Will this put Christie in prison, finally? Christie pollution deal with Exxon surprises

[randys1]

Clearly they made a backroom deal that will profit Christie, this is the kind of thing that you can go to prison for, for a long time.

A long-fought legal battle to recover $8.9 billion in damages from Exxon Mobil Corporation for the contamination and loss of use of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes, meadows and waters in northern New Jersey has been quietly settled by the state for around $250 million.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/27/1367541/-Christie-Settles-9-Billion-Pollution-Case-Against-Exxon-for-250-Million

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Don't hold your breath. GOPers like Christie don't go to prison.

They don't even get indicted. They just go about their dirty business and get away with pretty much everything.

[randys1]

2. Rachel Maddow, like a bulldog, folllowed this story until these people went to prison

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/01/06/governors-prison-bob-mcdonnell/

[tularetom]

5. Very true, however, those people were REALLY dumb

And they weren't in Jersey.

[randys1]

8. If Christie did what it looks to me like what he did, and they can tie him to

bribes or something, he will be taken down by somebody.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. A much different case, and an exception that proves the rule

that GOPers usually get away with their crimes.

[randys1]

10. We dont know what differences there are, yet.

What we know by definition and history is Christie is a criminal who will do anything to gain power.

If he made some sort of deal here and it can be proved, it will be very fun to watch

[rocktivity]

7. True -- it didn't put Arnold Schwarzengger in jail

when, as Culli-fornia's governor, he cut a similar deal with Enron:
http://www.morphizm.com/politix/palast/palast_arnron.html

But I can settle for it keeping Christie out of the Oval Office -- if not out of Trenton for the rest of his term.


rocktivity

[HERVEPA]

3. No, of course not.

[randys1]

4. Watch this space

[romanic]

9. I doubt it

Christie will just do more bribes and pay justice away.

[malaise]

11. I hope Fishman digs deep

He is going to get caught soon and very soon - lookout for Samson - that scumbag will soon sing like a canary.

[Laxman]

12. I Doubt He Will Be Held Accountable....

Even though this is clearly an abdication of his responsibilities to the people of NJ. Once again long-term well being of the public is sacrificed for his short term advancement. This incident defines Christie in a nutshell-as well as Republican crony government in general. Just in case you might think something untoward was going on here, consider:

1. Exxon contaminates (and contaminate is a mild word in this instance) 1,500 acres of environmentally valuable land in the course of making billions of dollars.

2. NJ institutes a lawsuit to recover damages from the polluter-estimating damages at around $8.9 billion.

3. After years of litigation, Exxon's liability in the lawsuit is established-leaving only the amount of damages in question.

4. Damages would include clean-up costs, compensatory mitigation lands, the value of the lands that were damaged, preventative measures to avoid future contamination and legal fees. These damages could easily be established in the billions of dollars.

5. Exxon can either pay up or go to trial (you would think)

BUT

There's much more to the story:

1. Christie's former Attorney General (the one who dismissed the Hunterdon County Indictments) Paula Dow used to be an attorney for Exxon.

2. Former Christie DCA Commissioner and former Wolff & Sampson partner Lori Grifa is now a partner and lobbyist for Archer & Greiner-the law firm representing Exxon in this litigation.

3. Former Christie Deputy Chief of Staff Lou Goettner now works for Public Impact Strategies, the lobbying firm representing Exxon's interests in NJ.

4. Exxon donated $751,000 to the RGA in 2014 while Christie was in charge and nearly $1.8 million during the period of time Christie has been governor.

5. Public Impact Strategies donated $80,000 to the RGA.

6. Archer & Greiner donated $30,000 to the RGA.

7. Christie saw an opportunity for a quick infusion of cash into his ailing budget and a chance to reward his corporate benefactors.

8. Christie made a seemingly insignificant change to his budget just before this settlement was announced allowing any environmental damage claim in excess of $50 million to go directly to the general fund instead of remediation or mitigation of the damage.

SO

When it came to the interests of the people of NJ or the interests of Exxon-who do you think won out? This land will remain contaminated for generations to come, there will be no environmental mitigation or clean-up and Exxon only had to pay an amount of money equal to about 5 HOURS of profit. This alone should be an impeachable offense for Christie, but we're more concerned with how fat he is or how funny he looks or how much he yells. They all make for enjoyable banter and funny memes but its really (as with most modern day Republicans) the corrosive and destructive policies and practices of his administration that really matters.