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In reply to the discussion: Christie Crime Digest Volume III [View all]Laxman
(2,419 posts)118. This Is Looking More And More Like...
a cover-up. Gibson Dunn has managed to paint themselves into a corner, that I can't believe any competent law firm would dare to. They really are damned if they do, damned if they don't when it comes to their notes on the half-assed Bridgegate "investigation" they tried to sell. So, after nearly $10 million in legal fees, they have no notes? Or did they have notes that they destroyed? Somebody is losing their law license here:
Kelly, Baroni seek notes Christie lawyers say they don't have
The law firm hired by Gov. Christie's office in 2014 to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal interviewed more than 70 witnesses and reviewed more than 250,000 documents to produce a 360-page report that it said cleared the governor of wrongdoing.
How, then, did the firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher L.L.P., not take or preserve any notes during its investigation, apart from summaries it would later release to the public?
That's what attorneys for two former allies of Christie's who face federal criminal charges in the case are asking in newly filed court documents. Gibson Dunn has said some of the records don't exist and asked a judge to quash a subpoena seeking others.
"In sum, the firm claims that it billed New Jersey taxpayers nearly $10 million . . . but that not a single lawyer took a single note during 75 interviews in the most high profile political case in recent years," lawyers for Bill Baroni, a former top official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, wrote in documents filed Monday.
"That assertion defies common sense, the practice of law and Gibson Dunn's own policies and procedures with respect to every other internal investigation it has conducted. It simply cannot be the case."
Gibson Dunn has billed the governor's office for nearly $8 million for investigating the bridge controversy, according to invoices released by the state in May.
The firm's report also dismissed allegations of abuse of Sandy funds by members of the Christie administration, as has U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman's office.
"Given the financial windfall [Gibson Dunn] reaped from the purely voluntary investigation, it is hardly a burden to expect [Gibson Dunn] to attempt to retrieve the notes they were required to maintain and attempted to delete or copy over," wrote Michael Critchley, an attorney for Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff.
The records could be important to Kelly's defense, he wrote, in part because at least two former top officials in Christie's administration testified under oath before the Legislature that Gibson Dunn's report mischaracterized their interviews.
Federal prosecutors allege that Baroni and Kelly conspired to close lanes at the bridge from Sept. 9 to 13, 2013, to punish a local Democratic mayor who didn't endorse Christie's reelection. David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official who worked for Baroni, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government.
The law firm hired by Gov. Christie's office in 2014 to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal interviewed more than 70 witnesses and reviewed more than 250,000 documents to produce a 360-page report that it said cleared the governor of wrongdoing.
How, then, did the firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher L.L.P., not take or preserve any notes during its investigation, apart from summaries it would later release to the public?
That's what attorneys for two former allies of Christie's who face federal criminal charges in the case are asking in newly filed court documents. Gibson Dunn has said some of the records don't exist and asked a judge to quash a subpoena seeking others.
"In sum, the firm claims that it billed New Jersey taxpayers nearly $10 million . . . but that not a single lawyer took a single note during 75 interviews in the most high profile political case in recent years," lawyers for Bill Baroni, a former top official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, wrote in documents filed Monday.
"That assertion defies common sense, the practice of law and Gibson Dunn's own policies and procedures with respect to every other internal investigation it has conducted. It simply cannot be the case."
Gibson Dunn has billed the governor's office for nearly $8 million for investigating the bridge controversy, according to invoices released by the state in May.
The firm's report also dismissed allegations of abuse of Sandy funds by members of the Christie administration, as has U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman's office.
"Given the financial windfall [Gibson Dunn] reaped from the purely voluntary investigation, it is hardly a burden to expect [Gibson Dunn] to attempt to retrieve the notes they were required to maintain and attempted to delete or copy over," wrote Michael Critchley, an attorney for Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff.
The records could be important to Kelly's defense, he wrote, in part because at least two former top officials in Christie's administration testified under oath before the Legislature that Gibson Dunn's report mischaracterized their interviews.
Federal prosecutors allege that Baroni and Kelly conspired to close lanes at the bridge from Sept. 9 to 13, 2013, to punish a local Democratic mayor who didn't endorse Christie's reelection. David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official who worked for Baroni, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government.
Read the rest here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150923_Kelly__Baroni_seek_notes_Christie_lawyers_say_they_don_t_have.html
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I know what you mean.. There's been so much illegality in the christie admin and from christie
Cha
May 2015
#9
my first thought when I saw skinny Wildstein was "the people behind Christie radiation poisoned him"
Backwoodsrider
May 2015
#33
Also known as "Christie's Forty-Seven-Percent-Moment" (Good-natured jabs, my donkey)
rocktivity
May 2015
#50
Is Christie's publicly-financed self-exonerating Mastro report about to come back to haunt him?
rocktivity
Jun 2015
#56
You rock Laxman!!! While the non-memories of "Fitzmas" still hurt, I think this is different...
winstars
Jun 2015
#61
I have said all along, he will never get convicted of any crime. He seems to let others....
Logical
Jun 2015
#73
Christie's latest power failure: Another storm, another self-serving response
rocktivity
Jun 2015
#80
UPDATE: (Hillary Supporter) Jon Bon Jovi Says He Gave (Hillary Opponent) Christie Permission
rocktivity
Jun 2015
#85
Christie Confirms Bruce Is Still His Fave NJ Musician, Gets Ovation From Bruce's Fans
rocktivity
Aug 2015
#98
He's Being Funded By A Tabloid? That Explains Why He's Started Talking Like One
rocktivity
Aug 2015
#99
Didn't Christie just fantasize about beating a woman and then serving her with a subpoena?
rocktivity
Feb 2016
#138