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Chris Christie confirms Port Authority chairman David Samson has quit Chris Christie confirms Port Authority chairman David Samson has quit
(about 1 hour later)
The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, announced on Friday that the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson, has resigned. The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, announced the resignation of his most senior appointee on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Friday, in an attempt to bury the lane-closure scandal that has battered his administration and undermined his presidential ambitions.
Samson refused to be interviewed for an inquiry commissioned by Christie over the politically motivated closure of lanes leading to the George Washington bridge, a key link between New Jersey and New York that comes under the control of the Port Authority, last year. Chritie said he had accepted the resignation of David Samson, the chairman of the authority, hours before his first press conference in two months. Samson was "74 years old and tired", the governor said.
The inquiry, by the law firm Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, published on Thursday, recommended that the Port Authority be reformed. Samson refused to be interviewed for an inquiry commissioned by Christie over the closure last year of traffic lanes leading to the George Washington bridge, a key link between New Jersey and New York that comes under the control of the Port Authority.
It blamed the scandal on Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s then deputy chief of staff, who was fired after the extent of her involvement came to light, and David Wildstein, a Christie appointee on the Port Authority who orchestrated the closures for Kelly. Christie said Samson had made it clear to him more than a year ago that he was ready to leave the Port Authority, but stayed at the governor's request. Christie said he accepted Samson's resignation, effective immediately, on Friday afternoon.
But it left unanswered questions over the role of Samson in the lane closures and their aftermath. Randy Mastro, the partner at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher who supervised the inquiry, said in a news conference on Thursday that the chairman had "deined any prior knowledge" of the incident in previous statements, "but we did not have the opportunity to interview him". In a statement released after Christie's press conference announcing his resignation, Samson said: "Over the past months, I have shared with the governor my desire to conclude my service to the [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]. The timing is now right, and I am confident that the governor will put new leadership in place to address the many challenges ahead."
Christie said he accepted Samson's resignation on Friday afternoon. Samson's resignation comes a day after the publication of a 360-page report by lawyers hired by Christie to conduct an investigation into the scandal. The inquiry, by the law firm Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, published on Thursday, recommended that the Port Authority be reformed.
The report concluded that while Wildstein may have told the governor about the lane closures when they were in place, Christie did not recall being informed and would not have realised their significance. “Governor Christie did not know of the lane realignment beforehand and had no involvement in the decision to realign the lanes,” it concluded. The review heaped blame for the scandal squarely on Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s then deputy chief of staff, and David Wildstein, a Christie appointee on the Port Authority who orchestrated the closures for Christie fired Kelly after the extent of her involvement came to light, and Wildstein resigned from the Port Authority.
More details soon … But the inquiry left unanswered questions over the role of Samson in the lane closures and their aftermath. Randy Mastro, the partner at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher who supervised the inquiry, said in a news conference on Thursday that the chairman had "denied any prior knowledge" of the incident in previous statements, "but we did not have the opportunity to interview him".
Friday's announcement came after federal prosecutors widened their investigation of the bridge scandal to include a possible conflict of interest involving Samson and the awarding of almost $3bn worth of construction contracts relating to other bridges. Prosecutors have reportedly subpoenaed the Port Authority for records in recent weeks relating to two contracts Samson helped steer to toward companies with links to his own law firm, Wolf and Samson.
The $1.5bn and $1.3bn projects to amend or renovate the Bayonne Bridge and Goethals Bridge, both of which link New Jersey to Staten Island, New York, were awarded in part to companies that were clients of Samson's law firm. Samson chairs the 12-strong board of commissioners that voted to award the lucrative contracts.
The Asbury Park Press recently reported that Wolf and Samson, and a related lobbying business Samson also runs, more than doubled their earnings from government contracts since Christie came into office and appointed him to run the Port Authority. There is no evidence any of the other contracts are currently under investigation.
Samson is also connected to the controversy that flared in the wake of the bridge-gate scandal, involving distribution of hurricane Sandy relief funds. The mayor of the New Jersey city of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer, alleged in January that the Christie administration leaned heavily on her to pave the way for a lucrative development project by the Rockefeller Group, which was represented by Wolf and Samson.
Samson is not accused of directly intervening in the affair. But Zimmer claimed other Christie officials quietly warned her that Hoboken would be starved of aid money unless she got behind the development project backed by Samson's law firm.
As well as tainting Christie's administration, the George Washington bridge scandal has also hobbled his presidential ambitions. While Christie continues to deny that he knew about the lane closures while they were in place, the expanding controversy has dogged him for months. The report by Christie's lawyers exonerated him in the decision to realign access lanes to the bridge. It also said that Wildstein may have told Christie about the lane closures when they were in place, but that the governor did not recall being informed and would not have realised their significance. “Governor Christie did not know of the lane realignment beforehand and had no involvement in the decision to realign the lanes,” it concluded.
The report did not resolve they key question of why the lanes were closed in the first place. "I don't know if we'll ever know what the motive is," Christie told reporters.
During the hour-long press conference on Friday, Christie repeatedly defended the tenacity of the report. "I told them to find the truth, no matter where it led," he said of the investigation. He added: "I think this report will stand the test of time ... and it will be tested."
Christie called the report "exhaustive", and said the attorneys were given enormous access to roughly 250,000 documents as well as other electronic records, including text messages and emails stored on Christie’s iPhone. The attorneys also interviewed nearly 70 people from Christie’s office and the Port Authority.
In combative exchanges with reporters, the governor brushed off criticism that the objectivity of the report was tainted by ties between the law firm that conducted the review and the Christie administration: "No matter who I chose to do this, questions would have been raised."