In a stunning blow, a judge has ruled that Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien do not have to comply with a subpoena from the New Jersey legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures. In NJ judge rules against bridge scandal panel in subpoena fight, we learn a state judge handed Democrats on the committee a major defeat which will be used by Republicans to bolster their demands that the committee shut down its work and leave the investigation to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman
In a thorough dissection of the arguments made by the committee leading the investigation, state Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson found no basis to force Bridget Anne Kelly, Gov. Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Stepien, his two-time campaign manager, to comply with its subpoenas.
The pair objected to the requests, issued in January, because they argued identifying and turning over records would violate their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. They called the committee's requests a fishing expedition. Jacobson agreed.
"While legislative committees in New Jersey have broad powers ... they do not have the authority to abrogate the Fifth Amendment," Jacobson wrote, later adding, "The subpoenas would require compelled testimonial evidence from Ms. Kelly and Mr. Stepien and thus run afoul of defendants' privilege against self-incrimination."
The 98-page decision was a major setback for the legislative investigation because its leaders considered the records held by Kelly and Stepien to be critical to understanding the politically charged motivations behind the September lane closings.
Sorry Kossack what can I say? I'll try to retrieve legal analysis from other sites.
Chris Matthews is announcing this. Mathews says the judge's logic is that the U.S. Attorney is investigating this an he "doesn't want to get in the way.
Chris also reports a Quinniapac poll indicates 56% of New Jersey respondents believe the Mastro report was a Whitewash, and 51% believe Chris Christie "knew what was going on."
4:48 PM PT: If the judges logic is as Chris Matthews reports, the fault, IMO is that their are state laws and issues, the federal prosecutor is not addressing. Perhaps, this means the state prosecutor should open an investigation?
5:15 PM PT: I took out the sentence "What a sad day for justice" which was in the first draft of this post, based on a protest by gchaucer2 who suggests my expression of such an opinion reflects a misunderstand of the functioning of our legal system.
I disagree, however, I do no have the time, right at this moment, to make the counter arguments so to avoid detracting from the credibility of the Bridgegate posts here, and the other posts addressing Governor Chris Christie's alleged involvement in the GWB lane closures, I will temporarily take that sentence out until I can document the point of view I base that opinion on.