U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, the Port Authority’s inspector general and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have scheduled a news conference for after the court proceeding.
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Prosecutors also filed conspiracy charges against a former United lobbyist, Jamie Fox.
At a September 2011 dinner with four United employees including a “senior executive” from the airline’s Chicago headquarters who had power to approve routes, the Port Authority official, who is unnamed but is clearly Samson, mentioned that United should fly between Newark and Columbia, South Carolina. He is also a New Jersey delegate for Trump and is leading the delegation to Cleveland next week. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman called it “a betrayal of our trust and what we have the right to expect from those in public life”.
Later, after learning that United was not interested in reinstating the flight, Samson admitted he pulled a hanger project off the agency’s agenda to pressure United.
The flights came at a time when United was negotiating a lease for a $25 million hangar at Newark, which is a hub for the airline, and the relocation of a taxiway for $10 million, according to Fishman’s 20 page summary of facts from investigation released Thursday. United agreed to pay the fine and enhance its anti-bribery and anti-corruption training and standards, Fishman said in announcing he wouldn’t prosecute the airline.
The Port Authority issued a statement following Samson’s guilty plea today in which the agency vowed to continue pushing for openness in its operations.
In court, Judge Linares said he accepted Samson’s guilty plea to knowingly and corruptly accepting a thing of value, a reference to the airline flights, in return for influence with the Port Authority. During that dinner and following a discussion of certain of United’s priorities for Newark Airport, Samson told the United representatives that Continental Airlines Inc., a predecessor of United, used to have nonstop flight route between Newark Airport and Columbia Airport, and that the route had made his travel from New Jersey to his home in SC more convenient. In an email exchange between Samson and Fox on November 2, 2011, Samson and Fox discussed using Samson’s official authority to remove from the agenda the hangar agreement for the goal of pressuring United to reinstate the Newark/Columbia route.
One of the New Jersey governor’s most trusted confidants pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of taking advantage of his position for personal benefit.
The agreement was accompanied by a narrative that described how United executives were pressured into adding a flight between Newark Liberty International Airport and Columbia, South Carolina, near where former Port Authority Chairman David Samson and his wife had a vacation home. United discontinued the route after Samson resigned in March 2014. But a plea agreement has shortened the maximum prison term on Samson to 24 months. U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares set sentencing for October 20.
Samson wasn’t charged in the bridge investigation, in which the Christie allies were accused of closing lanes leading to the bridge to exact revenge against a politician. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Fox, 61, was charged on Thursday with conspiring to commit bribery.
Fox’s attorney Michael Critchley said his client would never jeopardize his reputation by engaging in illegal behavior and that the flight discussion was part of an arrangement that he thought was appropriate.
Two months later, United officials were surprised when their proposal for a new hangar for widebody aircraft at Newark was not on the agenda of the Port Authority board.
Samson, whose attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment, wasn’t charged in the Bridgegate investigation.
“As we move forward, continuing to earn and keep the trust of our employees, customers, shareholders, and the communities we serve around the world remains critical to our success”, United CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement Thursday.
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“It undermines the already eroded confidence the public has that government is being operated for their benefit”, said New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat who helped lead a committee that investigated the bridge case.
