If there's nothing to all this, then it's to the US Attorney's Office's benefit to release these documents. It's to Christie's benefit. He talks a lot about ethics. Let's see if that talk extends to action. Let's see if Christie comes out in favor of transparency.
The cascadingstoriesofquestionableconduct inside the United States Attorney's Office - both during Chris Christie's tenure, and now following it - are reason enough for the Corzine campaign, and anyone valuing ethical conduct, to want to get at the truth. Jon Corzine knows that without facts, Christie's story of his own success there goes unchallenged. And the facts, once they come to light, may reveal a more complicated story.
Today, the Corzine '09 campaign filed legal challenges under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to break what they call five months of stonewalling that have kept basic public records of Christie's actions as US Attorney from light.
Eight adminstrative challenges - representing 18 separate requests - were filed with the United States Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy. The campaign's sought these records - budgets, travel expenses, schedules - since March, each attempt met with a logjam originating in the USAO here in NJ.
In fact, in a Corzine ad running on another site, a countdown clock registers the "stonewall" time at 155 days: 19 hrs: 21 min: 49 seconds - as I write this.
They also seek details of no-bid contracts Christie awarded, including one worth $52 million to his former boss - and fellow Bush crony - John Ashcroft. His communications with Karl Rove - the "architect" of George Bush's political career (now also the subject of separate investigation by a watchdog group) and between Christie and those who succeeded him in the US Attorney's Office, are also sought.
Corzine '09 campaign strategist Tom Shea:
The United States Attorney's office has many fine, dedicated, professional lawyers. But, in light of recent reports that Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra is under investigation to determine if he has used the office to help further the Christie campaign, Second Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown has an ongoing financial relationship with Christie and Christie was communicating with Karl Rove about his run for governor from that office, we feel it is even more important we receive the information requested.
If Christie has nothing to hide, if the US Attorney's Office doesn't, then let's see those records.
What I find most puzzling is that Christie's "oversight" is at odds with his experience as a corruption fighter. He should have known better.
Perhaps more than any other federal prosecutor who preceded him, Christie demonstrated how New Jersey's toothless disclosure laws foster corruption. It was a common theme in his indictments and convictions.
Follow me below the fold as Stile gives a sampling of the indictments that dealt with the failure to disclose and what this issue may mean in the larger context of the campaign going forward.
Some of us here are fresh off a blogger call with Gov. Jon Corzine. My impression is he's getting his game face on:
I hope you are all as convinced as I am that progressive politics is on the ballot.
Corzine named the stakes:
Marriage equality ...collective bargaining ...the Death Penalty stays repealed ...we expand health care at the state level ... close achievement gaps at the state level.
Two factors, he says, combine against him. First, our economic and budgetary problems, though he pointed out that the state cut $4.5 billion from its 2010 budget and mixed news we've gained 13,000 new jobs last month, despite higher unemployment rates.
Corzine also points to the political corruption story dominating the news. Corzine sees the underbelly; politicizing the US Attorney's Office, pursuing mainly Democratic politicians, connecting money-laundering rabbis with politicians through a single informant, the internal investigation of the department. And possible violations of the Hatch Act in Christie's political relationship with Karl Rove.
But, Christie's narrative has always been easy to grasp:
New Jersey is broken and I can fix it. I am law enforcement and I know how to stop corruption, and get the worst offenders out of government.
I'm paraphrasing, but that's essentially it. The longer we get to know him, of course, the more shot with holes that elevator speech is. But understanding that is a function less of simple declarative sentences, and more a thing that requires paragraphs of explanation, to tell the story of how Chris Christie's career as United States Attorney - the only thing in the world he has to run on - is in fact, a troubling history. Corzine spoke of pattern:
They have this RGA [Republican Governors Assn.] ad: Watch what he does, not what he says about me. But it couldn't apply more appropriately to my opponent. Gave out no-bid contracts while he chastises them, in pay-to-play gave out plenty as county Freeholder, there's his own failure to report on taxes, the Hatch Act maybe violated... there's a rubric, doing the opposite of what you preach.
Follow me to the jump for Corzine on Chris Daggett.
