Equates political strategy session, fund raiser for billionaire oil magnates with trip to deli, family vacation...

Brad Friedman Byon 9/13/2011, 8:05pm PT

Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) was asked about his secret meetings with the billionaire Koch Brothers this evening on a local New Jersey town hall radio show, and whether his private meeting had any affect on his surprise decision to unilaterally withdraw New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie) last May.

The Governor failed to tell the truth in his response during tonight's appearance on the monthly Meet the Governor radio show on New Jersey's 101.5FM. Moreover, he purposely conflated two entirely separate events in order to mislead in his evasive response.

The question arose out of our story published last Wednesday in Mother Jones, featuring exclusive audio from inside the Koch brothers' ultra-confidential 2011 Summer Seminar near Vail, Colorado, where Christie delivered the keynote address to hundreds of corporate millionaires and billionaires on June 26th, after being introduced by oil tycoon and hard right political activist David Koch.

During his introduction to Christie --- whose presence at the secret political strategy and fund raising session had been kept a secret from his constituents until we broke our story last week --- Koch revealed that he had met with the Governor privately "five months ago."

"We met in my New York City office and spoke - just the two of us - for about two hours," said Koch, who, with his brother Charles, had taken extraordinary security measures to help ensure that nobody outside of the event would ever hear what had taken place inside of it.

The Kochs have spent millions funding the Global Warming Denial Industry and lobbying against RGGI, an agreement among 10 Northeastern states to create a cap-and-trade market to curb pollutants --- such as those emitted by many of Koch Industries' plants --- and to invest the profits into clean energy initiatives.

Tonight, Christie was asked directly about the private meetings, but managed to bamboozle the show's host Eric Scott --- and the voters of New Jersey along with him --- in his answer, charging that the issue has only come up because "reporters don't do their homework." It seems it may have been Scott who hadn't done his, as he allowed Christie to deflect the question from the private, one-on-one meeting Koch revealed he'd had with Christie, and instead claim that the June meeting in Colorado couldn't have affected his decision on RGGI, since it took place a month after his announcement about it.

"I don't know how a conversation I...had two months after I did something, could have an effect on what I did," said Christie, knowing exactly how he was scamming both Scott and his constituents who were listening tonight...

The question came near the end of the hour-long show [relevant audio and transcript posted at the end of this article], as Scott asked about "a little bit of controversy this week" concerning Christie's "trip to Colorado," where he "met with a pair of billionaire oil industry brothers."

The Governor downplayed the event, and the name "Koch" was never uttered by either of the men. "Actually I went and spoke at a conference that they were sponsoring. There were about 400 people there."

When Scott asked whether he'd spoken "with these two individuals [the Koch brothers]...as has been reported," that's when Christie began his bait and switch.

"Well...Sure, they were there," said Christie. "I spoke with them and 398 other people."

"Was there a private meeting with those individuals?," Scott pressed.

"He...they welcomed me and said hello and we talked for about a minute and a half, and I went to give my speech," Christie responded.

"I guess the concern is, or the question that was raised is, was there any connection between that conversation and your withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative...That's the connection that..."

"Sure," Christie interrupted sharply, "And that's because reporters don't do their homework. I had already withdrawn from RGGI months before I gave the speech in Colorado. Two months before hand....So, I don't know how a conversation I could have...had two months after I did something, could have an effect on what I did."

"So that wasn't even a relevant topic of conversation then?" asked Scott, clearly unaware of the two different meetings in question.

"No, cause I'd already done it! And I, and I went there two months later!...And I already said, by the way, they didn't even raise it with me," Christie retorted.

Now, the facts are that Christie's withdraw from RGGI was actually on May 26th, exactly one month prior to his June 26th keynote for the Kochs, not two months prior, as he states. But the real bait and switch is where Christie asks, incredulously, how his meeting with the Kochs in Colorado could have had anything to do with his withdraw from RGGI a month prior.

