Christie’s Taxpayer-Funded Mets Games

I’m going to have a bit more to say about the latest developments in the Chris Christie saga, but for now I wanted to point to the “shirt tail” of that NYT article, because I expect it, too, is going to blow up on Christie.

Mr. Christie’s in-state travel has also been questioned. He put in for more than $20,000 in mileage reimbursements during his seven-year tenure, including many trips that his public schedules indicate were made for personal or political reasons.

A die-hard Mets fan, Mr. Christie put in for $73 in mileage costs for a drive to Philadelphia on a night his schedule noted an away game against the Phillies.

Now $73 is small potatoes compared to the $700 limousine Christie took to an event at the County Prosecutors Association in Atlantic City. But Christie was–at least ostensibly–on business in Atlantic City. I very much look forward to his explanation of what kind of business he was conducting at that Mets game in Philadelphia.

Then there are the events that appear to be political. Christie narrowly avoided an investigation into whether he was laying the groundwork for his gubernatorial campaign while still US Attorney. On top of that, there were a few meetings with Karl Rove that showed up in the US Attorney document dump.

But if Christie–whose buddy Michele Brown was trying to time indictments for political reasons–was also charging taxpayers for his in-state political travel, it adds another piece of evidence that he was using the US Attorney’s office as a political playground.

Finally, here’s the bit that really fries my ass. New Jersey is not a big state. What kind of cheapskate do you have to be to charge taxpayers for your personal jaunt to a baseball game?

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Christie’s Cookie Crumbles

The NYT has the story about Chris Christie and Michele Brown we’ve all been waiting for (or rather, half of it).

First, support for the argument that Brown tried to time the big bust of Democrats this summer to benefit Christie’s campaign.

In mid-June, when F.B.I. agents and prosecutors gathered to set a date for the arrests of more than 40 targets of a corruption and money-laundering probe, Ms. Brown alone argued for the arrests to be made before July 1. She later told colleagues that she wanted to ensure that the arrests occurred before Mr. Christie’s permanent successor took office, according to three federal law enforcement officials briefed on the conversation, presumably so that Mr. Christie would be given credit for the roundup.

And–as I suggested would happen the other day–evidence that Brown was deliberately stonewalling on FOIA requests–including the request that exposed Brown’s and Christie’s expensive, taxpayer funded travel.

News of Mr. Christie’s loan to Ms. Brown broke in August, dealing a blow to his candidacy, and he apologized for failing to report it on his tax returns and ethics filings.

Less than two weeks later, Justice Department officials told Mr. Christie’s interim replacement, Ralph Marra, to remove Ms. Brown from acting as coordinator of the Freedom of Information Act requests about Mr. Christie’s tenure because of the obvious conflict of interest, according to a federal law enforcement official briefed on the communications. Ms. Brown resigned from the prosecutor’s office the same day, the official said.

But this is just the first of what I expect to be several damning revelations over the next few weeks.

Still to come? At the very least, some focus on the bonuses Christie gave Brown. And who knows? Maybe we’ll finally get the explanation for why Christie and Brown traipsed around the country and world together on the taxpayer dime.

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More Broccoli Soup from the WaPo

Media Matters notes that Marcus Brauchli offered–then withdrew–an offer to answer readers’ questions about the WaPo’s Pay2Play scandal.

Is Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli laying the groundwork to duck questions about whether he was honest about his role in the Post’s access-for-cash scandal?

[snip]

Note that the formerly broad wording (Brauchli was going to take “questions about the newspaper and washingtonpost.com”) has now been narrowed (Brauchli will take “questions about The Post redesign.”)

Is that an effort to discourage questions about Brauchli’s honesty and other sticky subjects?

I’m guessing the answer to those question is “yes.”

But I also think it time to shift focus away from the inconsistent story of the WaPo’s Executive Editor to what his role says about the institution of the WaPo as a whole.