On NJN news last night, host Jim Hooker had a discussion with GOP state Chairman Jay Webber and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes.
Webber said the latest revelations do no damage to Christie and that they're a side show cooked up by the Corzine campaign (although NJN discovered the story which Hooker challenged Webber on). Webber continued to do his best spin job deflecting things back to Corzine and said that "an ethics champion like Chris Christie does the right thing when he makes a mistake."
Then Hooker turned to Hughes, who said this raises questions about his claim that he pays attention to detail if he can't even fill out these forms correctly, as they're not difficult things to do. Webber again tried to turn it around on Corzine when asked about the connections between Brown and Christie and whether he had a pipeline to the office. He said that the Democrats have no facts to back up their allegations, to which Hughes said it was connecting the dots and he laid out the dots. Webber said the issue is a minor bump in the road and that there is no chance he won't be on the ballot.
A contrite Christopher J. Christie, the Republican former prosecutor running for governor on a platform of corruption busting and ethical reform, apologized Tuesday for failing to report a $46,000 loan to a top aide on his tax returns and financial-disclosure forms.
Here's the NJN news story on the latest developments:The NJN story looks at language Christie used as US Attorney to prosecute people with tax issues, but Christie said his actions weren't willful. Christie says it's just an honest mistake that things weren't reported and disclosed:
"To you and to the people of the state, I'm going to tell you, I'm not perfect and I'm not going to be," he said. "I'm going to make mistakes, and when I make mistakes, I'm going to own up to them, and this was a mistake and an oversight on my part."
And then there's this "I'm the decider" quote from Christie:
Mr. Christie said he could see a potential problem if an underling had lent him money, but he added, "the fact of the matter is, I was the boss, so I had authority anyway."
Follow me below the fold because Zack Fink, who broke the story has many more questions that he's raising on his blog about just what the boss did.
But might Christie discussed running for Governor with Rove even earlier? From a 2003 NYT profile of Christie:
Unlike some United States attorneys who prefer to cultivate an apolitical image, Mr. Christie remains a die-hard Bush supporter, with photographs of the president prominently placed in his office. One shot from the Texas governor's mansion shows Mr. Christie with Mr. Bush in front of a painting of the last stand at the Alamo. Mr. Christie noted that the photo was taken by Mr. Bush's omnipresent political adviser, Karl Rove.
The whole Christie-Bush-Rove photo session sounds so adorable, but the question of whether or not they discussed a bid for Governor or his duties as U.S. attorney is more important, because, as the the New Jersey Star Ledger writes, "Christie had been attracting buzz as a promising GOP candidate since 2003."
Updated by Jason Springer: Here is the video from the NJN report tonight:
NJN is reporting that while US Attorney, Chris Christie gave Michelle Brown a loan of $46,000, which she is scheduled to continue paying off at the rate of $499/month to Christie and wife Mary Pat, until 2017. The story is not on their website yet, but was reported in NJN's evening newscast.
At the time the loan was granted Brown was fourth in command at the office of the United States Attorney for New Jersey. She is now First Assistant US Attorney. To questions from NJN about the nature of the loan, Christie replied they were friends and he helped her out during a financial pinch.
But given the mileage Christie is positioning himself to get with an anti-corruption plan he proposes as the Republican candidate for Governor, the timing - coming conveniently right after the massive political corruption sweep in July. That's magical timing, the kind of advantageous happenstance that's a lot easier if you have a very close relationship with somebody still in a key position in your old office.
Brown already pops up alongside Christie in settings that may be unacceptable in terms of the constraints of her job in the US Attorney's office, which requires top staffers to refrain from partisan settings, which Rep. Frank Pallone has asked the Justice Department to look into.
We had plenty of coverage of the Governor at Netroots Nation yesterday. Yesterday while there for the panel, he met with a group of progressive bloggers and sharply criticized Christie's discussions with Rove: (Via Think Progress)
It is hard to understand how a lawbreaker gets the reputation of being the king of law enforcement, and uses that as a platform. It's the Hatch Act.