In fact, it's the private meeting with Christie that David Koch revealed during his introductory remarks which are the concern, though apparently Scott wasn't fully up to speed on the issue. Neither, apparently, was the reporter who asked a similar question of Christie earlier today, allowing him, at that press conference as well, to deny discussing RGGI in Colorado, as reported by AP. That reporter (not AP's Beth DeFalco, whose story is linked), was also not fully up to speed on the issue, and thought the concern had to do with conversations about RGGI in Colorado, versus at the private meeting with Koch in NYC, five months prior to the RGGI withdraw.

So, it's true, "reporters don't do their homework." But that's exactly what helped Christie fool two of them today.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, told AP's DeFalco on the night the Christie story broke --- Part 2 in our exclusive Mother Jones series on the secret Koch tapes --- that he felt the admission by Koch during his introduction to Christie in Colorado was "the smoking gun that shows [Christie's] been working with the Koch brothers from the beginning."

On the show tonight, Christie then proceeded to equate disclosure about his secret trip to Vail for the political and fund raising speech for the Koch crowd to a two-hour family trip to the University of Delaware football game he'd taken over the weekend.

"Going to a University of Delaware football game is different than going to a conference where there are potentially influential individuals who could affect policy," 101.5FM's Scott challenged.

"You don't think there weren't influential people who could affect policy at the University of Delaware football game?," Christie responded. "You know the Vice President of the United States went to University of Delaware, so he's fairly influential."

Christie insisted there was no public business carried out during his "personal trip" to the Koch seminar, and that it was no different than a private vacation with his family, or even a trip to the deli. "I'm there to give a speech. I go in, I give my speech and I go," he told Scott.

In fact, during his speech, in which he spent nearly an hour detailing his work as Governor in New Jersey, and how he felt much of what he had done needed to be applied to the rest of the nation, Christie revealed he'd done much more than simply "give my speech and...go." As he noted at the very top of his speech (complete audio and transcript here), he'd spent time throughout the day meeting with the hundreds of corporate barons and politicos on hand...

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE: David, thank you very much for the introduction and thank you all of you for the great welcome. Not just now but throughout the day today. I've had an opportunity to meet many of you and to be able to thank you personally for what you're doing to support folks like me who are out there on the front lines fighting for the principles and the values that we believe in. Believe me, now's the time, and I've heard this repeated many times today, now's the time when we need to fight even harder because the opponents of what we want to try to maintain in our country are fighting harder than ever. And I'll state to you why I think it is that they're fighting even harder than ever as we discuss these issues tonight.

The next day, on one of three cable news shows Christie would appear on, in-studio in New York City, he also alluded to having spoken the day before with TX Gov. Rick Perry, who was also at the Koch seminar, along with Governors Bob McDonnell (VA) and Rick Scott (FL).

"We're incredibly transparent about what I do and when I do it," Christie insisted to Scott. "The state party puts out my political schedule, when I'm doing political fund raising. They tell people where I'm going and what I'm doing. My office puts out when I'm traveling, both inside the state and out of the state on official business, when I'm going to be doing public appearances. But I also, ya know, went to the deli on Saturday, do I need to tell people that too?"

The state Republican Party only admitted that Christie had traveled to Colorado --- and claimed that they had paid for the trip --- after it was revealed in the Mother Jones article. The trip was not on the Governor's public calendar.

Christie continued: "Now, I'm thinking --- I haven't made up my mind yet --- but I'm thinking of taking to New York for dinner. Do I have to let the press know that I'm going to New York on Thursday for two hours to take my wife to dinner, and let them know where I'm going?"

Scott responded, "Well, I kind of think that's different than going somewhere and giving a speech that could have an impact on policy."

"I don't," said the Governor.

During his Koch speech in Colorado, Christie was highly critical of President Obama, for, in his words, having "failed the fundamental test of leadership, which I believe is to tell the people who hired you the truth, unvarnished truth."

In addition to not telling "the people who hired" him the truth about his keynote at the Koch conference for a full two months until we revealed it last week, and about his private meeting with David Koch several months prior, the Governor once again failed to tell the "unvarnished truth" tonight on the Meet the Governor radio show in New Jersey.

* * *

The audio from the 9/13/11 Meet the Governor on NJ's 101.5FM, concerning Christie's meeting with the Kochs follows below [appx 7 mins]...

