Defective Product
The expensive report assembled by the$ 650 /hour Christie administration attorney, Randy Mastro of the firm Gibson Dunn, and Crutcher, and released on March 27, but paid for by the New Jersey taxpayer, was not all it was advertised to be. Containing imaginative descriptions that call to mind a badly written novel, the report, assembled by friends of the Governor, and lacking backup for its sexist assertions has roundly been called a “whitewash”.
I am reminded of biased science reporting I see often these days, where the actual data behind some breathless reports about this or that finding actually contradict the conclusions of the very same report. The text messages buried in the report actually describe a targeted effort to get Mayor Sokolich to endorse the Governor just before the traffic jam is ordered.
The initial reason for the “investigation” in the first place and why the taxpayers were being asked to pay for it, was to help the Administration comply with subpoenas of documents and cell phone evidence from within Christie’s office. The document collection was deemed to be so labor intensive that they needed outside help. Or so it was spun to us here in New Jersey.
Hiding Evidence?
Now that the “evidence” has been gathered and used by Christie’s attorney to “exonerate” him, the Investigative Committee has to resort to issuing another subpoena to pry the information loose from Christie’s attorney. The whole reason the taxpayer was being billed for this was to get that data to the Committee in the first place, not hide it from them.
To not even turn over the transcripts of interviews with members of the Christie administration, let alone the names of the persons interviewed is difficult to swallow, for anyone looking for the truth in Bridgegate.
Conflicts of Interest
Two things lept out at me from the beginning. Let’s forget for a moment that the firm selected by Christie was the very same one chosen by Richard Nixon when he was in hot water, and that came out with a report “exonerating” Nixon right before he resigned in disgrace. The attorney Randy Mastro from the firm of Gibson Dunn, had been representing the Port Authority during the toll hike lawsuit. If Bridgegate had anything to do with the defending the toll hikes (my original theory) then the choice of Mastro would be a terrible conflict of interest. The entire reason for the being of the Legislative Committee in the first place before looking into Bridgegate was to delve into the toll hikes. In fact not long ago, Mastro had to withdraw as attorney for the Port Authority although Gibson Dunn is still retained, in the toll hike lawsuit– but nobody questioned why. The other thing that struck me was that at first, Christie supplied Walter Timpone (the LIUNA attorney) to represent Bridget Ann Kelly, an attorney who, after representing her for a short time and knowing what her defense might be suddenly up and left her in the lurch.
Hearsay
Now, on March 27, Mastro presents a report, based on hearsay, since the interviews are all tippy top secret even from the folks Mastro was hired to deliver evidence to. In that report he skewers Bridget Ann Kelly, who now appears tricked by the Christie administration to get dirt from her before throwing her under the bus. The references to Kelly being terrified of what Christie thought of her, don’t imply that she is solely to blame here. It just points out that the culture of fear not only existed at the Port Authority, but stretched as far south as Trenton. If she was in Christie’s office and saw how people were dealt with when they fell out of favor with Christie, she may have been well within her rights to be terrified. It appears her worst fears came true.
Disrespect
Christie has a history of disrespect to women, sure, but as a friend once warned me when dealing with sexism and the men who practice it, men who disrespect women, often have little respect for anyone. In this case, Governor Christie and his team disrespected all the taxpayers when they released a nonsensical report that would not even have a plot good enough for a film in Mystery Science Theater. Even bad whodunits, explain what happened and why. They don’t just throw around innuendo and end without the bad guy at least explaining how and why he did it. As a work of fiction with a hint of bodice-ripping thrown in, this report isn’t even worth the price of a cheap paperback.
Don’t Wait for the Movie
With the recent news that a Federal Grand Jury is questioning witnesses including Christie’s former Press Secretary Michael Drewniak, and that the Mastro report did not follow accepted official guidelines for a serious investigation, I highly doubt the Christie Administration’s attempt at seedy literature will be made into a movie anytime soon. Either way, I want my money back.
