The new Bridgegate shitstorm breaking over Christie's head

[Panich52]

Daily kos

The new Bridgegate shitstorm breaking over Christie's head

Fantastic and fantastically detailed report on TPM today about the new Bridgegate-connected shit storm hitting Chris Christie.

Chris Christie is in South Carolina this week, his first trip there in the 2016 cycle. On Tuesday he spent seventy minutes answering questions from GOP activists, road testing pro-gun, anti-Common Core, and anti-teachers’ union messages as he lays groundwork to enter an ever-widening pool of contenders for the GOP nomination.

. ...

Last week, Bridget Anne Kelly’s attorney, Michael Critchley, filed a request with the presiding judge to be given the power to subpoena Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher. That’s the law firm Christie hired last January – at public expense – to investigate his administration and produce the so-called “Mastro Report” that exonerated him from any culpability in both Bridgegate and allegations leveled against him by the Mayor of Hoboken relating to Hurricane Sandy relief aid.

That report inculpated Kelly, which is why her lawyer is interested in having a look at how it was made. He asked to see "the work product" - interview transcripts, notes, and so forth - to see what people actually said and whether they square with the final report. Only one problem: Gibson Dunn told Critchley those notes and other work product don't exist.
This could be a big deal. According to the manual for outside counsel that’s put together by the N.J. Attorney General’s office, “outside counsel shall” – not may or might, but shall – “retain pleadings, correspondence, discovery materials, deposition transcripts and similar documents and work product for a period of no less than seven years.” Gibson Dunn is therefore under a contractual obligation to keep any documents and notes relating to these interviews since they constitute “work product.”

. ...

There is another reason why this is potentially a big deal, and this one is easier to understand. Gibson Dunn's bills to the NJ taxpayer for this work are enormous, and now they are going to be in the spotlight.  $7.75 million and counting. Oh, and this:

One of the attorneys who worked on the Mastro Report, Debra Yang, was, like Christie, a fellow George W. Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney. She’d vacationed with the Christies and was called a “good and dear friend” by the governor in 2011. She also billed 118 hours in the first month Gibson Dunn was brought aboard to defend her friend.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/04/1390567/-The-new-Bridgegate-shitstorm-breaking-over-Christie-s-head?detail=email

[Wilms]

1. They destroyed records?

That's probably bad.

[Helen Borg]

10. Probably, he was hungry and snacked on them.

[erronis]

12. Don't worry, ask our taxpayer-funded agency (NSA) for all the backup records.

Don't forget, they also have everything on every secret Cheney Energy meetings, as well as conversations between Prescott Bush's spawn and the the tribal warlords that call themselves Saudi Arabia.

[malaise]

2. Rachel spoke about this last night

Check out the Digest

[TexasProgresive]

3. It's always the cover up. n/t

[Angry Dragon]

4. republicians make up rules as they go

[Maraya1969]

5. I want to know where the exact connection to Christie is. Unless he

was smart enough to not have anything written down.

But then if the others get pulled in on their asses they might talk and Christie could get pulled in too. THAT would be great news!

[Spazito]

6. Whoa, they destroyed their notes, etc. - Yikes

It's good to see them in the spotlight, they deserve it, imo.

[Sanity Claws]

7. It'll look bad for Christie

but, IMHO, the shitstorm is breaking over Gibson Dunn. They could get sanctioned by the bar and face suspension. A law firm that did not acquaint itself with the law. Haha.
My experience with government contracts in general (but have not seen NJ's, just others), the contracts refer to the record-keeping requirement either explicitly or by referring to the statute. Apparently Gibson Dunn never read the contract or never checked out the statutes cited in the contract.

I love it! Gibson Dunn is one of the big corporate firms.

[LuckyLib]

9. Their legal bill is obscene -- and "She also billed 118 hours" in the first month? Dropped every

single case she was working on to attend to Christie's shitstorm? All paid for by NJ taxpayers! Amazing -- fleeced again by the Republican powers-that-be!

[erronis]

13. Nobody destroys records unless ordered to by the client.

Any real law firm, CPA, insurance company, pizza joint, etc. will keep records forever, probably way past the point where they are supposed to be destroyed.

All the agencies of the various governments are supposed to destroy records after some point in time. They MIGHT do a quick delete based on some computer date but they are keeping everything intact until the backups go poof when the sun novas.

So, the only reason the records aren't available is because the client told them to pass a very large bar magnet over everything. However, they are always available. A little FBI squeeze will extract the juice.

[Dustlawyer]

8. Normally I would say, "...they are so F**ked!" The way the rich and powrful have been getting away

with sh*t in this country the last several years I just don't know, but I certainly hope so!

[Richardo]

11. "... as he lays groundwork to enter an ever-widening pool of contenders for the GOP nomination."

Made me LOL.

[FSogol]

15. Well, maybe belligerently yelling at journalists and constituents more than laying groundwork...

[FSogol]

14. Am I the only one who laughs every time he sees the name "Bridget" in this scandal?

PS: Christie has a daughter named Bridget too.

[Thespian2]

16. No One in New Jersey

deserves a shit-storm more than Christie...the worst NJ governor ever...

[DebbieCDC]

17. Well, if that president thingy doesn't work out for him

Maybe the Yankees could use some help:

http://7online.com/sports/chris-christie-stars-in-charity-softball-game/766024/

[rocktivity]

18. The Mastro Report itself is no longer on the Gibson Dunn website

which I find particularly insulting because it was paid for with public funds:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026612563#post58


rocktivity