On $8M GWB inquiry, Christie had editors in his pocket

Another view of The Modern, a 47-story rental building that overlooks upper-level access lanes to the George Washington Bridge. Those lanes were closed by Governor Christie's aides and cronies "to exact political retribution on the Fort Lee mayor -- a Democrat who refused to endorse the Republican governor in his 2013 reelection bid," The Record reports on Page 1 today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It was bad enough when The Record failed to label a taxpayer-funded report on the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal as a "cover-up" or "whitewash."

But it got worse -- clear evidence Governor Christie owns the editors at the Woodland Park daily after squandering $8 million so far to conceal his role in the despicable affair.

After Christie's $650-an-hour lawyer released the report clearing the GOP bully, the editors kept on referring to it on equal terms with a federal criminal probe and the state Legislature's own investigation.

In fact, on Dec. 9, Columnist Charles Stile, one of the paper's leading Christie apologists, claimed on A-1 the law firm's probe is one of three that didn't find "a shred of evidence" Christie knew about the lane closures.

This despite a federal indictment listing "unindicted co-conspirators" who haven't been identified.

'Gamesmanship'

Now, a federal judge has denounced the Gibson Dunn law firm for "gamesmanship" by destroying interview notes sought by defense attorneys for former Christie aides Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, who are awaiting an April trial (A-1).

Kelly's lawyer, Michael Critchley, said the way Christie lawyer Randy Mastro conducted interviews was "akin to a deliberate flimflam" (A-8).

Today's story also contains another reference to Gibson Dunn partner Debra Wong Yang, who worked on the firm's bridge-scandal report, as one of Christie's fundraisers in his bid for the White House (A-8).

Yet, The Record has never reported the close personal and business relationship between the Borg publishing family and Jon F. Hanson, the real estate mogul who was chief fundraiser during Christie's two gubernatorial campaigns.

Real estate mogul Jon F. Hanson with Governor Christie in an Associated Press photo. Has Hanson's relationship with the Borg family, owner of North Jersey Media Group and The Record, influenced news coverage of Christie?

Whitman blast

When she was Republican governor of New Jersey, Christie Whitman raided state pension systems to balance her budgets, made deep cuts at the state Department of Environmental Protection and received a big tax break on the "farm" she claimed to live on.

Now, she finally has acquitted herself (A-1).

Whitman is denouncing GOP candidates, especially Donald Trump for "employing the kind of hateful rhetoric ... in much the same way that allowed Hitler and Mussolini to rise to power" (A-1).

Still, Whitman doesn't comment on Christie's anti-Syrian refugee stance, though she concedes the GOP bully "has assumed a harsher tone lately" (A-12).

Route 17 'deathway'

Also on Page 1 today, a photo shows the parents of Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell, 32, unveiling a sign that will rename a section of Route 17 for their son, who was killed on the highway in 2014 by an out-of-control tractor-trailer (A-1).

Instead of "Poice Officer Christopher Goodell Memorial Highway," the sign should read, "Memorial Deathway."

The Record's lazy, incompetent staff -- including head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Road Warrior John Cichowski -- still have not questioned why Goodell was put in harm's way when a speed camera could have done the job just as well. 

Ford defects

In his column today, Cichowski mentions Vincent Brock as one of an "elite group of fallen police officers" whose names appear on highway plaques (L-1).

Brock, a Paramus police officer, was killed after his car spun out of control on Nov. 22, 1993, and hit a utility pole while responding to a report of a shooting that turned out to be false.

Brock's fatal crash was attributed to a defect in the power steering of his Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, and he was among a number of officers who died in accidents or gas-tank explosions in the cruiser, which went out of production in 2011.

Yet, The Record and Cichowski have never explained why local police departments and state police continued to buy the Ford cruiser long after the safety defects surfaced.