The text transcript from that part of the segment is here...

ERIC SCOTT (HOST): There's been a little bit of controversy this week, and again today about, once again, your travel out of state. You were asked about it at press conference today. Trip to Colorado, met with a pair of billionaire oil industry brothers. That was apparently... There's been a little bit of controversy this week, and again today about, once again, your travel out of state. You were asked about it at press conference today. Trip to Colorado, met with a pair of billionaire oil industry brothers. That was apparently... GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Actually, I went and spoke at a conference that they were sponsoring. There were about 400 people there. SCOTT: So...did you speak with these two individuals...as has been reported... CHRISTIE: Well...Sure, they were there... SCOTT: Okay... CHRISTIE: I spoke with them and 398 other people... SCOTT: Okay... CHRISTIE: ...that I gave my speech to. SCOTT: Was there a private meeting with those individuals? CHRISTIE: He...they welcomed me and said hello and we talked for about a minute and a half, and then I went to give my speech. SCOTT: I guess the concern is, or the question that was raised is, was there any connection between that conversation and your withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative... CHRISTIE: ...Yeah... SCOTT: ...That's the connection that... CHRISTIE: Sure. And that's because reporters don't do their homework. I had already withdrawn from RGGI months before I gave the speech in Colorado. Two months before hand. [Ed note: It was actually just one month. He announced his withdraw at a press conference on May 26, and his speech for the Kochs in Colorado was on June 26.] So, I don't know how a conversation I could have...I had two months after I did something, could have an effect on what I did. SCOTT: But that wasn't...so that wasn't even a relevant topic of conversation with them? CHRISTIE: No, cause I'd already done it! And I, and I went there two months later! SCOTT: You were asked... CHRISTIE: And I already said, by the way, they didn't even raise it with me. SCOTT:You were asked as a result of --- what was this, Mothers Jones --- Mother Jones magazine, I guess was the... CHRISTIE: Yeah, their website. Yeah. SCOTT: Yeah, it was their website put this out the first time. Um, out of that came a question about whether or not you would release your travel records for where you travel out of state, when you travel out of state, whether you're on personal business or on party business... CHRISTIE: No. SCOTT: I mean every governor ultimately ends up facing this question at some point in their term. CHRISTIE: I'm not gonna...Listen, it's very simple. If there's something that has to do with my official duties, we release all of that information. Publicly. If I'm traveling personally, I'm not telling you. That's it! There has to be, I have to have some personal life. Like this past Saturday, Eric, I left the state to go to a University of Delaware football game with my wife and my four children. Do you think the people of the state of New Jersey are dying to know that? Now what relevance does that have to me being governor, that on a Saturday evening I went to Delaware? What I did was, I called the Lieutenant Governor, I said to her "Hey, Kim, I'm gonna be in Delaware for three hours. So if anything happens, their gonna call you first, and then give me a call." SCOTT: Well, conversely, you've always said though, "I'm always Governor." I mean, and as Governor, you're always Governor... CHRISTIE: I am always... SCOTT: ...So, you're always representing the state as Governor, and going to a University of Delaware football game is different than going to a conference where there are potentially influential individuals who could affect policy. CHRISTIE: You don't think there weren't influential people who could affect policy at the University of Delaware football game? SCOTT: Well, it's the University of Delaware... CHRISTIE: Yeah. Well, you can say that, but you know the Vice President of the United States went to the University of Delaware, so he's fairly influential and I'm now being said, that I have some influence in certain places... SCOTT: More so than Oprah... CHRISTIE: ...Well, well...now I don't know about "more so than Oprah", but the fact is, if there are personal trips that the public isn't paying for and it has nothing to do with my public duties, I'm not gonna put out a release before. Because you know what happens, Eric? Members of the press come. SCOTT: Sure. CHRISTIE: Well, they have no right to be at the Delaware football game with me. And they have no right to be on my...Remember when I went on vacation this summer, they wanted to know where I was during the vacation portion. I told them when I went to a conference. And I told