Archive for category: emptywheel

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.

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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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.”