Christie fundraiser's ties to the Borg family remain hidden

Passaic Street in Hackensack, Maywood and Rochelle Park is a major thoroughfare, but with only two lanes and few turn lanes, it becomes a major bottleneck during the rush hour and on weekends.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front page has a strong Jersey focus for a change, but a story on A-3 today raises questions about the influence of the Borg publishing family on the paper's coverage of Governor Christie.

For the first time, The Record identifies Jon Hanson, chairman and founder of Hampshire Real Estate Cos., as a major fundraiser for Christie.

But nowhere in the story by Melissa Hayes will you find any mention of the close friendship between Hanson and Malcolm A. Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group, owner of the Woodland Park daily.

Nor does Hayes report that last January, Hanson's Hampshire Cos. helped arrange a sale-leaseback deal on NJMG's Rockaway Township printing plant and land with Publisher Stephen A. Borg.

You can read about Hanson's other ties to the Borgs here:

Borgs rely on Christie ally is sale of Rockaway plant

Friendly coverage

The Record's coverage of Christie has been friendly, to say the least, since he took office in early 2010.

Columnist Charles Stile often wrote about Christie's so-called Reform Agenda, and never challenged the GOP bully's claim to be a compromiser who could work with the majority Democrats in the state Legislature.

Stile also began reporting on whether Christie would run for president in 2016 two or more years ago.

350 and counting

In fact, it wasn't until March of this year that another reporter in Trenton wrote a story for The Record, noting for the first time how many vetoes Christie used to get his way with the Legislature.

He exercised his veto power "at least 350 times," the story reported. How's that for "compromise"?

See:

Christie vetoes set a record for a N.J. governor

Has Hanson's close friendship with the Borgs influenced the friendly coverage of Christie, who has turned out to be the worst governor in New Jersey history?

What motive would The Record's editors have to continually hide the Hanson-Borg relationship -- unless they were ordered to?

More corrections

A-2 today carries two major corrections, including one in which the local editors admit they didn't know the identity of the mayor of Carlstadt.

Local news?

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza couldn't find enough local news for today's section.

So, readers find another large, gee-whiz, filler photo on L-3.

A four-vehicle chain reaction accident on Route 208 in Fair Lawn was precipitated by a BMW driver who was speeding or following too closely and rammed the rear of a Toyota sedan (L-3).

No names appear in the photo caption, and readers don't know whether the BMW driver was issued any summonses.

As this and hundreds of other drive-by accident images have demonstrated in recent years, the L-3 photo is intended as filler, not as information.

Readers' eyes are rolling over upbeat Christie coverage

Volunteer jazz musicians entertaining visitors at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on Wednesday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie was popular as late as November 2012?

That's the ridiculous assertion of The Record's burned-out political columnist, Charles Stile, who continues to try and sell the GOP bully's supposed bipartisanship in yet another Page 1 analysis of the 2016 presidential election. (A-1 and A-8).

What about the loss of $400 million in federal education aid in 2010 -- his first year in office -- followed several months later by Christie pulling the plug on new Hudson River rail tunnels and the biggest expansion of mass transit in decades?

What about repeated vetoes of a tax surcharge on millionaires and hundreds of millions in tax breaks for wealthy business owners?

Or rubber stamping higher tolls on Hudson River crossings operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an agency he packed with his cronies?

Revisionist

A second story that gives a favorable spin to Christie's actions cites "weak economic growth" as the reason Christie "slashed legally required payments to the state pension system in recent years in order to balance the budget" (A-4).

But the governor is personally responsible for that weak growth as well as lagging tax revenues.

An editorial today blames Christie for not honoring the state's obligation to make full contributions to state pensions for teachers and other workers (A-10).

The editorial notes Christie claims making next year's full pension payments "would require raising the 7 percent sales tax to 10 percent or increasing income tax rates by 29 percent."

Of course, what Christie and The Record aren't saying is that a tax surcharge on millionaires would have raised about $1 billion a year for the last several years, making those pension payments and balancing the budget a lot easier.

