By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Predictably, The Star Ledger editorial board was in full wig-out mode on Thursday, Save Jerseyans, after a Mercer County Superior Court Judge sided with Bill Stepien and Bridget Kelly in a suit brought by the hapless Wisniewski-led Bridgegate legislative SCI.
Rational people know the ruling signals the end of the committee’s usefulness (to the extent it had one to begin with). I explained “why” at great length on the day after the opinion came down.
Tom Moran’s editorial board is anything but rational. They want the openly-partisan committee to forge ahead in the most incredible (and frightening) way imaginable…
“The committee’s first step seems obvious. It should issue new subpoenas that are more narrowly tailored, answering Jacobson’s central concern. The subpoenas she struck down asked Kelly and Stepien to turn over all documents related to the lane closures. Jacobson suggested a more focused subpoena asking for communications among Kelly, Stepien and David Wildstein, the governor’s man at the Port Authority who ordered the access lane closures. That is certainly worth a shot.
The tougher question is immunity. If the committee is not careful, it could sabotage the federal criminal investigation. The most famous cautionary tale is that of Oliver North, whose felony convictions were overturned based on the immunity granted by Congress during its investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal.
But the committee can coordinate its efforts with federal prosecutors to avoid conflict, as was done in the Whitewater investigation.”
Wow. Just wow.
I won’t even touch the immunity issue right now because the rest of that screed cited above needs to be addressed.
Essentially, the SL editorial board is asking the state legislature to interfere in a federal criminal investigation. They want to de facto merge a state legislative committee with a federal subdivision of the Department of Justice. They’re not proposing coordination; what they’re describing is co-prosecution, a power which isn’t granted anyone under the dome besides the Office of the N.J. Attorney General.
It’s one of those things you need to read to believe, folks. Remarkable!
I suppose you could also read this truly bizarre editorial as an SL ed board endorsement of John Wisniewski for Governor, just a few years early. Then again, what’s time among friends?
But even Chairman Wisniewski, who has everything to gain from this committee forging ahead, doesn’t seem to appreciate Moran’s twisted logic, telling CNN “[w]e’re not sure whether we want to go down that road.”
I’d hope not!!!
When will these people quit embarrassing themselves? The Star Ledger would’ve been better off heeding my advice from a couple of weeks ago. Instead, they’re going to allow an angry editor hijack the reputation of the state’s largest print daily. Why? So that he can continue to pursue his personal vendetta against a Republican governor who publicly wounded his pride.
It’s not exactly the business decision I’d go with…
And that’s why they are a failing newspaper, laying off 167 employees. That number will probably continue to grow as the paper continues on its downward spiral.
Come on, talk about the immunity issue. After all, according to the Star Ledger immunity only means that they can’t — USE the testimony of the person against them in a later proceeding. That’s it. Nothing else, just one type of immunity. In the Star Ledger’s world.
Wild-eyed partisanship of the press will continue until conservatives everywhere, particularly in New Jersey, create their own mass-media market. Fox’s example says there’s money to be made there.