them when I going to the National Governor's Association and there was a gap in between of five days. SCOTT: Mm, hmm.. CHRISTIE: They wanted to know where I was. No. SCOTT: I don't think anybody would dispute that, that family time, you know, for whatever... CHRISTIE: Well, that's what this... SCOTT: ...Or where you were going... CHRISTIE: ...It's personal time!... SCOTT: ...This was in Colorado, this was a speech.... CHRISTIE: ...It's personal... SCOTT: ...and there were people... CHRISTIE: ...It's personal time. It's on a weekend. It's not being paid for by the public. It has nothing to do with my official duties. And so, I'm not gonna... SCOTT: At none of these events, you don't have any official conversations with anybody about anything. CHRISTIE: No! I'm there to give a speech. I go in, I give my speech and I go. And the fact is, there has to be a zone of privacy, for even people in the public. And, I'm, we're incredibly transparent about what I do and when I do it. The state party puts out my political schedule, when I'm doing political fund raising. They tell people where I'm going and what I'm doing. Uh...my office puts out when I'm traveling, both inside the state and out of the state on official business, when I'm going to be doing public appearances. But I also, ya know, went to the deli on Saturday, do I need to tell people that too? I mean, ya know, Thursday's my wife's birthday. Now, I'm thinking --- I haven't made up my mind yet --- but I'm thinking of taking to New York for dinner. Do I have to let the press know that I'm going to New York on Thursday for two hours to take my wife to dinner, and let them know where I'm going? SCOTT: Well, I kind of think that's different than going somewhere and giving a speech that could have an impact on policy. CHRISTIE: I don't see...Well, first of all, you read the speech. The speech is nothing different than what I've said in New Jersey all the time. It's no different. Read the speech. You've heard it. You've heard it a lot of times. Those people were hearing it for the first time, cause they're from Colorado. [ed note: Koch Industries is based in Kansas, David Koch has an office in New York City, and the several hundred attendees at the Kochs' secret seminar in Vail where from all over the country. Mother Jones' Gavin Aronsen detailed most of the 32 names described by Charles Koch as "great partners" who had given the brothers' political operations $1 million or more over the past 12 months. Additionally, Governors Rick Perry (TX), Rick Scott (FL), and Bob McDonnell (VA) were also known to be in attendance at the conference this year, and Christie alluded to having "spoken with Gov. Perry yesterday" during an appearance on cable news the following morning in Manhattan.] But, no. I'm gonna draw a line here. And I think most of the people in New Jersey will respect me for drawing a line and saying when it's involving my personal life, I'm not gonna release before hand --- I'll answer questions afterwards about it, if people wanna ask me about it --- But I'm not gonna release before hand, so the press can go and hound me there, because that's what happened at times. And, ya know, when we had the controversy about my son's little league games --- or, "my son's little league games", his high school baseball games --- the next day I had press at his high school baseball games. Not sports press. Political press. While I'm there to root for my son at his baseball game. They don't belong there. And it's intrusive to me to have them there. And so, ya know, I'm not gonna release that kind of stuff to let people, ya know, kind of hound me, and chase me around when I'm doing things on my personal time. Mayor Bloomberg follows this very same policy. This is nothing new. The mayor doesn't tell people when he's --- he doesn't even tell 'em when he's going away on vacation, at least I tell you guys when I'm going on vacation --- he doesn't tell 'em when he's going or where he's going. His view is that's his personal time, he's entitled to it. And ya know what? I agree with him. I go beyond him and tell you when I'm going on vacation, but I'm not gonna tell ya where, if it's out of state. If it's in state, like when we go to the beach house I tell you, because people can't get to that. SCOTT: Sure. CHRISTIE: So, ya know, I mean, I am just not gonna, ya know...If I give the press that information, then they're gonna want even more. Then they're gonna want even more. And they're gonna want even more. Ya gotta draw a line somewhere. And when I go, and I travel on, not the public dime, and I don't take, public, ya know, transportation...I...with my family... or doing things that don't have anything to do...anything to do...with public dole, ya know, I'm not gonna tell you. That's it. Not before hand, so that people can like chase me there or hound me. No, thank you.



