- incorporate his own energy company,
- appoint himself president of that energy company,
- negotiate with himself as municipal mayor and company president,
- agree (with himself on your behalf) that solar electric grants awarded to your town would be assigned to his company,
- agree (with himself on your behalf) that your town purchase electricity generated with your solar panels from his company,
- give up a 2.3 million dollar grant and free electricity when the State called him out on these conflicts of interest.
- run for State Assembly without disclosing to the Election Commission that he was president of an energy corporation,
- conceal his conflicts of interest from the Office of Attorney General
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGI4uxriTZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buUOhtxfjN0
Now imagine a world where all of these facts are:
- not disputed
- well documented
- a clear violation of the law
- brought before two ethics panels
- unresolved after five years
Let's assume that at some point in the distant future some ethics panel actually holds a hearing on these allegations, what if the same official was involved in a criminal conspiracy to affect an election via the use of public authority and nothing was done about it? If you are feeling inquisitive you may want to call US Attorney Paul Fishman and ask:
Jerry Speziale was a very popular Sheriff for the County of Passaic who was considered impossible to unseat in a fair election. Scott Rumana dreamed up what he considered a tremendous way to use the Port Authority as an incentive to remove Jerry Speziale from office without winning an election. In most places a quid pro quo designed to give anyone an election advantage is a criminal act. Here in Jersey it is something the governor does for a party boss.
http://politickernj.com/2010/09/passaic-democrats-call-for-investigation-of-circumstances-surrounding-sheriff-abandoning-his-candidacy-in-return-for-a-republican-sponsored-job/
The only strings attached to Speziale's Port Authority job were his resignation from the Office of County Sheriff and the donation of all his accrued political campaign contributions to charity rather than the successor candidate of the democratic party.
When the governor was confronted about all of this his spokesperson (Drewniak) said the following to the Bergen Record:
"It was a Port Authority hire," Drewniak said. "Certainly we were aware of the hire, but from all that we knew at the time and from what we learned from the Port Authority since, Speziale had a solid law enforcement background and is highly qualified for the post. That's what matters most."As it turns out the governor was aware of the hire because he arranged for it to happen:
http://www.njlawjournal.com/id=1202728714121/Wildstein-Alleges-Christie-Violated-Grand-Jury-Secrecy?slreturn=20150512155047
"Christie told Wildstein and the others that he wanted to get Speziale to drop his re-election bid to help Republicans win the post," Wildstein said in his statement. "Christie also told Wildstein and the others that he knew Cifelli from his service as U.S. Attorney because Cifelli had perjured himself during his testimony in the grand jury related to John Lynch and that his office had considered prosecuting Cifelli for perjury. Christie made it clear that he would not have Cifelli working for his administration."The system is so corrupt that Speziale is now suing the Port Authority because they retaliated against when he tried to hold people accountable for criminal misconduct.
Federal law generally prohibits officials from discussing who has testified before grand juries.
The common denominator in the Rumana, Ferriero and Molinelli corruption?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh2cv-3EZ1w
In the State of NJ the governor wield more power that any governor does in any other state - virtually everything is within the governor's control.
We are faced with rampant criminality within the justice system, the legislative branch and municipal government. When there is trouble on a ship - look to the Bridge. Chris Christie is governing the State of NJ like a mafia don overseeing his family rackets.
Enough is enough.
