By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
I’m going to keep this simple. Painfully so.
It’s hard to understate the extent to which this week’s Bridgegate Special Committee on Investigation (or “SCI”) hearing destroyed the Democrat members’ last vestiges of credibility. And then a Mercer County Judge stepped in to make it abundantly clear that the SCI has no purpose either (without any additional hard evidence to review OR even the power to compel its production).
Devoid of credibility and purpose, Save Jerseyans, it’s hard to imagine a productive, good faith rationale to continue holding meetings.
Unless the real purpose is impeachment, right?
The scalp of the former 2016 GOP front runner? Committee member Michael Patrick Carroll has called it since Day #1 and the Democrat members have slipped up and admitted it on more than one occasion.
The officially-expressed reason for the SCI’s existence was also always less-than-clear since Day #1. It’s not a grand jury with the power to issue indictments on the basis of hearsay evidence. There isn’t a need to recommend charges to a prosecutor when an active federal inquiry is already underway.
The only productive purpose would be to enact legislation capable of preventing future abuses of power. Republicans have put six such measures on the table:
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A-2856 – Establishes a single chain of command with fixed terms for the Port Authority’s executive director and deputy executive director and requires approval from governors of both New Jersey and New York prior to the employment of the directors.
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A-2858 – Requires bi-state authorities to provide advance written notice of any operation or project that is expected to impede the free flow of traffic.
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A-2887 – Requires a code of ethics and an acknowledgement by authority board members that they understand their fiduciary responsibilities. It also requires the implementation of audit recommendations and financial disclosure for each board member and subjects each authority to the state’s Open Public Records Act.
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A-2886 – Establishes an Office of the Investigator General within each of four bi-state authorities appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for one term of 10 years.
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A-2857 – Facilitates public disclosure of financial and employee information through the state comptroller regarding revenues, expenses, and debts; number of employees; annual employee compensation; data on pension payments of former employees; and the name and amount of compensation paid to any governmental affairs agent hired.
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A-2855 – Establishes a new crime of official interference with transportation punishable up to 18 months in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
The Democrat legislature nevertheless refuses to act. They’d rather continue looking for that elusive prize scalp.
Assembly Republican Amy Handlin, another Republican member of the Special Committee on Investigation, articulately called them on it at this week’s hearing.
“What is stopping us from moving forward on our bills today?” Handlin asked on the same day that SCI Democrats, ironically, would accuse her of being a “showboat.” “I don’t understand the notion of ‘no culprit, no reform. If I’m walking down the street and see a stabbing victim, don’t you think I should stop the bleeding and not wait for the police to catch the culprit first?”
Chairman Wisniewski’s response was extremely telling. “We don’t know who the culprit is, who closed the lanes or how far this goes,” the Wiz screeched back at Handlin, clearly agitated by having his authority questioned. “Maybe you’re content with the way the governor’s office treats the Port Authority as just another desk in the governor’s office, but I’m not.”
It stands to reason that she’s NOT content, Wiz, since her party is the one putting reforms on the table to change “the way” that New Jersey’s executive branch functions!
But what good are facts in the middle of a good ole’ fashion witch hunt? Or the nascent stages of a gubernatorial primary campaign?
Handlin gets it. “The Judge’s opinion sends a clear message that the committee has overstepped its bounds,” she continued in a Wednesday release obtained by Save Jersey. “The time has come for us to focus on reform. Federal and state prosecutors are fully capable of investigating and are clearly doing so. Our legislative responsibility is to find solutions to the many problems we have already uncovered. It would be a disservice to the people of New Jersey if the Legislature does not immediately move forward on the reform bills that have been introduced on a bipartisan basis.”
The Wiz wants to be the next governor. His party wants to take down a GOP powerhouse. As a taxpayer, Save Jerseyans, I’m not inclined to help subsidize either pursuit.
Steve Sweeney was right the first time. It’s over. Let the U.S. Attorney do his work. The SCI committee’s curtain call is playing on loop.
Someone has to suggest the Dems to continue the investigation by paying for it out of their party coffers. For the children, y’know.