As I noted over the weekend, the WaPo put Brauchli himself in charge of its internal investigation aimed at “avoiding another episode that could damage the paper’s reputation.” But we now know that Brauchli was always a party to these discussions, up to and including making the salons off the record. Read more

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The WaPo’s Broccoli Soup

I’m not so much surprised that Marcus Brauchli has had to admit that he knew the Pay2Play Salons were off the record.

Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli says he knew more about the controversial “salons” the paper had planned than previously has been reported, including the fact that they were being billed as “off-the-record” to potential sponsors.

Brauchli made the acknowledgement in a letter to Charles Pelton, the person hired by the Post to organize what was to have been a series of corporate-sponsored, off-the-record dinners at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth. Pelton, who resigned from the paper in September, told the Post’s ombudsman the day that POLITICO reported on the salons that Brauchli and other editors had been involved in discussions of them and that the plans had “been well developed in the newsroom.”

[snip]

But in a Sept. 25 letter to Pelton, obtained by POLITICO, Brauchli said he “knew that the salon dinners were being promoted as ‘off the record.’ That fact was never hidden from me by you or anyone else.” And he also acknowledged that he had seen two slide shows on the dinners and received e-mailed copies of the promotional materials for them.

After all, back when the WaPo started to ‘fess up to the fact that “senior managers” knew the details of the Pay2Pay salons, they made it clear those same managers knew they were off the record.

But while Post executives immediately disowned the flier’s characterization, senior managers had already approved major details of the first dinner. They had agreed, for example, that the dinner would include the participation of Brauchli and at least one Post reporter, that the event would be off the record, that it would feature a wide-ranging guest list of people involved in reforming health care, and that it would have sponsorship.

I always assumed when the WaPo said “senior managers,” that probably included the Executive Editor.

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Movin Trash

Marcy has been moving, and moving sucks. I hate moving. Only positive thing about it is that it makes you sort through your stuff and get rid of crap that you should have thrown out a decade or two ago. Other than that, bleech.

Kobe is movin on too, and that sucks in a profound way. In case you didn’t know, Kobe was Jane Hamsher’s beautiful standard Poodle and was a big part of FireDogLake, its history and, of course, Jane. So raise a toast to the wonderful life he led and picture him running and gamboling in his endless new field.

College Ball: As I am getting a late start here, and I know Freep is jonesing, let’s start with the student athaleets. First up, Aggies er, Longhorns v. Sooners. I woke up and this game was already in the third quarter; looks like a good one. 13-13 as I type and fourth quarter just started. Bradford out eight plays into the game, that hurts the Sooners. But since I love monkeywrenching the BCS, GO SOONERS! Hmmmm, looks like the Sooners are going alright; going down that it. The other huge game today is USC-Notre Dame. Will this be the year the Fightin Irish live up to their hype? Yeah, and the Cubs are gonna win the World Series too. Nuff said.

Ryan Mallett can really throw the ball, but Florida should take care of Arkansas. The Virginia Tech Hokies at the Ramblin Wreak should be a really good game, but I think the Hokies are coming on strong and should take it. Iowa has already beaten Wisconsin; man, people better start taking the Hawkeyes seriously, they can ball. And in other Big Ten, er Eleven, news, Ohio State has lost again; Purdue this time.

The Pros: The top shelf game for the pros is Gents v. Saints. Most of the so called experts seem to think NY is the most solid all around team in the league and will be too much for Nawlins. I dunno about that. Drew Brees and Sean Payton have had a bye week to prepare and are at home; I’m taking the Saints. The surprising 5-0 Denver Broncos visit RanDiego’s Bolts at Jack Murphy Stadium (screw Qualcomm). Too tough to call; I just dunno. It is usually not until the second half of the season that Norval’s teams start to pay attention, and we are not there yet. And young Josh McDaniels really seems to have a disciplined and cohesive team; they are not flashy, but the Broncos have been playing solid ball in every phase of the game. Against my better judgment, I will take Denver.

