Sunday, January 12, 2014

Is a Billion Dollar Development Project at the Heart of Bridgegate?

The green space is the site of Hudson Lights a proposed development
in Fort Lee at the entrance to the George Washington Bridge
Is a Billion Dollar Development Project at the Heart of Bridgegate?:
by Brian Murphy // Talking Points Memo

"The unanswered question in this story has been “why?” Why did deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly text David Wildstein on the morning of August 13 that it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”? Why did Wildstein already know enough about this plot to simply reply “Got it.”?"

This morning I was a guest on MSNBC’s “Up With Steve Kornacki” where Steve Kornacki offered up some new reporting on the September 2013 George Washington Bridge closures. (See segment #1 and segment #2) After that segment Steve had me offer some context regarding the politics of real estate development in New Jersey in general and in this case in particular.

I helped Steve out with the reporting on this segment and hope you digest both clips. He and I are in the unique position of having worked for one of the central figures in this still-developing scandal, David Wildstein, one of Chris Christie’s appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Prior to that, David had been the pseudonymous editor of a political news website in N.J. called PoliticsNJ.com. I worked there in 2002, and Steve succeeded me from 2002-2005. Neither of us knew Wildstein’s true identity while we were reporting for the site. Speaking for myself, I found him to be an excellent editor. He always had sources to suggest on a story, let me report it wherever it led, and always had my back. He never let me down. Steve, I am sure, would say the same.

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