Quote of the Day: "It's not a bad thing"

by: Jason Springer

Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 04:15:00 PM EDT

Joe Ferriero has been on the stand defending himself at his trial and when pressed on using his influence to help get business, here was the exchange that took place:

Honig suggested that Ferriero set up a new business where he would recommend municipalities to pursue for business and use his "influence" to help get the grants get passed.
"By me having relationships," Ferriero asserted, backing away from the word "influence."
"Influence - that's your word," Honig said, referring to an e-mail between Ferriero and David Spatz, who eventually was hired by GGC to write grant applications.
"It's not a bad thing," Ferriero responded.

That's right, influence itself is not a bad thing. It's how you use that influence that determines whether there are problems. The defense rested their case today and the jury is scheduled to begin deliberations on Monday.

Jason Springer :: Quote of the Day: "It's not a bad thing"

Tags: influence, corruption, Joe Ferriero, Bergen County, BCDO, Quote of the Day, (All Tags)

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Quote of the Day: "It's not a bad thing" | 4 comments

is it my imagination (0.00 / 0)

or did the trial go pretty quickly?

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

by: Hopeful @ Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 21:08:58 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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The jury (4.00 / 1)

got their instructions and the trial began on Thursday October 1. Seems like 2 weeks since things wrapped up this morning.

by: Jason Springer @ Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 22:43:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't get it (0.00 / 0)

Like many of the Christie Clan's "public corruption" prosecutions, this seems super flimsy.

I don't see how Ferriero's role was different than run-of-the-mill lobbying. How can partisan-appointed federal prosecutors punish politicians in the state for using former political relationships and influence as a business, while practicing the same thing on a grander scale in DC and around the world?

John Ashcroft didn't get his $52 million monitor contract because he was the best qualified. He had no experience with medical-device companies in his pre-or post-political law practice. Christie chose him soley because of their relationship and his influence from his former government role.

Look at the hundreds of thousands a month Denny Hastert makes from the Turks now for using his influence and relationships to avert recognition of the Armenian Genocide, among other things. If the DoJ doesn't consider that criminal, why is it criminal here in NJ? That relationship potentially jeopardizes our national security, not just a question of whether he did enough work to earn an honest few grand.

Most of what Wall Street does is make money without any commodity. Other companies don't announce ownership or relationships with other companies under the same ownership umbrella. Does the law require Kraft to change its packaging to ID it as Sara Lee, or whatever (not sure of the product mergers)? No. Oury was obligated, but how can Ferriero be held responsible for Oury's reporting?

I dispute the "most corrupt state" reputation the Christie Clan likes to throw around. I've lived in other states. All the southern states are way, way more corrupt, imho.

by: Jim33 @ Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 23:17:46 PM UTC

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It was a conspiracy (0.00 / 0)

and Oury acted on Ferriero's behalf and to his direct financial benefit.

Ferriero pressured elected officials that he had power over for their re-election campaigns.

They were a team. Plausable deniability is Ferriero's MO, at least it was when he ran the BCDO.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Fri Oct 16, 2009 at 14:57:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]