Page 1

For the second day in row, Editor Martin Gottlieb leads the paper with a rabid coyote or possibly two (A-1).

The poor man. 

After years of practicing journalism for The New York Times, probably the best newspaper in the world, Gottlieb must find the suburbs really dull.

That likely explains his frequent slide into sensationalism.

Food promotions

The job description for food editor and food writer at The Record calls for someone who is willing to wildly exaggerate the greatness of restaurants and other food businesses that advertise in the Woodland Park daily.

That's the only explanation for why Food Editor Esther Davidowitz would call Callahan's a "legendary North Jersey hot dog restaurant" (A-1 and BL-1).

Maybe, she is referring to legendary heartburn or diarrhea.

Her Better Living cover story carefully omits describing the harmful preservatives, antibiotics and hormones that go into Callahan's deep-fried beef hot dogs.

Jon Hanson

I didn't see anything in The Record on this report from International Business Times:

"New Jersey rules require Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration to cancel investment contracts with firms whose officials raise or donate money to the governor’s political campaigns. But his administration has paid more than $16 million in pension fees to the financial firm that was led by Christie’s chief fundraiser and top donor, Jon Hanson.

"The money -- far more than previously disclosed -- flowed to Hanson’s company, Prudential Financial, and its related funds that the state pension system has invested in. The new information, obtained through an open records request by International Business Times, comes as the Christie administration is facing a government investigation into whether it has fully disclosed all fees paid to financial firms -- some of whose executives have made donations to GOP groups backing Christie." 

Hanson is a close friend of the Borg publishing family, which owns North Jersey Media Group and its flagship daily, The Record.

The real estate company Hanson founded recently backed the sale-leaseback of NJMG's printing plant in Rockaway Township, a deal worth about $30 million.

What the hell is wrong with 'mandatory'?

Take a photo almost anywhere in the borough of Fort Lee and you'll see what it's known for: Many high-rises. (Wikipedia)

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Health insurance for nearly everyone is long overdue, so why are the moneyed elite so upset that Congress is mandating that everyone buy health coverage or pay a penalty?

The Record and other media are using this controversy to sell papers, carefully avoiding any mention of all the government mandates we live under already (A-1).

The government forces us to buy auto insurance and, if we work, to contribute to Social Security, unemployment compensation and other funds. We must have a license to drive, and on and on.

Are the Supreme Court justices, who must have incredible health insurance, really the right people to decide the constitutionality of the national health care law?

Who is the Boss?

Don't you love that story on A-3 today about Governor Christie asking Bruce Springsteen to perform at the new Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City?

Too bad Staff Writers John Brennan and Jim Beckerman forgot to tell readers Springsteen refused to perform at the GOP bully's inauguration in 2010.

Or that Christie is taking credit for all of the "working men and women" employed by Revel who won't be able to afford to stay in one of the $400-a-night rooms.

Hanson and Borg

The other story on A-3 quotes Christie as praising the role of adviser Jon Hanson in Revel and American Dreams Meadowlands (formerly Xanadu).

But Brennan again to fails to mention the real estate mogul is best friends with Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg or that they co-own a business jet.

High-rise borough

What is all the hand-wringing and editorial angst over Planning Board approval of two 47-story residential towers in Fort Lee (A-1 on Tuesday and A-22 editorial today)?

The borough has long been known for high-rises, traffic congestion and a prime terrorist target, the George Washington Bridge.

Readers write column

On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, Road Warrior John Cichowski is back doing what he does best -- basing his silly column on reader e-mails and avoiding any exploration of commuting problems.

On Monday's front page, The Record previewed the start of suspended Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa's criminal trial, but the testimony still is not under way.

Sykes loves Zisa

How embarrassing for Sykes. Stories Tuesday (L-1) and today (L-3) have tried to explain the delay, but Monday's story was premature and should have run the day testimony starts.

The Local section today and Tuesday had no Hackensack municipal news, but readers on Tuesday found non-fatal fire and accident photos on L-1 and L-2.