Today Is The Two-Year Anniversary Of The Bridgegate Traffic Jam...

[Laxman]

Last edited Wed Sep 9, 2015, 06:24 PM - Edit history (2)

and it looks like the trap may finally be closing on Christie! Remember the game Mouse Trap? You'd build this elaborate contraption that eventually would be set in motion by rolling a marble down a little staircase- it would hit one thing, set some other things in motion, they would hit a few other things-eventually the last step would result in a little cage coming down to trap a little plastic mouse. Well I get the feeling that the marble has been set in motion and Christie doesn't seem to realize that the cage is about to come down on him.

There are a lot of good things about last night's announcement that three United Airlines executives were forced from their jobs over their dealings with Christie and his close confidante David Samson.United Airline CEO Steps Down as Port Authority Probe Continues but the best is that the pieces leading to Christie's downfall may finally be in place. And it all leads back to Bridgegate. It's a little convoluted (just like the game), but here are the pieces:

1. Hidden in the mass of e-mails that included the now famous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" was an e-mail from David Wildstein about a meeting between Christie, Samson and United CEO Jeff Smisek to discuss fee reductions and infrastructure improvements.

2. United was looking for fee reductions and infrastructure improvements at Newark Airport that were worth billions to them.

3. Samson and the now indicted Bill Baroni are wined and dined at expensive restaurants by United executives.

4. United executives (with no connection to NJ) suddenly make maximum contributions to Christie's campaign.

5. Following a request from Samson-with no prior business plan-United institutes a direct flight (down on Thursday-back on Monday) to Columbia, SC where Samson has a "weekend" home. Flight regularly flies less than half-full.

6. United begins direct flights (big money losers) between Chicago, Houston and Atlantic City airport and the Port Authority takes over the airport. This directly benefits a client of Mr. Samson's law firm and helps with Christie's public image of trying to save AC business.

7. Following the enrollment of Christie's daughter at Notre Dame, United suddenly institutes a direct flight between Newark and South Bend, In.

8. An agreement is reached between United and the Port Authority, giving United what they wanted all along.

9. Bridgegate hits the news-the United deal falls apart. Feds start digging.

10. Samson gets squeezed and resigns-in the coincidence of all coincidences-the South Carolina "chairman's flight" gets cancelled-2 days later.

11. The United executives who participated in the wining and dining of NJ officials (including Christie) and who made the maximum contributions to Christie's campaign suddenly resign. Mother Jones report indicates Samson is cooperating with federal investigators.

Quid pro quo? Was it a shakedown or a bribe? Must be Obama's fault for fostering this atmosphere of lawlessness in our nation no doubt. No matter. The United executives didn't resign to "spend more time with their families". Samson is not going to jail to cover for Christie. The dominoes are starting to fall. While Christie was busy "squeezing the orange" it seems the feds have been squeezing Samson. Let's hope it results in Christie wearing some orange (and I'm not talking about his lucky sweater he wore to Cowboy games when Jerry Jones was wining and dining him for favorable Port Authority contracts-but that's a whole other trap) And to think, I was just about to pack it in over at the Christie Crime Digest (which you should visit by the way) and turn it over to Rocktivity-just when I thought I was getting out, they pull me back in!

[yardwork]

1. United's stakeholders probably have a lawsuit here.

Lots of money-losing flights with no business plans. United will throw their former execs under the bus in an effort to avoid huge settlements.

[Laxman]

2. This Is An Interesting Dilemma For Them....

were they developing business? Did they obtain a substantial benefit for the company? Did they bribe public officials with benefits to get advantages for their company? Did Samson, Baroni and Christie shake them down? None of the answers are particularly good, but they all make some kind of sense-which is the most damning part of this. As complicated as the relationships may have been, they all fall into place when viewed together and they are all logical (if unethical) actions to have been taken. I don't think this ends well for anyone involved.

[malaise]

7. Who appointed Samson to head the P.A.???

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahahah This is too delish!!

[Laxman]

3. Some More Evidence That Christie....

saw everything as an opportunity to extract campaign donations for either himself or the Republican Governor's Association (ostensibly to burnish his relationships for his presidential run)

United Airlines Chief Canned As Probe of Bridgegate Crony Heats Up

Close to the same period when United Airlines was negotiating their 20-year, $150 million lease at Newark Liberty Airport, the Port Authority was also trying to entice the airline to begin running commercial flights to Atlantic City’s airport by offering to build a $1 billion commuter subway extension from lower Manhattan to Newark Liberty. On at least one occasion, August 23, 2013, Chris Christie and David Samson together met with United CEO Smisek to discuss this arrangement. Two months prior to that meeting, and two months after signing of the new lease at Newark, thirteen United executives donated a total of $31,500 toward Christie’s re-election effort. The donations all were made between June 5 and June 17, 2013; only two of the twelve contributors listed New Jersey residences. It was the only time that United management collectively donated to a New Jersey political campaign, and in that particular cycle they represented the single largest pool of contributions from a publicly traded company and the third-largest pool overall, trailing a medical group and state employees. Smisek and the two other United executives who resigned today were among those donors.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/airline-chief-canned-as-probe-of-christie-crony-heats-up

[Beach Rat]

4. You start the mouse trap by turning the little wheel with the gears

I had that game. I always loved those connect the dot drawing books too. This takes some serious dot connecting!

