Here's the comment on Patch that got me looking at the Russo-Dwek meeting transcript:
That's Lane Bajardi (prosbus) providing cover for Mike Russo, claiming that the chatty fellow we saw on that FBI surveillance video was in fact "threatened" like a trapped rat looking for an "escape from that environment as quickly and safely as possible." (Before or after dessert?)
So when GA went to the transcript for a rebuttal, this caught my eye:
Hard to see? OK, this bit:
Last week we met.
So this was a second meeting. With whom did he meet the first time?
But first, ask yourself: how do we know WHAT we know about the Russo-Dwek meeting?
We know what the authors of The Jersey Sting were permitted to make public--ONE FBI surveillance tape- with permission of the F.BI. And the authors of the Jersey Sting know what the FBI let them know.
The public mistakenly thinks they know the whole story.
Wrong. We know what the FBI has allowed us to know.
Did Russo meet with Dwek after this meeting? The answer is, we can't know. But from Russo's mouth, he tells his lunch companions, Solomon Dwek, Mahir Khalil, and Denis Jaslow, "as I was saying last week we met I'm pro-development."
Isn't that interesting?
So for Russo, this was a second meeting. With Dwek, Khalil or Jaslow?
GA checked page one... it wasn't Dwek.
Russo met with Khalil and/or Jaslow.
Knowing WHO these men were provides the context for what we can presume Russo knew going in, and why he was there in the first place. Was Russo unwittingly solicited for this meeting- as prosbus Bajardi claimed- and feeling "threatened" fled asap? Or was he there to strike a 'deal'? And if he was there to strike a deal, why didn't he go back?
Unless he did.
So what do we know about Russo's lunch companions, Khalil and Jaslow?
December 17, 2009
June 7, 2011
Wow, so BOTH of Russo's lunch companions, Khalil and Jaslow were scooped up on July 23, 2009- 2 of the 44 arrested that day.
And subsequently indicted by the USDOJ pursuant to their roles in "finding public officials WILLING to assist Dwek in obtaining approvals for his purported real estate development projects" and Russo in his own words was at his SECOND meeting with ONE or BOTH of them; Russo said, "...as I was saying last week we met I'm pro-development."
Isn't that interesting?
2 out of Dwek's 3 lunch companions on that day were busted in Bid Rig 3.
Guilty, among other things, of arranging meetings with public officials "willing" to assist Dwek in the building approval process.
Check out the exchange on pages 22 and 23:
Come to the City Council.
Do you get that? It's clear to GA that Russo knows WHY he's there, and is telling Dwek "I'm in control and I'm your guy". Another quote later on: "You do for me, I'll do for you".
And note Russo said "WE" not "I"; "what WE'VE been trying to do..."
So, there you go prosbus Bajardi. Thank you for raising the question of Russo's state-of-mind during his infamous meeting at Jersey City's Light Horse Tavern.
Because revisiting the transcript, we discover it's Russo's SECOND meeting on this venture, lending credibility to the theory he was there To DEAL and credibility to what some believe was followed by a third meeting.
If there was, the Feds aren't telling. Neither is Russo.
That's Lane Bajardi (prosbus) providing cover for Mike Russo, claiming that the chatty fellow we saw on that FBI surveillance video was in fact "threatened" like a trapped rat looking for an "escape from that environment as quickly and safely as possible." (Before or after dessert?)
So when GA went to the transcript for a rebuttal, this caught my eye:
Hard to see? OK, this bit:
COUNCILMAN RUSSO: The other thing is, I'm -- as I was -- as I was saying last week, we met -- I'm very much pro- development. And I'd like to use development as a tool for the city. So what we've been trying to do, what we'll probably let (indiscernible) while I'm on the council is instead of having, you know, the developer come in and go to the zoning board and ask for six different variances, we're (indiscernible). Come to the city council.See that?
"...as I was saying last week we met -- I'm very much pro-development."
Last week we met.
So this was a second meeting. With whom did he meet the first time?
But first, ask yourself: how do we know WHAT we know about the Russo-Dwek meeting?
We know what the authors of The Jersey Sting were permitted to make public--ONE FBI surveillance tape- with permission of the F.BI. And the authors of the Jersey Sting know what the FBI let them know.
The public mistakenly thinks they know the whole story.
Wrong. We know what the FBI has allowed us to know.
