NJ Lawmakers Will Plan Next Round Of Bridge Subpoenas Thursday

[ProSense]

NJ Lawmakers Will Plan Next Round Of Bridge Subpoenas Thursday

One of the New Jersey legislative committees set to resume the investigation of the bridge scandal involving Gov. Chris Christie (R) plans to meet on Thursday to plan the next round of subpoenas in the case.

With the state legislature starting a new session this week, the task of investigating the scandal is being transferred from a single Assembly transportation committee to a pair of special committees, one in the Assembly and the other in the Senate, being created specifically to investigate the scandal.

Democrats announced Tuesday the process for creating the Assembly's investigative committee.

A statement from the Democrats said the General Assembly will meet Thursday at noon to consider legislation that would formally create the committee. The legislation already has the support of Assembly leadership and is expected to pass. Afterward, the statement said, the committee is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. "to determine its process for issuing subpoenas."

The state Senate is also planning to establish a committee Thursday to investigate the lane closures. Both committees are expected to be able to subpoena documents and testimony from officials in Christie's administration to determine who was involved in the order to shut the lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September, which led to days of gridlock in Fort Lee, N.J.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-bridge-next-subpoenas

[napkinz]

1. good question ...

[ProSense]

2. Yup, and

not just Kelly, everyone from his chief counsel to his spokesman, yet Christie had no clue.

[ProSense]

3. Opinion: Conservative nightmare in unfolding scandal

Opinion: Conservative nightmare in unfolding scandal

BY EJ DIONNE

WHAT IS the greatest fear of conservatives when they warn against the dangers of big government? It is that a leader or |the coterie around him will abuse the authority of the state ¬arbitrarily to gather yet more power, punish opponents and, in the process, harm rank-and-file citizens whose well-being matters not a whit to those who are trying to enhance their control.

This, of course, is a quite precise description of what happened when Governor Christie’s aides ordered the closure of some access lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September. Their motivation was political payback. The result: Thousands of commuters, along with emergency vehicles, school buses and pretty much the entire town of Fort Lee, were thrown into gridlock.

Using public facilities for selfish ends is the very definition of corruption, which is why this scandal bothers people far outside the conservative orbit. It took months for the episode to hit the big time because so many (the New Jersey governor claims he’s one of them) had difficulty believing that government officials would act as recklessly as Christie’s gang did — and with such indifference to how their actions would affect the lives of people in northern New Jersey who were bystanders to an insider game.

Christie was finally moved to condemn the indefensible only after the smoking gun emerged in the form of emails from his staff and his appointees. Their contents reflected a vindictive urge to squelch all resistance to the governor’s political interests....At his epic news conference, he focused again and again on how loyal staff members had “lied” to him and how he felt personally victimized. What he never explained was why he did not press his staff earlier for paper trails so he could know for certain that all his vociferous denials were actually true. He didn’t deal with this flagrant foul until he had no choice.

Saying he had faith in his folks is not enough. Christie still has to |tell us why he did not treat the possibility of such a misuse of power with any urgency.

- more -

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/ejdionne_011414.html?page=all