Chicago visits Hot’Lanta. Great young quarterback matchup here Cutler versus Matt Ryan. But Matt Ryan has Tony Gonzales, excellent wideouts and Turner the Burner. Dirty Birds can play defense too. Game is way down south in Dixie, so I’ll take Da Falcons over Da Bears. The only other halfway interesting game this weekend is Ray Lewis and the Ravens visiting Old Man River, Adrian Peterson and the Norske in the Giant Baggie. Adrian Peterson has been relatively quiet lately, letting Favre carry the team. Now that the vertical passing game is dialed in, it seems about time for All Day to explode again, and I think he will. It is unheard of, but this will be the second game in a row (Bengals’ Cedric Benson last week was the first in 34 games) a back exceeds 100 yards on the vaunted Ravens defense. The Vikes defense isn’t bad either and they should be able to escape a good game at home with a win.

F1: Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend. Normal time zone race for once; 11:30 am EST and 8:30 am Pacific on Speed. We’ll see what happens in Brazil and then get ready for the season ending race in Abu Dhabi on November 1st.

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More NDCA Goodness: Judge Walker Denies Prop 8 Proponents’ Motion

As most of you know, Proposition 8 in California is the anti gay marriage provision. Supporters of the basic right to gay marriage sued the State of California after passage of Proposition 8 as a ballot initiative in last falls elections. Today were oral arguments on a motion for summary judgment filed by a group of intervenors against gay marriage and supporting the validity of the law. The case is set in front of the one and only Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of NDCA.

Here is the report from the San Jose Mercury News:

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a legal challenge to Proposition 8, concluding that the ongoing courtroom battle over California’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage must be resolved in a full-blown trial.

After two hours of legal sparring, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected the arguments of Prop. 8 supporters, who maintained that U.S. Supreme Court precedent and a lack of proof of constitutional violations should sidetrack a lawsuit designed to overturn the ballot measure. Instead, Walker, sensing the challenge to Prop. 8 ultimately could wind up before the Supreme Court, wants a trial to develop a full factual record, including forcing Prop. 8 supporters to justify the reasons behind a state ban on allowing gay couples to wed.

One by one, the judge shot down the legal reasons Prop. 8 lawyers presented to resolve the case now and allow the same-sex marriage ban to remain in force. In particular, the judge seemed particularly unpersuaded by Prop. 8 attorney Charles Cooper’s chief argument for a state law confining marriage to heterosexual couples — that the state has an interest in protecting “traditional” marriage because of its importance to procreation in society.

“Procreation doesn’t require marriage,” Walker noted, citing statistics showing that a large percentage of children are born out of wedlock.

A representative from Law Dork was on hand and related this analysis:

Questions about whether animus animated Proposition 8 and the relevance of that claimed animus, Walker ruled, would benefit from a more complete record to be developed at trial because both issues remain in dispute.

Finally, the Proposition 8 proponents had asked the Court to rule against the Plaintiffs based on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Baker v. Nelson. The Baker decision is a 1972 opinion by the Court dismissing a marriage case from Minnesota “for want of a substantial federal question.” 409 U.S. 810 (1972). The Plaintiffs were represented today in court by Ted Olson.

The proponents of Proposition 8, represented today in court by Charles Cooper, argued that the brief Supreme Court dismissal in 1972 meant that no federal judge could hear a similar case because the only the Supreme Court could reverse its Baker opinion. This was considered a very weak argument by many lawyers to consider the matter, particularly in light of Romer and Lawrence, and Judge Walker agreed.

This is an extremely notable ruling as Judge Walker appears to have made it from the bench at the conclusion of oral argument; he did not even bother to take it under advisement and save it for his written opinion. That is a judge totally convinced of the decision.

This is a very good, if not great, ruling and sets the stage for trial on the matter, which is already set for January of next year. Civil libertarians have to take their victories where they find them. This is another striking one coming out of the hallowed ground of the Northern District of California. My hat is off, there is something special going on up there.

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Christie Living Large on Our Dime

To be honest, there’s something I’m even more interested about than the news that Chris Christie and Michele Brown were signing off on each other’s above-government rate travel.