This is how you want to arrive at Netroots Nation - the former Yearly Kos - the now-massive annual mojo-booster for progressive political blogger titans and titans-to-be. Clammyc - oh, hell, let's just call him Adam - and I rolled in this afternoon, and promptly started drinking, and connecting up.
And it's a buzzy night here right now. New Jersey is on the front page of DailyKos, in a great diary by Jake McIntyre: NJ-Gov: The Other Shoe Dropping for Christie. So ... Chris Christie's got a little Karl Rove problem. Please go read it, add your own New Jersey-flavored comment, and then shoot that bad boy to 10 of your bestest friends. Especially the ones leaning toward Christie.
It's important to understand what the stakes are here: Karl Rove, Republican strategist, architect of the Bush White House, and pit bull for the man who appointed Christie the US Attorney, said on the record to the House Judiciary Committee July 7, 2009, that he spoke to Christie several times over several years. That is, apparently, while he was United States Attorney. US Attorneys are barred by the United States Justice Dept. from engaging in partisan politics while in office. It's a safeguard to avoid undue influence, impropriety, even the appearance of impropriety. Given that Christie is running on his record as USA, a violation of the Hatch Act further soils his credibility.
Word spreads fast here in Pittsburgh. I just walked through the lobby and got high-fived by five people. Everybody knows Jon Corzine is coming to Netroots Nation Saturday. He'll be here to talk economy, but the buzz has already started that the truth will out when it comes to what Chris Christie doesn't want voters to know about. Christie was George Bush's hand-picked - and now we find out, hand-fed - man in the Garden State.
It's no secret that Blue Jersey has had our eye on Chris Christie for many years. Much of that work was led by the efforts of huntsu, whose work exposing the real Christie was years before it's time. Take a look at what huntsu said in April of 2007 after Christie announced a speaking tour:
Clearly for someone covered by the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in politics, this speaking tour is patently unethical and should be stopped immediately.
Often the "appearance of impropriety" is enough to generate an investigation of a public official by a prosecutor. Given how he got the job, how his investigation and conviction rates have changed, and his public speaking tour there is no way anyone can say that there is no appearance any longer.
Now at the time, Christie would have said that anyone suggesting any violations was just playing pure politics. But given the revelations in the House Judiciary Documents that Karl Rove and Chris Christie spoke about Christie running for Governor while he was US Attorney, those questions raised by huntsu and the Hatch act become that much more relevant:
Guidelines spelled out in the Hatch Act prohibit federal employees organizing political meetings or assembling campaign staff. The prohibitions also apply to preliminary political activities that set a candidacy in motion, said Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the Hatch Act Unit in the Office of Special Counsel in Washington.
"Any kind of preliminary activity that leads to formally becoming a candidate can be considered candidacy in terms of the Hatch Act and would be in violation," said Hamrick.
Preliminary activity, such as having discussions years before you announce your candidacy and sending people to campaign for you at your party's national convention? Leading to formally becoming a candidate, such as the campaign Christie is running right now? Add those two up and you get a violation of the Hatch Act and that's not huntsu saying it, that's the Office of Special Counsel. Again I'll ask, who was playing politics again? The people who questioned Christie's actions and motives, or the man himself who was carrying them out?
Updated by Jason: It looks like Thurman Hart was ahead of his time as well and he got Christie on the record too back in December of 2008 after Christie quickly announced his resignation:
It was alleged that Mr. Christie engaged in these preliminary activities regarding a candidacy for Governor of New Jersey while still employed as a United States Attorney.
Allegations such as those described above ordinarily would trigger an investigation by OSC and, if the facts warranted, a recommendation to the President of the United States for disciplinary action. However, because Mr. Christie is no longer a federal employee, OSC would be unable to obtain meaningful disciplinary action against him, even if our investigation were to substantiate the allegations described above. Consequently, we have decided not to inquire further into those allegations and have closed our file in this matter.
So, the allegations - which were simply reports from New Jersey media sources - that Chris Christie was, in fact, running a shadow campaign for Governor while still a US Attorney cannot be pursued because Christie no longer is a US Attorney. I am notified of this barely ten working days after Christie's resignation becomes effective. So which came first - the phone call notifying Christie that he would be investigated for Hatch Act violations or his "decision" to abandon his job at an inopportune time (nice to do Christmas without a paycheck, don't ya know) and in a hurried manner?