Did Russo meet with Dwek after this meeting? The answer is, we can't know. But from Russo's mouth, he tells his lunch companions, Solomon Dwek, Mahir Khalil, and Denis Jaslow, "as I was saying last week we met I'm pro-development."
Isn't that interesting?
So for Russo, this was a second meeting. With Dwek, Khalil or Jaslow?
GA checked page one... it wasn't Dwek.
Russo met with Khalil and/or Jaslow.
Knowing WHO these men were provides the context for what we can presume Russo knew going in, and why he was there in the first place. Was Russo unwittingly solicited for this meeting- as prosbus Bajardi claimed- and feeling "threatened" fled asap? Or was he there to strike a 'deal'? And if he was there to strike a deal, why didn't he go back?
Unless he did.
We know what the FBI has allowed us to know.
So what do we know about Russo's lunch companions, Khalil and Jaslow?
Maher Khalil
US Department of Justice, US Attorney District of NJ, Press release December 17, 2009
The Indictment stems from a two-track undercover FBI investigation into political corruption and international money laundering which became public with the arrests of 44 defendants on July 23, 2009.
Vega and Khalil were both arrested on criminal Complaints on that day.
Khalil pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares on Sept. 9 for his own acceptance of bribes from the CW and his role in facilitating bribes and illicit campaign contributions to other public officials and political figures. At his plea hearing, Khalil admitted that, at Vega’s direction, he accepted corrupt cash payments given be the CW for Vega and converted them into illegal campaign contributions from “straw” donors to fund Vega’s electoral campaign.
Denis Jaslow
United States Attorney's Office, District of New JerseyJune 7, 2011
NEWARK – Denis Jaslow, former investigator for the Hudson County Board of Elections, admitted today to agreeing to provide a $10,000 bribe payment to a Secaucus official in order to influence that official regarding real estate development matters in Secaucus, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Denis Jaslow, 48, of North Bergen and Wall, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to a superseding Information charging him with aiding and abetting the offer and giving of, and agreeing to give, a bribe to the then-mayor of Secaucus.
Between November 2008 and July 2009, Jaslow participated in several recorded meetings and telephone calls with Solomon Dwek, an FBI cooperating witness posing as a residential real estate developer. At one meeting, Jaslow accepted a $5,000 cash payment from Dwek to introduce Dwek to public officials willing to assist him in obtaining approvals for his purported real estate development projects in exchange for corrupt payments. Pursuant to that arrangement, Jaslow set up several meetings with Dwek and public officials in New Jersey, including the Secaucus mayor, referred to in court documents as the “Secaucus official.”
Wow, so BOTH of Russo's lunch companions, Khalil and Jaslow were scooped up on July 23, 2009- 2 of the 44 arrested that day.
And subsequently indicted by the USDOJ pursuant to their roles in "finding public officials WILLING to assist Dwek in obtaining approvals for his purported real estate development projects" and Russo in his own words was at his SECOND meeting with ONE or BOTH of them; Russo said, "...as I was saying last week we met I'm pro-development."
Isn't that interesting?
2 out of Dwek's 3 lunch companions on that day were busted in Bid Rig 3.
Guilty, among other things, of arranging meetings with public officials "willing" to assist Dwek in the building approval process.
Check out the exchange on pages 22 and 23:
- Russo tells Dwek he will have a "veto-proof" six-vote majority on the City Council
Dwek: So you're the man?
Russo: So at the end of the day, I'm going to have total control of this.
- Then Russo tells Dwek, "So what we've been trying to do... while I'm on the council is instead of having you, you know, go to the zoning board and ask for six different variances, we're (indiscernible). Come to the City Council.
Come to the City Council.
Do you get that? It's clear to GA that Russo knows WHY he's there, and is telling Dwek "I'm in control and I'm your guy". Another quote later on: "You do for me, I'll do for you".
And note Russo said "WE" not "I"; "what WE'VE been trying to do..."
So, there you go prosbus Bajardi. Thank you for raising the question of Russo's state-of-mind during his infamous meeting at Jersey City's Light Horse Tavern.
Because revisiting the transcript, we discover it's Russo's SECOND meeting on this venture, lending credibility to the theory he was there To DEAL and credibility to what some believe was followed by a third meeting.
If there was, the Feds aren't telling. Neither is Russo.
Good catch!
ReplyDeleteuh....maybe a fed is a friend?
ReplyDelete