Thanks to a2nite for sending me this excellent article by Ted Mann and Heather Haddon, who bring us news of New York Prosecutors Open Another Front of Scrutiny for Port Authority: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Subpoenaed a Broad Range of Records, which will brighten the day of Christiegate addicts here.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. subpoenaed a broad range of records last month from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a person familiar with the matter said, seeking information on some of the agency's highest-profile projects and correspondence among its top officials.
The subpoena, whose existence hadn't previously been disclosed, seeks correspondence among current and former authority officials and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration on topics including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, various projects in New Jersey and the PATH transportation hub in lower Manhattan, the person said.
The inquiries by Mr. Vance's office reveal a new front of scrutiny for the Port Authority, which has already been targeted by federal prosecutors and lawmakers in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal. The unannounced lane closures in September were orchestrated by Mr. Christie's aides and Port Authority allies, causing a five-day traffic mess in Fort Lee, N.J., allegedly as political retribution against the Democratic mayor of the borough.
Spokespeople for both U.S. Attorneys, and the Port Authority declined to comment.
Earlier in the year, New York Prosecutor Bharara subpoened records from the Port Authority related to David Samson, and also from the law firm Wolff & Samson, but then withdrew those subpoenas in deferrance to U.S. Attorney Fishman, confirming that Fishman is investigating David Samson.
This report raises the possibility of an impending resignation of Port Authority Commissioner Anthony Sartor, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees the World Trade Center.
On Friday, Gibson, Dunn $ Crutcher LLP turned over the names of 75 people interviewed by Randy Mastro to the New Jersey legislative committee investigating the GWB lane closures in September. The firm is expected to hand over he interview notes on Monday.
I will put a link in an update to a story, also mention here in this article that powerful New Jersey Democrat Senate President Steven Sweeney has been pressuring the legislative committee to shut down and leave the investigation to Paul Fishman if they lost court ruling, on the Kelly and Stepien subpoenas, which they did. However, the Star-Ledger article I will post in the update, I read last night indicated that he has backed off this demand if I remember correctly. Heads up for some interesting back room politics. Sweeny has sometimes been mentioned as a political ally of Governor Christie. Oh wait. This article also mentions he backs off mentioning an appeal of the judge's ruling is a possibility. I've also heard they may re-issues more focused subpoenas.
11:26 AM PT: this article doesn't break new ground, but because this Christie group is so literate I though you might enjoy this perspective:
Prosecutors — and karma — sting Chris Christie, Andrew Cuomo: Both are getting a lesson in the fearsome toolkit they once used as attorneys.
For months now, Christie’s administration has been petrified by a pair of probes — one by the Democratic state Legislature and another by the Department of Justice — into his aides’ deliberate tampering with traffic patterns in Northern New Jersey. Last week, the federal investigation took an apparently grave turn when ABC News reported that U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman had convened a grand jury to consider the case.
Cuomo felt the prosecutor’s bite in a different fashion this week. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, savaged Cuomo in public for his decision to shutter a state panel, known as the Moreland Commission, formed to investigate rampant corruption in Albany. Bharara suggested the decision may have arisen from an improper deal with the Empire State’s famously crooked legislature and left the door open to an investigation. ...
For federal prosecutors targeting public officials, 2014 has already been a bipartisan bonanza of a year, from the indictment of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (a Republican) on charges of corruption to indictments against former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon (a Democrat) for bribery and California state Sen. Leland Yee (also a Democrat) on sensational charges that ranged from garden-variety corruption to gun-running. In Connecticut, former Gov. John Rowland — already released from prison after serving a corruption sentence — was indicted Thursday for campaign finance violations related to two recent House races in his home state. ...
Read more: http://www.politico.com/...
11:43 AM PT: APP.com reports that Chris Christie's lawyers, Gibson & Dunn have until noon on Monday to turn over the interview documents used for the Randy Mastro report or they will face a subpoena.
Administration's attorneys now have until Monday to hand over documents from internal GWB investigation
The legislative panel softened on its initial Friday deadline when attorneys from the Gibson Dunn law firm released a list naming the subjects of 75 interviews that took place for the internal investigation that cleared Christie of blame for the September 2013 lane closures that snarled traffic in Fort Lee over a period of four days.
In a joint statement, panel leaders Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Sen. Loretta Weinberg said: “We’re in receipt of the list of those interviewed by Gibson Dunn for its report, which has been shared with our entire committee, and we have agreed to give them until noon on Monday to provide the interview memoranda. We’ll review what they provide and decide our next steps.”
The production of the list headed off a showdown, at least temporarily. Wisniewski had threatened that the committee would issue a subpoena if records from the internal investigation weren’t handed over by the end of this week.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Senator Loretta Weinberg refused to release the list of 75 people interviewed for the Randy Mastro report.