I had a couple requests to re-post my comment in the rec-listed diary "CNN does hit job on Dawn Zimmer" as a diary, so here it goes...
Note: there were virtually no facts to rebut in this ridiculous piece by Chris Frates, so I have no links. Just logic.
This article is HORRIBLE.
Not only does it present zero evidence - nothing but conjecture - but when you're done you're left asking "where are these inconsistencies that you're talking about?"
Zimmer's allegations against Christie have evolved over time. Early on, she said she had no reason to think Christie had retaliated against her. About a week later, she had implicated four senior administration officials, including Christie, in a pressure campaign.
There is a difference between "retaliation" and "pressure". Retaliation is
after the fact, a threat to you and others to not do something again. Pressure is
before the fact - intended to force you to do something.
When she was saying she didn't think it was retaliation, she was always referring to political retaliation for not supporting Christie. To this day, she doesn't think that was the case because while she didn't formally endorse him, she did publicly support him. She thinks this whole thing was "pressure" to pass a development project; this is nothing new and has been consistent since before she went public.
Then there's a bunch of total BS about why she implicated more and more administration officials with each interview; her spokesperson did respond to that, saying (duh) that each interview asked different questions, and she just answered them.
This next one is a riot:
CNN has obtained documents that contradict Zimmer's story about her meeting with Ferzan, the governor's point man for Sandy recovery.
Zimmer said on "Anderson Cooper 360˚" that when she asked for the administration's support of a flood mitigation project, Ferzan told her, "'Well, mayor, you need to let me know how much development you're willing to do.' That was the answer that I got back. So, I mean, that pressure is there."
But, according to notes from the November 25 meeting taken by a source in the room, Zimmer spoke twice during the Sandy recovery briefing that included about 20 state and local officials. And neither time Ferzan addressed Zimmer's concerns did it appear he was pressuring her, according to the notes.
Source? Who? Someone in the Christie administration perhaps? Or someone sympathetic to the administration? So obviously, right here, this "story" is a plant.
Besides, even if this is true, do you honestly think that Ferzan would strong arm a mayor with Sandy money for a development project in front of 20 people?? A meeting that was called to talk about status of Sandy funds?? Zimmer has already said that the Lt. Gov. took her aside in a parking lot, and that Constable took her aside backstage, to make these threats. So sorry - just because Ferzan didn't threaten her in front of 20 people doesn't mean it didn't happen. How stupid can you get??
I'd also like to hear what Mayor Zimmer's two questions and their answers in the meeting were; strange that he doesn't mention that.
Then he gets to this whole note taking thing, which again is a totally stupid pursuit. So stupid, in fact, that I think even this in-the-pocket stenographer had a smidge too much journalistic pride to cop to this amount of hackery so he debunked it himself:
Zimmer's attorney, Gerald Krovatin, said in a statement to CNN that "the plain language of the deposition makes clear that (Zayas) was referring to calendars and scheduling and appointments for the mayor and whether she takes notes at meetings. Those things bear no relationship to a personal diary or journal."
"This mischaracterization is not surprising coming from Mr. Zayas, who has four pending lawsuits against the city and/or the mayor in which he has demonstrated a clear personal animosity towards the mayor," he said.
Zayas also accused Zimmer of perjury, charging that she lied about how she prepared for her testimony, but the judge in the case ignored his claim. In an interview, Krovatin called it a "stunt by Zayas to generate a headline."
His final assertion is that a guy named Carmelo Garcia is "ironically" accusing Zimmer of the same pay to play that she is accusing Christie of. Again, he debunks it himself:
Zimmer's spokesman did not speak to the charge that she or her allies threatened Garcia's job unless he hired her choice of attorney. Instead, he said that one of the suit's other charges, namely that Zimmer was engaged in an "ethnic cleansing" initiative, called into question Garcia's credibility.
A judge essentially dismissed Garcia's case, but allowed him to amend and refile it.
So, IMO, this guy was fed a story by someone in Christie's administration and took it as far as he could. He couldn't descend to the amount of hackery it would require to write something too obvious, so he debunked his own assertions and just gave it a juicy headline.
Hackery nonetheless, dude. You're a sellout.