Chris Christie occasionally billed taxpayers more than $400 a night for stays in luxury hotels and exceeded the government’s hotel allowance on 14 of 16 business trips he took in 2008.

[snip]

On trips in 2007 and 2008, his top deputy, Michele Brown, also exceeded the guidelines after Christie approved her requests for rooms in the same five-star hotels where he was booked.

The vouchers show Christie and Brown stayed at the NineZero Hotel in Boston on Oct. 16, 2007 and each billed taxpayers $449 plus taxes and fees for their rooms, more than double the government allowance for a Boston hotel room at the time, according to a General Services Administration travel reimbursement table.

[snip]

Records turned over so far show Christie exceeded the government lodging allowance on 23 of 30 business trips taken between 2004 and 2008. In some cases, his travel vouchers were approved first by Brown, then certified by a third person. Christie, who was Brown’s supervisor, signed off on her travel, either in advance or when she submitted vouchers, the records show. The vouchers were all certified by a third party.

It’s the timing of the long-awaited release of these records. As the AP reports, these documents came from Corzine’s campaign; they had asked for these records months and months ago. But Christie’s buddies, including Brown and acting USA Ralph Marra, were stalling on releasing the documents.

Well, surprise surprise, Christie’s replacement, Paul Fishman, finally got confirmed last week after some serious stalling in the Senate. And, voila! FOIA documents, suddenly released.

Sort of makes you wonder whether this is just the tip of the iceberg on embarrassing documents for Christie?

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Wexler Set To Extinguish Congressional Fire

Robert Wexler, the “Fire Breathing Liberal” may be on the cusp of resigning his seat in Congress. From Post On Politics:

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, will resign from Congress to take a “public policy position,” several Democratic sources said today.
“He called. He is going to resign….He told me that he is moving on. Beyond that, I don’t have any any answers,” said state Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Coral Springs. Ring said he is considering running in the special election to replace Wexler.

Another Wexler confidant, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, said he talked to Wexler this afternoon and Wexler “said he had to do what he had to do for his family.” Wexler didn’t specifically say he would resign, Aaronson said, but by “putting two and two together” he concluded Wexler is leaving office.

Another Democratic insider said Wexler is considering a position related to Middle East policy. It wasn’t immediately clear if the post was inside or outside government.

The signs seem fairly strident Wexler is leaving the House; the question is why? There rumor is stated to be a “Mid East policy position”. That sure beats the standard “spending more time with the family” (which is usually cover for scandal). Several sources are reporting it is a public policy position outside of the Obama Administration; however Foreign Policy’s The Cable is say it IS a position in the Administration and the Obama White House is very tight lipped on the subject.

Wexler was an early supporter of Obama and contributed a lot in Obama’s effort to gain early traction in the critical state of Florida, so a substantial diplomatic position with the Administration should not be ruled out. There are several Ambassadorships yet to be filled including one very substantial post.

If Wexler leaves, there is little chance of the Democrats losing the seat, because the Boca Raton district Wexler fills is overwhelmingly Democratic. In addition to Jerry Ring, potential candidates for the special election include state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and former Broward County Commissioner Ben Graber.

UPDATE: From Laura Rozen:

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) will announce he is resigning his seat tomorrow to become head of a Middle East group, the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, founded by Slimfast tycoon S. Daniel Abraham, Hill sources say tonight.

Also, per David Dayen in comments, “What I read is that he wouldn’t resign until the end of the year. So he’s still a vote on health care.”

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Harry Reid’s Price Of Failed Leadership

Harry Reid is in trouble in his reelection effort in Nevada. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s report on a new poll by Mason Dixon:

Nevadans say they’re ready to replace longtime Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid with an untested Republican.

Which Republican? Undecided.

But of their top two picks — former GOP party official Sue Lowden and real estate developer Danny Tarkanian — either one would unseat Reid if the election were held today, according to a poll commissioned by the Review-Journal.

