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The executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Patrick Foye, told the editorial board of the NY Daily News today that chairman David Samson lacks the moral authority to run the agency.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — The executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Patrick Foye, said today that embattled chairman and prominent New Jersey lawyer David Samson lacks the moral authority to run the agency, according to a report by the NY Daily News.

The newspaper's editorial board met with Foye today and asked him about Samson, who faces mounting questions about potential conflicts of interest between his work at the Port Authority and the work of his well-known, private law firm, Wolff & Samson.

Most recently, a Star-Ledger review found Samson voted to award millions of dollars in Port Authority contracts to a company whose owner is represented by Samson's law firm in a hotly contested and lucrative legal fight involving a railroad construction company.

“Does David Samson have the moral authority to run the Port Authority?” the newspaper's editorial board asked Foye.

“No,” Foye said.

He later declined to explain his answer, according to the newspaper, stating, "I am not going to elaborate, but that is my view." A spokesman for the Port Authority, Chris Valens, also declined to elaborate on Foye's comments.

A spokeswoman for Samson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Star-Ledger staff writer Steve Strunsky contributed to this report.

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