Quote:
Originally Posted by Noodle Wazlib
what does this mean for the fat man himself?
will he be going on trial next?
Noodle:
Paul Fishman, the Assistant United States Attorney, in comments following the jury's verdict, noted that it is not his policy to announce which individuals are being investigated - and who may (or may not) be indicted. He did not explicitly state that Governor Christie is being investigated and will possibly be indicted, but he also did not explicitly rule out such a possibility.
Appeals will now go forward so it will be months (if not years) before Baroni and Kelly actually surrender to U.S. Marshals and start serving their time - assuming their convictions are upheld on appeal. As far as Governor Christie is concerned, he may (or may not) be indicted by the Feds, but I suspect it is far more likely that his situation will be dealt with in the political arena. If U.S. Attorney Fishman is inclined to indict Governor Christie, he'll probably wait for the verdicts against Kelly and Baroni to be upheld on appeal before proceeding against the Governor. There's also the possibility, now that they've both been convicted and are facing the possibility of serious jail time, that Baroni and Kelly will reach some kind of deal with the Government where they agree to cooperate in a [possible] future trial against the Governor. (I'm not saying that will happen, but it's certainly a possibility.)
As for Governor Chris Christie, Kelly and Baroni's convictions are bad news. (If the jury had come back with a verdict of "Not Guility" on all counts, it would have taken Christie all of five minutes to get in front of a camera and claim total vindication. As it is, this verdict is a calamity for the Governor.)
During the trial key members of the New Jersey Assembly were quoted in press reports as looking closely at how to proceed with impeaching the Governor. With these convictions, it's a virtual certainty Chris Christie will be impeached and removed from office. His political fate will be decided by elected New Jersey pols. It's a stunning reversal of fortune for a man who was running for President six months ago.
