MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: New Jersey Port Authority Scandal

Interview

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Democrat Louis Greenwald is the majority leader of the New Jersey assembly.
Ted Mann is covering this story for "The Wall Street Journal." And my
colleague, Alex Wagner, is the host of "NOW" weekdays at 4:00 Eastern on
MSNBC.

Let me go to Assemblyman -- majority leader -- Mr. Greenwald. Thank you,
sir, for joining us. We haven`t had you on before. I want to know what
you thought of that performance by the governor in the context of what has
happened and what we know so far.

LOUIS GREENWALD (D), NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think
the governor`s performance today was a little stale, to be honest with you,
compared to what we`re used to seeing, some of the bombastic comments and
bravado that he`s brought to the state of the states in previous years.
But I think in the intro, it was very well said. Bridge-gate defines him.
It doesn`t define us as a state, it defines him and his actions. And while
he did not focus much on it today -- and I actually think that was
appropriate because we ought to get to the business of the state -- the
truth of the matter is, the governor keeps apologizing to the people for
his staff betraying him.

It`s time for the governor to apologize to the people of the state of New
Jersey and the inconvenience that his leadership and the culture that he
created caused the people of Fort Lee and Bergen County in the state of New
Jersey now as we move forward with these investigations.

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MATTHEWS: Well, let me go back to the assembly leader, the majority
leader. Mr. Greenwald, it seems to me that every single person whose name
has come up in this, starting with Wildstein and Baroni and Kelly and
Stepien, everybody who`s really been nabbed here has somebody -- was part
of this little cabal to close the bridges down, knew about it, enjoyed what
was going on, was totally with it. And nobody seems to have been -- no
appointee of the governor ever raised their hands, his or her hands, and
said, This isn`t what our governor wants done here.

There`s no evidence at all, Mr. Greenwald, of anybody in the governor`s
circle, those closest to him, hand-picked by him, that ever said anything
but, This is great. Let`s close that bridge down for four or five days.

GREENWALD: Yes, you know, you`re absolutely right. The reality is that
the governor is the chief executive and -- but he`s also intimately
involved in his campaign. And he rose to national prominence because he`s
a very savvy politician. There is not a politician worth their weight in
gold who literally less than two months before the election in the most
populated county in the state would not pick up the phone and call the Port
Authority or the Department of Transportation commissioner and say, What
the hell is going on out there? There are traffic jams five days in a row,
you know, that are being reported on the news.

So I can`t imagine. I also know, being an elected official myself and in
that campaign mode between September and November, you`re talking to your
campaign manager every day. So whether it was in his executive office with
Bridget Kelly or on his campaign staff with his campaign manager, with
everything that was at stake and the pressure to get the numbers to all-
time highs for his national platform, I can`t imagine that they weren`t
focused on that or he just said, Aw, shucks, can`t believe this is going
on.

He is too active. He is -- he`s too in charge to not reach out and ask
that question. Now, the governor says he didn`t, and we`re going to take
him at his word. Our investigation is going to go to people like Bridget
Kelly, like Mr. Stepien in a very methodical and strategic approach and see
-- we all know there was an abuse of power. But what was the root of the
abuse of power and how deep did it go?

MATTHEWS: Are you going to subpoena them all this week?
GREENWALD: We are interviewing outside counsel right now. We are not --
you know, the state of New Jersey is 120 legislators on a very small budget
for our legislative staffs. So we are interviewing outside counsel right
now. We hope to make an announcement tomorrow.

We believe -- and as a lawyer, I would say there needs to be a very
methodical and systematic approach. There will be further subpoenas.
There are going to be further hearings. But we`re going to work directly
with outside counsel to see what that procedure should be, what order it
should take to make sure that it is be done in a fair way and a fair
process but doesn`t overreach to lose credibility for the investigation
itself.

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