05-07-2020, 05:00 PM
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/07/supreme-court-bridgegate-decision-242344
After the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, NJ refused to endorse Christie in his reelection bid, some of his underlings closed two lanes to access roads for the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge over a number of months.
The DOJ under Obama eventually brought fraud charges against them, saying they sought to conduct fraud by misapplying property receiving federal money.
SCOTUS just tossed the case, stating that their lies, while abuse of power, did not constitute "property fraud".
Justice Kagan stated:
“If U. S. Attorneys could prosecute as property fraud every lie a state or local official tells in making such a decision, the result would be … ‘a sweeping expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction. In effect, the Federal Government could use the criminal law to enforce (its view of) integrity in broad swaths of state and local policymaking. The property fraud statutes do not countenance that outcome."
She went on the emphasize that federal fraud laws do not criminalize generic abuse of power:
“As Kelly’s own lawyer acknowledged, this case involves an ‘abuse of power'. The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing—deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct."
Christie attacked the entire process as a partisan crusade by the Obama DOJ, though in the wake of the ruling, one of the officials involved explicitly stated that he knows that he was not vindicated by this ruling and that his actions were still wrong and harmed many.
Trump tweeted that the ruling "exonerated" everyone involved, even as the court explicitly stated that their actions were an "abuse of power".
After the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, NJ refused to endorse Christie in his reelection bid, some of his underlings closed two lanes to access roads for the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge over a number of months.
The DOJ under Obama eventually brought fraud charges against them, saying they sought to conduct fraud by misapplying property receiving federal money.
SCOTUS just tossed the case, stating that their lies, while abuse of power, did not constitute "property fraud".
Justice Kagan stated:
“If U. S. Attorneys could prosecute as property fraud every lie a state or local official tells in making such a decision, the result would be … ‘a sweeping expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction. In effect, the Federal Government could use the criminal law to enforce (its view of) integrity in broad swaths of state and local policymaking. The property fraud statutes do not countenance that outcome."
She went on the emphasize that federal fraud laws do not criminalize generic abuse of power:
“As Kelly’s own lawyer acknowledged, this case involves an ‘abuse of power'. The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing—deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct."
Christie attacked the entire process as a partisan crusade by the Obama DOJ, though in the wake of the ruling, one of the officials involved explicitly stated that he knows that he was not vindicated by this ruling and that his actions were still wrong and harmed many.
Trump tweeted that the ruling "exonerated" everyone involved, even as the court explicitly stated that their actions were an "abuse of power".
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