Fear of Christie's ties to U.S. Attorney kept Hoboken mayor from reporting alleged Sandy Aid threats, new letter claims, writes Darryl Isherwood, of NJ.com. Many have asked why Mayor Dawn Zimmer did not come forward earlier with allegations that Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno made the alleged threats to withhold money from Hoboken unless Zimmer endorsed a project Governor Christie wanted approved - this could explain it.
This week, Zimmer attempted to explain her reasoning in a letter to the Democratic leaders of the legislature. In what she says are previously unreported entries to her personal journal, Zimmer says she discussed coming forward with the city's redevelopment attorney, but ultimately decided it was pointless.
"I have now heard it from Lt. Gov. and Com. Constable," she says in apparent reference to the threats to her Sandy aid, which she says were made by both Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable. "Yes – this is illegal. I debated with Joe Marzati whether or not to go to US Attorney – we decided that Christie has friends throughout US Attorney's office - ..[therefore] not much chance in getting help from them & it could create a nightmare for us. A little scary to realize that there's nowhere to turn for help against this threat from Gov. Christie. My best defense is to stand up to the bully – my beloved Gov who wants to run for president."
The letter was addressed to Senate President Steve Sweeney and Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg in the upper chamber and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Assemblyman John Wisniewski in the lower house and contained photos of the handwritten journal entries. There is no date on the entries.
Legislative co-chair Weinberg confirms she has received the letter. None of the other parties would comment.
Zimmer's letter is also reported to take issue with Governor Christie's
In the letter, Zimmer takes issue with the governor's statement that he wants a bill that would make it illegal for elected official to delay coming forward to report misconduct.
Zimmer said"
"A law that punishes people for not coming forward immediately could, intentionally or otherwise, have the effect of preventing wrongdoing from coming to light rather than promoting its disclosure," she wrote.
Guadagno, Constable and Christie have all denied the Mayor Zimmer's allegations, and the Randy Mastro report claimed Mayor Zimmer's allegations were unfounded..