For the last year-plus, the U. S. Attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, has been quietly probing the outrageously dangerous and outrageously criminal lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in 2013. However, there are signs that the investigation is turning in a new direction–one that, while not have anything to do with Bridgegate, should still have Governor Chris Christie very afraid.
Last night, The (Bergen) Record, the paper that first blew the Bridgegate affair wide open, detonated another bombshell. The Record revealed that last month, investigators with Fishman’s office subpoenaed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the personal travel records of its former chairman, David Samson. For those who don’t know, Samson first came into the news when he harshly criticized Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye’s order to reopen the two lanes on the bridge that had been shut down. In the days that followed, reports came out that he used his post to steer numerous lucrative contracts to clients of his law firm. Eventually, Samson’s position became untenable, and he resigned in March 2014–two months after Bridgegate broke in full.
The most interesting item in the subpoenaed records may have nothing to do with Bridgegate, but could still suggest that it may be time for some legal problems in Trenton. During Samson’s tenure as chairman, he was a frequent passenger on a little-used United Airlines route from Newark to Columbia, South Carolina. As it turns out, Columbia is only 50 miles–a little less than an hour–from a home in Aiken, South Carolina that is owned by Samson’s wife; Samson frequently spent weekends there. United ran that route for a year and a half, and for most of that time the planes were less than half full. According to insiders, Samson called the Newark-Columbia run “the chairman’s flight.” United shuttered the route only three days after Samson’s resignation.
The significance? The Port Authority operates Newark Liberty International Airport, and for most of Samson’s tenure it was in regular negotiations with United over expanding service to Atlantic City and extending the PATH train to Newark Liberty. United is by far the biggest airline at Newark Liberty–a status it inherited when it bought Continental Airlines in 2010. Fishman has also demanded records of all communication that Samson had with United and its former lobbyist, Jamie Fox, who is now serving as New Jersey’s transportation commissioner.
Brian Murphy of Talking Points Memo thinks that this is evidence that Fishman has widened his investigation well beyond Bridgegate–and is, among other things, probing the manner in which Christie and Samson used the Port Authority when Fishman chaired it from 2011 to 2014. As further evidence, he cited some very unusual contributions United executives made to Christie’s 2013 reelection campaign. Between June 5 and June 17, 2013, 13 United executives donated a total of $31,500 to Christie’s campaign–easily the biggest pool of donations the campaign received from a public company. That spring, United signed a 20-year, $150 million lease at Newark Liberty. Murphy also noticed that United gave a total of $75,000 over three years to Choose N. J., an agency charged with promoting New Jersey as a business destination. It also footed the bills for several of Christie’s recent international trips. Murphy sums it up in a way that should make Samson and Christie very nervous.
“There is, therefore, a documentable set of donations from United Airlines to Governor Christie’s campaign and to an organization involved in some of Governor Christie’s most high-profile overseas travel, all made during a time when that company had business before an agency helmed by Christie appointees, some of whom served at Christie’s pleasure, and all of whom were in a position to help determine the terms, fees, rates, and details of contracts and agreements between the Port Authority and the airline.”
Murphy thinks that this is the first sign that the investigation is getting very close to Christie himself. Until now, it wasn’t clear how much trouble Samson was potentially in. But if investigators can prove that Samson shook United for contributions under orders from Christie, then Samson is screwed eight ways to Sunday–unless he testifies against Christie. He could also be in trouble if United shows that it was pressured into opening its checkbook for Christie. United already gave two pretty loud hints about its dealings with the Port Authority. Not only did it scrap the Newark-Columbia route shortly after Samson resigned, but around the same time it pulled out of Atlantic City as well. It also filed a complaint against the Port Authority with the FAA. Among other things, it claimed that it was paying confiscatory fees at Newark Liberty.
It looks like there’s an awful lot of smoke here. Behind that smoke may be a raging inferno–one that could turn Christie’s presidential ambitions for 2016 into cinders.