In their own response, they practically admit that if the information available now was known then, it would constitute an investigation and possible disciplinary action.
The Corzine campaign is jumping on the news that Karl Rove and Chris Christie discussed a run for Governor while he was still US Attorney and Rove was in the White House. Before this news, the Corzine campaign had called on US Attorney's office to honor the Freedom of Information requests filed in March and today they followed up on that calling on Christie to respond to the Corzine campaign's request for public documents from his tenure as U.S. Attorney and fully disclose the timing and nature of his contact with Rove. And the DNC also took umbrage with the Christie campaign explanation of the contacts with Rove:
"We already knew that Chris Christie used his position as a US Attorney as a staging ground for his own political career, and now we find out that Christie spoke with disgraced political advisor Karl Rove to discuss running for Governor. This news of Rove's 'career counseling' for Chris Christie is just another troubling example of Christie's use of his office to benefit his own political self interest.
"The Christie campaign's effort to dismiss the Rove-Christie meetings as having had occurred as the 'Bush Administration was winding down' is simply offensive. They can try to spin the meetings as much as they like, but it cannot hide the truth that Christie used his appointed position as a springboard for higher office at the behest of disgraced political shills like Karl Rove," said DNC Spokesman Michael Czin.
We saw huntsu question some of the "facts" the Christie campaign is making up regarding what Rove said earlier. The Corzine campaign put out this web ad highlighting the Rove connection over at Christiefacts.com:Senator Weinberg said that Christie owes it to NJ to clear up the conflicting accounts between Rove's testimony and Christie's explanation:
"First, Karl Rove revealed that Christie solicited his help to run a gubernatorial campaign out of the U.S. Attorney's office," Weinberg said. "Now, Christie is denying that he reached out to Rove for advice. Given the clear disparity between their stories, Christie owes it to the voters of New Jersey to release public documents from his tenure as U.S. Attorney."
I feel comfortable in that Christie will say this is just politics, but something tells me this won't be the last we hear of this story.
Q Did you or anyone at OPA have any communications with Mr. Christie or his office after he started as U.S. Attorney?
A I talked to him twice in the last couple of years, perhaps one time while I was at the White House and once or twice since I left the White House, but -- not regarding his duties as U.S. Attorney, but regarding his interest in running for Governor, and he asked me questions about who -- who were good people that knew about running for Governor that he could talk to.
But the Star Ledger reminds us of Christie's history denying any hint of politics in his tenure as US Attorney:
Democrats have long raised questions about whether any future plans to run for governor affected Christie's actions in office and the Corzine campaign is pushing to see his calendars from that time period. Christie has said those charges are baseless and stands by his record as U.S. Attorney.
Christie has said he was focused on his responsibilities as a prosecutor and only began "seriously thinking" about a run for governor last August. He left the U.S. attorney's office in December to explore a campaign, which he formally launched in February. Rove left the White House in August 2007.
Baseless you say? It seems like Karl Rove established a strong base, to show that Chris Christie was planning his future run for Governor as many suspected and he repeatedly denied. If Rove talked to Christie while he was in the white house, Now of course, U.S. attorneys are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities. Senator Weinberg said Rove's comments put the matter to rest over when Christie began things:
"This to me puts to bed the claim that he did not think about running for governor until he left the U.S. Attorney's Office and had done a lot of soul searching before he made his decision," Weinberg said. "He obviously was not only thinking of running for governor, he was seeking input from the White House deputy chief of staff, George Bush's chief strategist."
The Christie campaign had no comment today, but I fully expect them to attack Karl Rove tomorrow and say he's just playing partisan politics... testifying to save his own rear end before a judiciary committee. Who is the one playing politics again?
New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie said he didn't know about a plea bargain that happened while he was U.S. attorney and is now the subject of a lawsuit, but a Justice Department press release under his name touts the $17 million tax fraud settlement.