[Laxman]

5. Christie Prepares To Throw Samson....

Last edited Wed Sep 9, 2015, 06:44 PM - Edit history (1)

under the bus. Talks about him like he was just another of the 60,000 state employees. Hey Christie, this isn't some guy cutting the grass in the median of a state highway in Cumberland County! This is your most trusted and closest adviser you're talking about here.

Christie keeps mum on David Samson amid United Airlines resignations

"Jake, you know, I've been in public life now for 13 years and my entire life has been about making sure the law is enforced, making sure people uphold a certain ethical and legal standards in their conduct in office," Christie said.

"I have stayed by that standard my entire career and I hold everyone who works for me to that standard, and if they don't uphold to that standard, then they're fired, and that's the way it works," he said. "We'll see what happens with this situation, but the fact is when you have 60,000 people working for you, there are going to be cases where someone doesn't hold up to that standard."

Christie added: "I don't know if this is one of those instances or not, but when I have had instances of that I've acted strongly and decisively and continue to keep myself where I need to be, which is focusing on the work of the people."

Focusing on the work of the people? Really? Is that why you haven't been in NJ for months? What a joke.

Read more here:http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/09/christie_united.html#incart_river

I felt compelled to add this picture from today's hangar collapse at Newark Airport-seemed fitting.

[malaise]

6. You and Rocktivity have been brilliant

Keep going bro - the end is in sight.

[Laxman]

8. An Excellent Analysis From Salon....

that really puts into perspective who is paying the costs of this corruption and wealth hording. Hint: it's not the fat cats or corporations.

Meet America’s grossest CEO: The disgusting $28.6 million payout to a United exec with potential Bridgegate implications

With the forced exit from of United Airlines CEO and chairman Jeff Smisek, the blob that is Bridgegate consumed yet another career — and pulled in one of the nation’s largest airlines. Also forced out from United were Nene Foxhaul, executive vice president of communications and government affairs, and Mark Anderson, senior vice president of communications and government affairs.

No one has been charged yet. But it has been widely reported that federal prosecutors are probing the possibility that in 2011 David Samson, former chair of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a Chris Christie confidant, pressured United’s leadership into providing him with a weekly flight from Newark to Samson’s second home in South Carolina in exchange for United getting Port Authority help on things like funding a new wide body maintenance hanger and improved rail service to Newark Liberty.

Buried in the small print of United ’s corporate filings, according to Bloomberg News, was Smisek’s platinum parachute: $28.6 million in severance, restricted stock shares, a pro-rated share of his annual performance bonus, the title to the company car, lifetime flying and parking privileges. This windfall is supposedly contingent on Smisek cooperating fully with federal prosecutors but a United Airlines press spokesperson preferred not to offer any additional details.

On the conference call with market analysts, just after the shake-up, United’s corporate clean-up squad, led by freshly hired CEO Oscar Munoz, did their best to put an upbeat spin on another example of how in 21st century America the fish rots from the head. “On behalf of the board I would like to thank Jeff (Smisek) for all his years of service and important contributions to both United and Continental,” said Henry Meyer III, new chairman of the board. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

So lets review, your CEO and chairman of the board allegedly engages in potentially corrupt behavior that puts at risk the integrity and reputation of an entity that is the livelihood for 84,000 employees, provides air transportation for 138 million customers a year on six continents, and is a publicly traded company millions have invested in. Do we really need the rhetorical flowers and candy? Could you spare us that dissociative head fake? Why not just a dignified moment of silence.

It is exactly this kind of fakery that has the masses so agitated and sends such a mixed message to their workforce. On one hand, to deflect questions, United says its internal investigation is ongoing but on the other they continue to offer Smisek this public praise. So, best case, we think that this alleged quid pro quo was at worst a one off? What if this is how this United leadership crew rolled all the time? The truth is the high powered United Airlines board of directors, which includes Walter Isaacson, who is also president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, wasn’t paying close enough attention to know one way or the other.

If the allegations are true, Smisek’s actions also helped to undermine the Port Authority by insuring that hundreds of million of dollars made up of tolls paid by motorists, many of them from the ranks of the working poor, went to subsidize United Airlines bottom line not to the region’s most pressing serious transit needs. Since Governor Christie blew up the plan to fund a third rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York the fares have continued to go up as the service continues to decline.

We are told that any day, one of the existing 105-year-old Amtrak’s tunnels, that were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy, might have to be shut down which would induce a region wide transit mass coronary. Even now a “good day” means that your train pulls over in the Meadowlands, just before it heads under the Hudson, where you have the opportunity to meditate on the egrets and turtles who are all moving faster than your train. Such is the plight of the little people,the toll payers, the riding public.

read the rest here:http://www.salon.com/2015/09/10/meet_americas_grossest_ceo_the_disgusting_28_6_million_payout_to_a_united_exec_with_potential_bridgegate_implications/