The Wiz Gets Pissy with Nuzzi

The Wiz, soaking up his 15 minutes of Bridgegate fame on NBC

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

The Wiz, soaking up his 15 minutes of Bridgegate fame on NBC
The Wiz, soaking up his 15 minutes of Bridgegate fame on NBC

Just when you thought SCI Chairman John “The Wiz” Wisniewski couldn’t be more charming, Save Jerseyans, he somehow finds a way! That’s why we call him The Wiz here at Save Jersey. He never ceases to amaze us.

Today’s example: New Jersey native Olivia Nuzzi, political reporter for The Daily Beast, recently reached out to Chairman Wiz to discuss the latest Bridgegate legislative investigation developments (hints: there aren’t any).

Amazingly for a man with so much recent interview experience, the Wiz wasn’t especially… diplomatic?… when asked about “his seemingly constant presence of television” since Bridgegate broke nationally:

“That’s an interesting question. You called me. I didn’t call you. It’s a naive, simplistic argument, because if I’ve been on TV, it’s not because I call up and say, ‘Hey, why don’t I come up tonight and talk to you about the bridge?’ These shows, they choose what they want to talk about, and they call me and they ask for information just like you are doing now.”

Meow! Who peed in his saucer of milk?

For the sake of giving you a little background, anyone who’s interacted with Olivia knows she’s an equal opportunity antagonist in the new media trenches but she’s also certainly not a member of the vast right wing conspiracy. Not by a long shot.

So what’s to explain the Wiz’s prickly reaction? Besides the fact that he’s not a particularly nice dude to begin with?

My best guess: a freshly bruised ego. He’s a man who loves the camera more than it loves him which, to be fair, doesn’t make him unique in the political world. What does make him unique is the mock TV interview room in his law office that Olivia reported “looks straight out of the The West Wing—shiny, oak table; large American and New Jersey flags, freshly painted walls—which his spokesman told me they sometimes use for remote interviews.”

Not sure if I’m more jealous or disturbed.

Moreover, the U.S. Attorney is keeping his committee on a short leash and the Superior Court dramatically limited his committee’s reach. It’s going to be hard for the Wiz to compete in a gubernatorial primary with the liberal young gun Fulop and labor/machine-backed Sweeney if no one on his own team can see any results. What’s he going to do with an improvised TV studio in his office when he’s back to being a regular old assemblyman?

I guess I’d be pretty pissed off, too? I’ll tell you if I’m ever high priest of a witch hunt with not much of a future in higher office.

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

4 Comments

  1. Speaking of pissed off . . it’s like watching those around you get out of the pool as the blue dye in the water slowly outlines the only reason you went in the water.

  2. The Wiz has never been a “a regular old assemblyman” but he could probably use that room for press conferences if any State Attorney ever decides to indict him as a chief bagman for a bunch of pay to play PACs ..

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