The Saga of Christie, Samson & The American Dream Mega Mall..... [View all]

[Laxman]

a very interesting two part series from The Nation. You can read Part 1 here: http://www.thenation.com/blog/180471/saga-christie-samson-and-american-dream-megamall-part-i

You can read Part 2 here: http://www.thenation.com/blog/180497/saga-christie-samson-and-american-dream-megamall-part-ii

You can listen to an interesting discussion about it here: https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/385992

Its just horrendous. Samson, Lori Griffa, Wolff & Samson and Christie have used the state as their private money making playground. Its time that Wolff & Samson was given the law firm equivalent of the death penalty. Other attorneys have to follow ethics rules and ethical practices. Not these guys. Michelle Brown & David Marra-need to make their reservations at the crowbar hotel.

I'm going back into hiding again.

From Part 1:

Leave aside, for the moment, whether or not such a project is needed in the most densely populated, traffic-clogged state, filled already with countless malls. The project, precariously financed and putting New Jersey taxpayers at risk, involves a stunning web of conflict-of-interest arrangements, at the heart of which—and representing nearly every side—is David Samson, Wolff & Samson, and their clients. He and his firm have ties to both the state and local government agencies that will provide tax supported bond financing. He has represented as counsel and overseen massive contracts for the company that will pull together private funds for the project as well, and it is still another Wolff & Samson client, Triple Five, which is actually building the project. Grifa, the Wolff & Samson lawyer, first played a key role for the state of New Jersey in getting it off the ground and then brought Triple Five, the builder, as a client to Wolff & Samson, where she works alongside Jeffrey Chiesa, who served as attorney general and chief counsel under Governor Christie before going back to Wolff & Samson.

From Part 2:

Conveniently, when Lori Grifa, the Wolff & Samson attorney and former Christie appointee at the Department of Community affairs, left the DCA at the end of 2011 to return to Wolff & Samson, she brought Triple Five, the builder of the American Dream complex, with her as a client. Triple Five clearly expected the firm to get them the funding they needed to make the project a reality—and, so far, they haven’t been disappointed. Although construction has not restarted, an April agreement between the firm and labor unions appears to be one of the last remaining obstacles. Triple Five agreed to pour $1 billion more into the project—but only if the state came up with money from the public coffers. Perhaps they counted on the fact that, ever since taking office, Christie has supported huge corporate tax breaks to get companies to stay in New Jersey, and Wolff & Samson’s lobbyists worked hard to persuade state legislators to pass bills favoring those tax breaks. Many of Wolff & Samson’s clients ended up as recipients, and the largest tax break went to Wolff & Samson’s client, Triple Five and the Meadowlands Xanadu project, newly renamed as the American Dream.