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David Samson (left) and Jeff Chiesa during an interview in the Governor-Elect Transition Office after Gov. Chris Christie was elected in 2009.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — For four decades, David Samson has quietly prospered at the nexus of New Jersey's powerful legal and political worlds as his clout and connections have enriched his law firm, Wolff & Samson.

The firm, one of New Jersey’s largest, has cashed in on state contracts, winning more than $8.4 million in work in the two years after Gov. Chris Christie appointed Samson to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a Star-Ledger review of records shows.

Friends and political insiders say that as an attorney, Samson, who is the Port Authority’s chairman, has a reputation for delivering what his clients want with some subtlety. That’s why they were surprised to learn of his alleged roles in the two controversies plaguing the Christie administration.

"Dave has good judgment. Even if he were inclined to do that kind of thing, he has good judgment," said Paul Rowe, chairman of the law firm Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis and a longtime friend. "That’s the kind of thing Dave doesn’t do."

Samson is one of 18 people under subpoena from a state legislative committee to produce documents — due Monday — related to the September closure of lanes to the George Washington Bridge. In a previously released email, Samson said Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye was "playing in traffic, made a big mistake" after the lane closures were reported in the press.

And it’s Samson’s firm that represented a developer, the Rockefeller Group, that wanted to build in Hoboken — the city that Mayor Dawn Zimmer says was denied Hurricane Sandy relief aid because she wouldn’t support the real estate deal.

Samson, 74, who would not comment for this report, hired two high-powered law firms in the wake of the controversies, which could stop Christie’s presidential bid before it starts. He personally retained the Newark law firm led by Angelo Genova, as well as the firm of former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Samson became chairman of the Port Authority in early 2011. His firm made $8.4 million from its contract work with the state and authorities that year and in 2012, according to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. Figures for 2013 are not yet available.

In the two-year period, the firm got lots of work from agencies controlled by Christie: the New Jersey Economic Development Authority ($1.15 million), NJ Transit ($1.4 million), the Turnpike Authority ($2.67 million) and the South Jersey Transportation Authority ($113,700). And Wolff & Samson got more than $1 million in work from the state attorney general and the state Treasury Department.

The added legal work came as Jeffrey Chiesa was attorney general. He had worked for Wolff & Samson and Christie’s U.S. Attorney’s Office before his stint in state government. Samson, who was attorney general from 2002 to 2003, led Christie’s 2009 transition team with Chiesa.

Another area where the law firm has prospered is in its lobbying work. In 2009 and 2010, the firm earned less than $400,000 from its lobbying efforts, according to ELEC records. But in 2011, the number shot up to $1.2 million, and in 2012, $1.1 million.

Wolff & Samson — partnering with Rothstein Kass — is also one of more than 30 firms approved to monitor Hurricane Sandy recovery and rebuilding grants. So far, Wolff & Samson hasn’t been awarded any contracts through the program, said Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Community Affairs on Sandy recovery.

Samson’s supporters say all this shows he’s good at what he does.

Ralph Izzo, PSE&G chairman and CEO, said the utility giant retained Samson’s firm for help on permitting related to transmission and regulation.

Izzo bristled at the suggestion that the company was buying access. "The access doesn’t matter much. … Most doors I knock on open," he said, adding that Samson’s "reputation and credibility" does matter.

He said the two hit it off personally, talking over dinner every few months about their mutual love for the Yankees, and Samson’s wife’s and Izzo’s daughter’s affinity for horses.

Izzo said he empathized with Samson’s frustration as an unpaid board chair whose authority was being challenged by Foye, the executive director and an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"The empathy I felt was there’s often a misunderstanding around the role of the chair of a board and it’s governance responsibility and the role and responsibility of a management team that’s operating as complex an entity as the Port Authority," he said.

Samson engenders similar loyalty from Rowe, who has taken his friend on four of his annual trips to Hungary.

"Some people, you turn around, they cut your heart out. He’s not like that," Rowe said. "He’s not a pussycat, but he’s not like that."

Not everyone agrees.

That few people were willing to go on the record about Samson speaks to the power he wields, even as U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman reviews Bridgegate and interviews Hoboken officials.

But some contend his reputation as a statesman and a gentleman is a veneer, saying Samson has managed to be centrally involved without being the center of attention.

Born in Newark, Samson went to Hillside High School and Rutgers University, where he graduated in 1961 with a commission in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. It was not until his active duty tour — six months that were extended to a year because of tensions in Berlin — that he settled on a career in law, he told The Star-Ledger in 2002.

Port Authority chairman David Samson talks with Gov. Chris Christie last year. The 74-year-old Samson is linked to both major scandals plaguing the governor's office, the questions about the George Washington Bridge lane closures and the allegations of trading Sandy aid for fast-tracking a politically linked development.

Wolff & Samson, the Roseland firm that Samson co-founded with Joel Wolff in 1972, now has 120 lawyers.

Former Democratic Gov. James McGreevey, who appointed Samson attorney general, said has had "a long history of stellar public service with both Republican and Democratic governors."

Samson and Christie jointly received a death threat from the Latin Kings in 2003. Samson was attorney general, and Christie was in his seven-year stint as U.S. attorney.

"That brings you together," Christie deadpanned in 2010 when announcing Samson was his pick to lead the Port Authority. "They threatened to kill both of us together, which was exciting."

Weeks before Samson was confirmed, the bistate agency in December 2010 chose the Trenton-based planning and design firm Clarke Caton Hintz to study a redevelopment zone in Hoboken.

The Port Authority said the firm beat out three other firms, which the agency declined to name, because it "scored the highest due to having the most experienced staff assigned to the project and the most relevant and recent experience with redevelopment/rehabilitation plans."

Zimmer has said she was baffled when the study, which cost $51,443, recommended developing three blocks of the 19-block area, which was owned by the Rockefeller Group, a client of Wolff & Samson. Zimmer says then-DCA Commissioner Lori Grifa helped line up the grant, and pressured the mayor to support the development plan when she left state government to work for Wolff & Samson. Grifa declined comment.

As the state Legislature presses on with its investigation, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said Samson’s connections to the controversies raise questions about his judgment.

"When you get a guy like David Samson who is a former attorney general, that understands law, it’s pretty common sense — you step away from those things from one reason — if you are representing someone there is a direct financial benefit," Sweeney said. "There is supposed to be a level of professional integrity. I know it’s New Jersey, but I still believe in that."

Staff writers Susan K. Livio, Ryan Hutchins and Steve Strunsky contributed to this report.

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