Christie's crony corruption throws up another roadblock to 2016

Still not writing Gov. Blowhard off as a 2016 candidate, but I'm pretty sure Christie has lost Hoboken.

Two senior members of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration warned a New Jersey mayor earlier this year that her town would be starved of hurricane relief money unless she approved a lucrative redevelopment plan favored by the governor, according to the mayor and emails and personal notes she shared with msnbc.

Longer at the link. Shorter version: Port Authority hired "a reputable firm" to do a study on redeveloping some prime real estate in lovely Hoboken. It took time to conduct the study.

Finally, in January 2013, the firm – which was tasked with evaluating a 19-block area – concluded that only the three blocks in which the Rockefeller Group had an ownership stake were fit for redevelopment.

The mayor of Hoboken, a Democrat and otherwise a Christie supporter, wasn't willing to simplyn hand over her town to Christie's cronies. And then this happened with the sandy relief funds.

Christie’s people came back with less than 1% of what Hoboken had sought. With $250 million to disburse statewide, just $142,000 went to Hoboken – enough to help defray the cost of one backup generator to power a flood pump. Out of another pool of money for recovery grants – $1.8 billion in all – Hoboken received $200,000.

Meanwhile the Jersey legislature is issuing subpoenas and Christie lawyered up. If another couple mayors come forward, this story isn't going to die any time soon. Nonetheless, Christie is on the road raising money. He's clearly not ready to quit yet. [photo via]