Not An Isolated Incident: Christie Has Been Repeatedly Accused Of Political Retribution

[ProSense]

Not An Isolated Incident: Christie Has Been Repeatedly Accused Of Political Retribution

By Adam Peck and Josh Israel

At a morning press conference on Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that he had fired Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff and top aide in his administration, for her role in the growing scandal involving the manufactured delays on the George Washington Bridge in an apparent act of political retribution and asked another aide not to seek a top position within the state Republican party.

He denied having advance knowledge about the lane closures or the involvement of his own staff. “I was blindsided yesterday morning,” he said. “I apologize to the people of Fort Lee, I apologize members of the state legislature.” Christie also faced questions about his abrasive leadership style that some have described as bullying, and insisted that those characterizations are untrue.

“This is the exception,” he said. “It is not the rule of what’s happened over the last four years in the administration.”

But while Christie claimed that this was “not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years” and denied being a bully, accusations ofpolitical retribution have long surrounded the governor. For instance, former Gov. Richard Codey (D) accused the Christie administration of “sending a message” by denying him state trooper protection after he publicly disagreed with Christie. The same day, a Codey cousin was fired from his position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a former Codey aide was removed from the New Jersey Office of Consumer Affairs.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/home/2014/01/09/3141001/aide-fired-vendetta/

Barbara Buono:

<...>

“When I heard about it when it initially surfaced in September, I knew it was an act of political retribution,” Buono told the Daily Beast. “And to suggest that Christie wasn’t aware and didn’t direct it, I thought was ludicrous at the time.”

“This is a guy who runs a paramilitary operation,” she added. “His people don’t sneeze without checking with him first. But I think what really was the most damning was the cavalier attitude that these folks had about subjecting children and the public to public safety hazards. These are terrible people, and the ringleader is Chris Christie.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/buono_christie_paramilitary_operation

Former Christie Ally, Opponent Always Knew Governor 'Would Implode At Some Point'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024303645

Chris Christie: 'I am not a crook'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024305000

Christie Heading To Ft. Lee Whether Mayor Wants Him Or Not
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024305272

Democrats Pile On Christie Scandal: Governor Needs To Check His Ego
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024305366

[ProSense]

1. Check out this December 24 NYT article

Stories Add Up as Bully Image Trails Christie

By KATE ZERNIKE

In 2010, John F. McKeon, a New Jersey assemblyman, made what he thought was a mild comment on a radio program: Some of the public employees that Gov. Chris Christie was then vilifying had been some of the governor’s biggest supporters.

He was surprised to receive a handwritten note from Mr. Christie, telling him that he had heard the comments, and that he didn’t like them.

“I thought it was a joke,” Mr. McKeon recalled. “What governor would take the time to write a personal note over a relatively innocuous comment?”

But the gesture would come to seem genteel compared with the fate suffered by others in disagreements with Mr. Christie: a former governor who was stripped of police security at public events; a Rutgers professor who lost state financing for cherished programs; a state senator whose candidate for a judgeship suddenly stalled; another senator who was disinvited from an event with the governor in his own district.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/nyregion/accounts-of-petty-retribution-reinforce-christies-bullying-image.html

[Gothmog]

2. Here is a thread on the NYT article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1066353

[ProSense]

3. Thanks. n/t

[renate]

4. I'm happy he claimed he isn't a bully

Kind of like saying "I am not a crook" and thus giving unbiased journalists a reason to actually report on that claim.