The press release, issued after the case was settled in May 2008, has Christie announcing the plea agreement with a Morris County developer. In the document, Christie credits prosecutors for their work on the case.
Here is the press release they sent out. So in 2008, Christie was taking credit for a tax fraud settlement, but now as a candidate he claims he had nothing to do with the matter. Look at this response to the latest development from the US Attorney's office:
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said it was not unusual for press releases to be written and sent without Christie's knowledge. Drewniak said he had the authority to select which cases were highlighted for the media and to work directly with prosecutors in Christie's office to craft press releases.
So if you believe the stories they are telling, we now know that under Christie's leadership, settlement documents were signed without his knowledge and press releases touting those accomplishments were publicized, again with the fearless leader supposedly having no clue it was going on.
Would he run the state this way and let other people put his name on things whether he's seen it or not? We've already seen his friend John Inglesino offer an alleged "major position" to an Assemblyman to get out of the campaign, to which Christie said he had no idea as well. How many of those notches on his record he loves to tout were like this case, where he would have you believe he had absolutely nothing to do with anything? You have to also wonder what else went on "without Christie's knowledge" if you believe that all these people around him had the power to act for him?
We are all still reeling from the announcement by the US Attorney's office of the arrest of 44 people on a variety of corruption charges. Yet, as I read through the various news reports and comments, some things seemed amiss. Let me say that I am not defending anyone here, but I do have some observations and questions.
Theater. First of all the arrests, with the perp walk videos, the condemnation of NJ as the most corrupt place in the world and the sheer number of folks arrested makes for pure theater. NJ is, yet and again, the laughingstock of the nation. But the FBI and the US Attorney's office come out as hard werkin' straight shootin' upholders of the law.
The fact is that many of the cases are unrelated. The glue holding them together is Solomon Dwek. As you may have read, Dwek had been arrested for fraud (under Christie's watch). Obviously, he made a deal, received a monthy stipend and proceeded to go after money launderers, a kidney seller and Hudson County pols.
The Time Line. I became curious about the time line of these events when some reports said the investigations had been ongoing for 10 years. Other reports said the operation began 2 years ago. What happened in the intervening 8 years? The FBI couldn't nail any of these people without Dwek? That doesn't seem to me to be top notch investigation. Yes, I know we had 9/11 in between and the FBI had to round up dark skinned guys with Arab sounding names for no reason at all. But still.
The kidney guy. Michael Daley wrote a column in the NY Daily News entitled, "Her 7-year quest to end his evil work pays off." It seems an anthropologist, Nancy Scheper Hughs, passed on information to the FBI about Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum's organ trafficking. Apparently the FBI did nothing. Daley muses that perhaps it was because the State Department dismissed such activities as an "urban legend." that would be "impossible to conceal."
I think the allegations are both serious and horrendous. At least the FBI could have looked into it, especially since Scheper Hughs went to the governments of Brazil and South Africa, where "law enforcement corroborated her findings and acted decisively." Oh, I forgot, they were hunting domestic terrorists.
I will try to post more of my thoughts in a separate diary (if anyone cares). But here are 2 final observations.
Joe Doria. I read over the complaint against Secaucus mayor Dennis Elwell. It alleges that Dwek was seeking zoning changes in the town so he could build a hotel. Much of the zoning, however, is controlled by the Meadowlands Commission. The complaint alleges that Elwell said he would see if he could get those changes by going through "the back door" to the Commission. Guess what commission is overseen by the Department of Community Affairs?
The Political Fallout. The NYT has an article that goes eight ways to Sunday to point out how devastating these revalations are to Corzine in the gubenatorial race.
Despite the USA's office's protestations to the contrary, ya think, ya think, that the breath, scope and timing of these arrests might be politically motivated?
The Mayor of Hoboken, sworn in just days ago and arrested yesterday amid one of the largest and strangest corruption sweeps in New Jersey history, says he's not going anywhere.
Cammarano announced today he is planning to plead innocent, is back at work in the Mayor's office today. He says he has done nothing wrong, is innocent until proven guilty and can serve his duties in office while his case is pending.
