Bowl Is In New Jersey And The Weather Will Be Fine

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Christie Roasts Boomer Esiason At The Friars Club

With Governor Chris Christie’s schedule this week…Super Bowl events, appearances on sports talk radio, and Howard Stern’s Birthday Bash, one might think that he is letting the media frenzy over Bridgegate just roll off his back.  He’s having a good time and basking in the limelight.

But Christie’s appearance at the Friar’s Club to roast Nassau County Hall of Fame quarterback Boomer Esiason reveals that Bridgegate has taken a toll on Christie’s fun.

You may have read that the lawyer handling the Bridgegate inquiries for Christie’s office is earning $650 per hour.  Being a good Republican, Christie apparently cut the budget elsewhere to come up with those funds.  His comedy writer must have gotten the axe.

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Samson Loses Rockefeller Group’s Business

David Samson

The real estate developer at the heart of Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations against the Christie Administration has fired it’s law firm, Wolf and Samson, according to a report in the New York Times.

The law firm is led by Port Authority of NY/NJ Chairman David Samson, a former NJ Attorney General.  Samson, who has been subpoenaed by the legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures that have dominated the state and national political news this month and put Governor Christie’s presidential prospects in jeopardy, appears to be a central figure in both the Hoboken and George Washington Bridge controversies.

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