Christie Crime Digest Volume III

[Laxman]

70. Christie Keeps Going Around Saying....

that the "investigations" have all confirmed what he's been saying all along. That he had nothing to do with Bridgegate. That he was the victim of rouge staffers. Only, that's not really true. The more we know, the more we can confirm what a cheap wallpaper job the Mastro report is (well at $7.5 million, cheap may not be the right word) trying cover up all of those holes in the wall and what a bunch of bull Christie has been slinging since this all came to light. Keep dancing Chris-I'm sure nobody will ever figure out your lies.

Mastro Report Isn't Going Away Any Time Soon

Gov. Christie has been answering questions about Bridgegate a lot lately. He continually points to the controversial internal investigation that he commissioned into the lane closures after the scandal broke open 1 1/2 years ago today. The so-called Mastro Report, written last year by lawyers at the Gibson Dunn law firm under the direction of Randy Mastro, also promises to be at the center of the federal Bridgegate trial. Two former Christie appointees have been indicted and a third, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against his former colleagues.

Here are four questions related to the Mastro Report that could come into play in both Christie's pending presidential campaign and November's Bridgegate trial:

1) Can Christie continue to claim that the federal prosecutors came to the same conclusion as the Mastro Report, even though they didn't?

On the stump, Christie repeatedly refers to the Mastro Report as evidence that the lawyers he hired -- and have so far billed taxpayers nearly $8 million -- came to the same truth that federal investigators did.

But the US Attorney's investigation contradicts the Mastro Report in two significant ways.

First, US Attorney Paul Fishman ascribes a motive: That the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 were intended to cause epic traffic jams in Fort Lee in order to punish the mayor there for not endorsing Christie’s reelection.

The Mastro Report says the opposite. "We can say that the evidence does not establish that the ulterior motive was to target the mayor because he did not endorse Gov. Christie for reelection," Mastro said after issuing the report last year. "In fact, there’s substantial contrary evidence."

Second, Mastro only found two people culpable -- Wildstein and Bridget Anne Kelly, the former Christie deputy chief of staff. Fishman indicted a third person -- Bill Baroni, the top staff appointee at the Port Authority and a former top ally to Christie.

Read the rest here: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/06/09/mastro-report-isn-t-going-away-any-time-soon