Cammarano's bail was set at $100,000 and it was posted shortly after a federal hearing yesterday in Newark. The charges against Cammarano, 32, read as follows: charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. He is accused of taking $25,000 in cash bribes, including $10,000 just last week, from an undercover witness.
Maybe this is just what looks like business as usual in Hoboken, to him.
Note: I was at the Federal Building in Newark today, but not at the press conference. I was not permitted in the room, and I'll deal with that one later, because I'm steamed about it. But this is culled from the documents distributed there - - - Rosi Efthim
The ironies and contradictions of today's news whip the head around. Contradiction: This is bad news, as Jason points out. But it's also good news; when rocks are pried up and sunlight hits what squirms underneath, it's a victory. You know it is.
Contradiction: Today was a shock, but no surprise to a lot of weary voters. This is why people don't vote, why they throw their hands up in disgust. Ironically, the disgusted ones are precisely the ones we need engaged.
You've seen the big-name arrest list and the extraordinary perp walk, pols shuffling off one FBI bus, and rabbis another. Envelopes stuffed with cash. Meetings in diners. Promises made for introductions only to "players" who would "do the right thing" if greased sufficiently. A complex system of rabbis, and "cash houses" to launder dirty money. This is a bad movie.
Shoes still to drop Information may still sift in. Court-ordered search warramts were executed today for about 20 locations in NJ and New York to recover, among other things, large sums of cash. And 28 seizure warrants were executed against bank accounts of the money laundering defendants, and the entities in their control. There were 300 agents involved, in 54 locations in NJ-NY. And there is one charge of trafficking in human kidneys.
How did it work? What's still not clear to me is the extent to which all these politicians' alleged bad acts are tied together. To what degree were they in league with each other?
One clue to how federal investigators think it worked is included in a description of where their investigation started - with the money laundering - and how it wound its way to the pols.
The "CW," the Triangle, and the rabbis... Law enforcement, along with the cooperating witness (in documents, "CW") widely rumored as Solomon Dwek, infiltrated a pre-existing money laundering network between Deal, NJ, Brooklyn and Israel. The related investigation - hauling inthe politicians - has roots in 2007 Hudson County, when the CW started showing up looking to nab public contracts in the county schools.
He got himself introduced to a Jersey City building inspector. And from there a web of introductions and referrals grew that eventually included elected officials, council and mayoral candidates, zoning officials and others in official capacity, mostly in Hudson. Here's how (from the US Attorney's office statement):
In part, the bribe-taking was connected to fund raising efforts in heavily contested mayoral and city council campaigns in Jersey City and Hoboken, and the bribes were often parceled out to straw donors, who then wrote checks in their names or businesses to the campaigns in amounts that complied with legal limits on individual donations - so-called conduit or conversion donations. Other bribe recipients took cash for direct personal use and benefit; others kept some of the cash and used the rest for political campaigns, according to the criminal Complaints.
The biggest fish may be Peter Cammarano, just sworn in as Hoboken mayor days ago, and also a lawyer. He's charged with taking $25,000 in cash bribes, including $10,000 just one week ago, from an undercover witness. Cammarano's alledged to have taken cash bribes to grease the skids for a high rise development by the witness. At the diner meeting, Cammarano promised the CW "...you're going to be treated like a friend."
Paul Fishman, a 52 year old prosecutor and former Justice Department Official was one of six U.S. Attorney nominees announced yesterday:
Fishman was recommended for the post in February by Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. In a brief statement issued today, Fishman said he was thankful for the chance to become the state's top federal law enforcement official.
"I am grateful to the president for giving me this opportunity to serve the people of New Jersey," Fishman said. "I also want to thank Senators Lautenberg and Menendez for their strong and continued support."
Fishman, 51, served 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey and was a senior Justice Department adviser to Attorney General Janet Reno from 1994 to 1997. As a defense lawyer, he has focused primarily on civil and white-collar criminal cases.
