These revelations will probably be explored extensively on MSNBC in the coming days.
As one of those who've been following Bridgegate closely, I believe that this report by The Star-Ledger represents a turning point in the Bridgegate investigations.
Port Authority officials: Battle over toll hikes was all for show
Six Port-Authority insiders (five of whom no longer work there, but one of whom still does) shared some jaw-dropping details with The Star-Ledger, regarding the 2011 PATH toll hikes.
From the start, the fix was in, said that former official and five others who occupied key Port Authority posts when the toll hike was rolled out and eventually approved.
The whole process, the authority officials said, was orchestrated from the outset to make the governors look good even as they reached deeper, through the long arm of the authority, into the public’s pockets.
The former Port Authority officials (five who are no longer with the agency and one who is still there) outlined the strategy and execution of the plan in separate interviews with The Star-Ledger. Each asked that their names not be used because they feared repercussions from speaking out even after they had left the agency.
The
2011 Toll Hikes vs. The
2013 Lane Closures --
What's the connection?
One source said complete responses to the latest subpoenas from the legislative committee would reveal that the bridge closures and the toll hike were engineered out of much the same playbook.
A minimum of agency officials were made aware of what was happening with the toll hike and sworn to secrecy under the implied threat of losing their jobs, the six sources said. And both actions included some of the same players.
“He’ll find emails,” the official said of Wisniewski, who co-chairs the joint committee with state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen). “And he’ll find the emails between Baroni, Wildstein and the governor’s office. And he’ll also find emails between Baroni and Cuomo’s office.”
It would seem only fair to somehow reimburse all those commuters.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the key players wiggle their way out of this now.
Maybe they're hoping the Oscars will make the whole country forget about New Jersey.