Lisa Brennan of Main Justice writes a blockbuster of an article entitled Fishman, Vance clash over Christie Port Authority Funds Diversion Probe. This incredible article is in a pdf so I will retype a few blockquotes from this very long article full of many new details that reveal fascinating tension an the most inside information I've heard yet about what is going one between the two office.
One bit of good news is sources say the two prosecutors are racing to see who can get to indictments first. Vance is concerned that since Fishman's office is filled with so many past associates of Chris Christie's that they may not really investigate possible charges aggressively enough, especially against David Samson who is seeking protection before he will cooperate. Vance seems to be targeting Samson.
New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. clashed last month before going separate ways to investigate possible misuse of $1.9 billion in Port Authority of New York and New Jersey funds by Governor Christie people familiar with the matter said.
Vance had had an inside source providing information on how Christie had taking the bi-state money set aside for a new commuter tunnel connecting New Jersey to Manhattan under the Hudson River to fund repairs to the aging New Jersey Pulaski Skyway Bridge.
In early April, Fishman reached out to Vance at the request of defense lawyers for Sampson, who is trying to push back against broad subpoena requests from the Manhattan DA, according to a knowledgeable source.
Brennan tells us that in a phone conversation Fishman told Vance that he was also investigating the Pulaski Skyway funding, but would not share his information with Vance, so Vance said would not share his information with Fishman, nor identify his source.
Lisa Brennan asserts one of her sources close to the situation says "it's going to be a race to see who finishes first with an indictment."
In the next section Lisa Brennan's provides much background I was unaware of, mixed in "information" from anonymous sources, which I will try to clearly distinguish here. Lisa points at that David Samson's main lawyer Micheal Chertoff, was leader of the U.S. Attorney's office in the 1990s, and made Paul Fishman his top deputy becoming his mentor.
And many of the prosecutors that were there under Christie when he was the U.S. prosecutor, remain in the office, although two have recused themselves from this investigation.
Despite this, the "inside scoop is that Vance remains suspicious about whether or not Fishman's team will be sufficiently aggressive and Samson;s lawyers are seeking "upfront assurances" before he will cooperate. Brennan suggest that Samson lawyers "fear he will not get those assurances from Vance.
If you are following this case you simply must read the original, as this summary so far doesn't even take us one quarter of the way through the case.
Also, Salon has an excellent article making a compelling case that Christie's presidential ambitions are complete toast. The only person who does not seem to realize this is Christie himself. I'll put a link to this article which provide an excellent overview of the cases against Christie including the major new investigation expanding in Massachusetts which is serous.
And I thought this had turned out to be a slow Christie Friday.
7:52 PM PT: Another major section of this tour de force article deals with the many roles of Jeff Chiesa whose ties with Paul Fishman's office is another reason Vance is purported not to trust Fishman's office.
Chiesa was Christie's top deputy when he was there, and Brennan says he has been Christie's closest confident since 1988.
Now that both the SEC an Cyrus Vance are investigating Christie's Port Authority funds diversion scheme, Jeff Chiesa seem to be in the cross hairs, because while he was serving as Christie's chief counsel he played a key role in the diversion
The Christie gang's two part strategy for diverting the Port Authority Funds reads like a plot line for an Oceans 11 movie, or a fancy bank heist: first they had to get the Port Authority to rebrand the Pulaski. Then in part 2 of their strategy they needed those same in-house lawyer to redo the August 2011 funding pact and get them to drop New York as a party!
Seriously, Christie, WTH? Like no one from New York is going to notice or care? Where these guys smoking crack? You can find junkies doing hard time in super-maxes for robbing drug stores when they were high with better plans than this.
So one of Jeff Chiesa's job was to organize a meeting with PA executive director Bill Baroni (yeah, that Baroni),and Port Authority assistant general counsel Carlene McInTyre. Christie never sought approval legislature.
Berman says "The SEC is investigating whether the the legal justification for the re-branding may have constituted fraud."
8:09 PM PT: