As you may have heard, New Jersey’s federal prosecutors have already handed out a lot of subpoenas as part of their dual investigations of Bridgegate and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s claim that Christie administration officials threatened to withhold Hurricane Sandy relief funds from her city unless she went along with a redevelopment project favored by the New Jersey governor. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Christie’s scandals have officially crossed the Hudson to New York: The office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has subpoenaed records from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey “related to the business interests” of chairman David Samson.
Samson is a Christie appointee whose law firm, Wolff & Samson, represented the real estate developer involved in the Hoboken matter, as well as many other clients who dealt with the Port Authority and the Christie administration. A few weeks ago, Samson apologized for the “inconvenience” caused by the George Washington Bridge lane closures that have cost several other Christie appointees and aides their jobs. His spokesman, who has declined to comment on this latest development, has also said that, as chairman, Samson recused himself from Port Authority decisions about his clients’ projects. But, as with many things associated with Christie and his Jersey-based political machine, you can’t blame investigators for not taking Samson at his word.
