"Nice cable show you have there, Kornacki. Shame if something happened to it."
Late today, and following this AM's MSNBC
Up with Steve Kornacki show that
alleged political gamesmanship in Hoboken with Sandy funds, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office released a
statement attacking the network and the Hoboken mayor:
“MSNBC is a partisan network that has been openly hostile to Governor Christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him, even taking the unprecedented step of producing and airing a nearly three-minute attack ad against him this week. Governor Christie and his entire administration have been helping Hoboken get the help they need after Sandy, with the city already having been approved for nearly $70 million dollars in federal aid and is targeted to get even more when the Obama Administration approves the next rounds of funding. The Governor and Mayor Zimmer have had a productive relationship, with Mayor Zimmer even recently saying she’s ‘very glad’ he’s been our Governor. It’s very clear partisan politics are at play here as Democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television.”
Colin Reed, Christie's spokesperson who issued the statement, is under subpoena from the New Jersey Assembly about the tie-up in Fort Lee at the George Washington Bridge.
Meanwhile, this is Twitter reaction to the morning's revelations:
Dems smelling blood RT @NJSenatePres:The allegations made this morning by Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer on @upwithsteve are extremely disturbing
— @mattkatz00
In unprecedented fashion, GOP Senator calls out @GovChristie spokesman, says Lt. Gov. should be allowed to talk
http://t.co/...
— @mattkatz00
Wisniewski statement: "The allegations discussed today by Mayor Zimmer are serious and yet again raise concern about abuse of government...
— @SteveKornacki
...government power. This certainly has attracted our attention. We need to obtain all relevant facts, confer with our special counsel...
— @SteveKornacki
...and determine the committee's best course of action."
— @SteveKornacki
Senate Prez Sweeney promises to "pursue these assertions to determine if they are true and if they are connected in any way to...
— @SteveKornacki
...the actions and practices behind the George Washington Bridge lane closings."
— @SteveKornacki
Further, this is
Tom Moran in the (non-MSNBC) NJ Star-Ledger:
This one is beyond ugly. Because in the end, Zimmer did get shorted. Hoboken got $342,000, a pittance for a town that was 80 percent under water after the October 2012 storm. She had requested $127 million.
This is a credible charge. Zimmer is describing the same kind of thuggish behavior from the Christie administration that we saw during Bridgegate.
But this one cuts deeper. Leaving people stranded in horrid traffic for four days is bad enough. But denying aid to victims of Sandy as a means of leverage against an elected official is simply revolting. And surely illegal.
Time for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman to jump on this. And the Legislature should ramp up an investigation as well.
More to come, and note those subpoenas and responses will be slow developers.
But things are heating up. And it's not at all certain or clear that the governor's staff, under subpoena and under pressure, is up to the task.