Lowden and Tarkanian are in a statistical tie atop a list of nine primary candidates, according to the survey of Nevada registered voters.

In one general election scenario, 49 percent of respondents picked Lowden and 39 percent chose Reid. In another, 48 percent picked Tarkanian to 43 percent for Reid. That poll, which surveyed 500 voters Tuesday through Thursday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

In Clark County, where Reid needs to dominate to win another term, he is in a statistical tie with either Lowden or Tarkanian.

“That is the bad news,” UNLV political science professor David Damore said of Reid’s Clark County numbers. “That tells you there is a disaffected base there.”

For months the perception of Reid among voters has been fixed, with near 100 percent name recognition and a high number of voters viewing him unfavorably. In the latest poll, 38 percent of voters viewed Reid favorably compared to 50 percent with an unfavorable view.

Chris Cillizza, the David Broder wannabe and heir apparent, draws the knee jerk Villager conclusion that Reid’s troubles result from Nevada voters viewing him as too liberal and carrying too much water for Barack Obama.

But Cillizza typically ignores that Barack Obama won Nevada over McCain by a huge margin, 55% to 43% ten short months ago. And Cillizza ignores that Nevada is populated by a huge community of service employees in the Las Vegas and Reno metropolitan areas, and generally a poor to middle class populous in the remaining areas, all of whom are dying for healthcare reform and relief. It is not that Democratic votes are not there for Reid; it is that Nevadans are fed up with his inability to get the things done that they want, and healthcare with a strong public option that will actually help them, is undoubtedly the leader in their clubhouse of reasoning.

The depth of Reid’s problem should not be underestimated. Nor should the challenge of Republican businessman Danny Tarkanian. Tarkanian grew up in Las Vegas, was a top student and Rhodes Scholar candidate, and was point guard on the first of the famous UNLV Runnin Rebel basketball teams that held forth for the better part of two decades at or near the top of the NCAA standings. Oh, by the way, those famous UNLV teams were coached by Danny’s father Jerry “Tark the Shark” Tarkanian, probably the most beloved name in Nevada sports history. Tarkanian’s mother was a Las Vegas City Councilwoman and active philanthropist. The guy has some serious juice from his name and background and will get major support from the GOP assuming he continues to climb in relation to GOP official Sue Lowden, which he is expected to do.

The conclusion here is that Reid has serious problems and they are of his own making. Unless Reid gets with the program, exercises some party discipline from his Majority Leader position and starts working earnestly for the causes, first and foremost the strong public option, of Democratic voters, he will not get any support from the activist base. As Jane Hamsher says: Read more

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Order In The Court: Gnarly Orly Sanctions

Oh, this is beautiful. I know I have been on a discipline roll today, but this is too good to pass up. There has been a bit of discipline meted out down south in Georgia. From the Columbus (Georgia) Ledger Enquirer:

In an order today, California attorney Orly Taitz has been sanctioned $20,000 by U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land — double the amount he said he was considering.

“While the Court derives no pleasure from its imposition of sanctions upon counsel Orly Taitz, it likewise has no reservations about the necessity of doing so,” Land states. “A clearer case could not exist; a weaker message would not suffice.”

Land gave Taitz two weeks from Sept. 18 to show cause why he should not sanction her for filing a motion for emergency stay in a lawsuit he called “frivolous.” On the deadline, Taitz filed a motion for an extension of time.

When a lawyer files complaints and motions without a reasonable basis for believing that they are supported by existing law or a modification or extension of existing law, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law,” Land writes. “When a lawyer uses the courts as a platform for a political agenda disconnected from any legitimate legal cause of action, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer personally attacks opposing parties and disrespects the integrity of the judiciary, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer recklessly accuses a judge of violating the judicial code of conduct with no supporting evidence beyond her dissatisfaction with the judge’s rulings, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law, that lawyer ceases to advance her cause or the ends of justice.

Regrettablly, the conduct of counsel Orly Taitz has crossed these lines, and Ms. Taitz must be sanctioned for her misconduct.

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