Fishman is currently a partner with a New York Law firm and he has represented such clients as Carla Katz in her ongoing fight with the CWA. We'll have to see if Fishman will be asked at confirmation about the actions of the office under the leadership of Chris Christie regarding his warrantless monitoring program and whether he would continue such a program? Is this even a venue for such a discussion to occur? Given all of the questions surrounding the U.S. Attorneys under the previous administration, I wonder how that changes the hearing process this time around.
Did you hear the one about the suspected terrorist who called the police because he was concerned about someone else's motives? Yeah, he ended up going on trial while the person he called attention to became the star witness against him. It might be funny if it weren't true and being played out in the Fort Dix Trial:
One of the men facing charges for an alleged terror plot targeting New Jersey's Fort Dix sought out police assistance on the matter, a witness alleges.
Philadelphia Police Sgt. Sean Dandridge has testified that suspect Serdar Tatar approached him in November 2006 and informed him about some suspicious interest in the U.S. Army base in Burlington County, N.J., the Philadelphia Inquirer said Thursday.
"He told me he was approached by a gentleman he met in his mosque - and the gentleman asked him for a map of Fort Dix," Dandridge testified in a Camden, N.J., federal courtroom Wednesday.
The gentleman that approached him in the mosque was apparently FBI Informant Mahmound Omar. In 2007, huntsu posted about that situation and asked if Chris Christie knew that one of their terrorists was actively engaged in trying to foil a terror plot. I wonder if the jury is asking the same thing right about now.
Remember, this officer, Dandridge, is a witness for the prosecution, who argues the plotters were trying to figure out if Omar was undercover and it was really a game of spy vs. spy. They point to the fact that Tatar eventually gave Omar the map, but wouldn't he do that as part of the game the prosecution is trying to argue he was playing? And how many terrorists invite an officer shooting with them?
Tatar invited the officer to go shooting with his friends and showed him video he took on his cell phone of the men firing weapons at a range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.
"The system worked the way it should have worked," said Canas, who was asked to appear before the Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee on Monday to discuss security at military bases.
The state's deputy adjutant general, Maria Falca-Dodson, who also appeared before the panel, said she was first told of the plot a year ago and was briefed regularly until the arrests were made.
This is how it's supposed to work? You wonder if they were given all of these details in those regular briefings. And even Congressman Jim Saxton raised questions about the likelihood of what was alleged:
After a briefing on security on Fort Dix, a congressman said he doubts a group of alleged terror plotters could have gotten onto the post to carry out an attack.
"The military police are well armed and mean business," said U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, a Republican whose district includes the sprawling base that is mostly used to train reservists. "The plotters may have had difficulties in pulling off their plan."
None of this stopped Christie and the government from going full steam ahead with the case. I don't know if there was evidence that hasn't been heard at the trial or if there's more of the story yet to come. But if you lead with your strongest witnesses and this is what the prosecution is going with, it raises real questions about the strength of the government's case.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie today resigned his post effective Dec. 2.
Christie, 46, the leading contender for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, planed to announce his resignation during a staff meeting at 11 a.m. Christie was not available for comment.
And why now:
Officials close to him said they have long figured Christie would not announce his resignation and a possible political run in fell swoop, but would instead do it in two parts to avoid questions about whether he was engaged in political strategizing while running the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Christie's announcement comes as federal juries in Trenton and Camden work their way through two of the prosecutor's highest-profile cases, a corruption prosecution against former state Sen. Wayne Bryant and the foiled terror plot against the Fort Dix military installation.
If Christie leaves earlier than January 20, 2009 -- when U.S. Attorney's traditionally offer their resignations to incoming administrations -- the Bush Justice Department will name someone to run the office on an acting basis. The Obama-run Justice Department would have the option of naming their own Acting U.S. Attorney until a permanent appointment is made, although that could take about four months after Christie's temporary successor takes the reigns.
"Yes, we are looking at the phenomenon," Mukasey said during his first oversight hearing since becoming Attorney General. "Yes, we are going to see if there should be standards."
Looking at the Phenomenon? See if there should be standards? Are you kidding me, it's a $52 million dollar no-bid contract and because it came from private money, rather than public money you are going to see if there should be standards? Maybe next time, they'll just offer Christie congratulations and present him with a Medal of Freedom.
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