052 -- 2014.03.25 Mowers Interview Memo
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May 11, 2014 To: File From: Michael W. Khoo Re: New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation Subject: March 25, 2014 Interview of Matt Mowers On March 25, 2014, Reid J. Schar and Michael W. Khoo interviewed Matt Mowers. Mowers’ counsel— Craig Carpenito and Adam Baker of Alston & Bird LLP—were also present, and the interview was conducted in Alston & Bird’s New York offices. This is not a verbatim transcript of the interviews, nor is it intended to be. Rather, what follows is a summary of the significant topics discussed, arranged by subject matter, not chronologically. I. BACKGROUND Mowers’ attended Rutgers University from 2007 until his graduation in 2011. He got his start in New Jersey politics during that period, beginning with the campaign of Republican State Senator Gerry Cardinale. During this period, he also worked with John McCain’s presidential bid and, through that work, became acquainted with Bill Stepien. In 2008, he took a position with the Bergen County GOP and, in 2009, worked on multiple political action committees and campaigns. In late 2009 into 2010, Mowers worked on the transition team for the then newly elected governor, Chris Christie. That position led to work as an advance aide for Gov. Christie. As an advance aide, Mowers would prepare for events the governor was expected to attend. In that capacity, Mowers frequently worked with the Office of the Governor’s (“OOG”) Intergovernmental Affairs (“IGA”) department, as IGA staff often coordinated with county and municipal officials for the governor’s visits to local communities. In April 2010, Mowers left OOG to work for Mercer County Republican Tom Goodwin’s State Senate bid. Following the 2010 election, Mowers was recruited by Stepien to join OOG’s IGA department. II. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR A. IGA Job Responsibilities In late 2010, Mowers was hired as regional director within IGA, which involved serving as a liaison and point of contact between OOG and local elected officials. Mowers was responsible for communities in northern and northeastern New Jersey, including Sussex, Morris, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, and Bergen Counties. He was also charged with developing ties with the Korean-American communities in Hudson 1 and Bergen Counties. Mowers said that people involved in New Jersey politics tend to know each other and, as a result, there was no formal interview process for joining IGA. When Mowers began with IGA, he initially reported to Amanda De Palma. However, when De Palma left to join the Republican State Committee in 2011, Mowers began reporting to Bridget Anne Kelly. At some point, Pete Sheridan was appointed to manage the regional directors, including Mowers, and Sheridan then reported up to Kelly. Kelly, in turn, reported to Bill Stepien. As an IGA regional director, Mowers said, he tried to communicate with elected officials in his geographic region as frequently as he could: at least weekly or bi-weekly by email. He offered information on, for example, state grants, budget proposals, or Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts that might affect counties and municipalities. B. OOG Staff 1. Bridget Anne Kelly Mowers said that, initially, he had a friendly relationship with the Director of IGA, Bridget Anne Kelly. He had first met Kelly during his work on the Cardinale campaign, and, he said, due to the small quarters the IGA staff shared, he had “pretty regular contact” with her while working in IGA and tried to “keep her in the loop.” Mowers also described a period in 2013 when his relationship with Kelly noticeably soured. Mowers said he found Kelly’s management style to be difficult and, more and more, felt she was untrustworthy and liable to “throw people under the bus.” By the end of Gov. Christie’s 2013 re-election campaign— by which point Mowers had left OOG to work directly for the campaign—his relationship with Kelly had “openly fractured.” The last time Mowers spoke to Kelly was on election night in November 2013 when he told her she had caused him the “single worst day of the campaign.” Mowers said Kelly’s only reply was, “I know; I heard.” 2. Christina Renna Mowers said he had occasional contact with Christina Renna while he was working in IGA. Renna, at that time, was OOG’s liaison with other state government departments.1 3. Michael Drewniak Mowers said he spoke to press secretary Michael Drewniak on occasion. He characterized their relationship as friendly and casual, but said he had no real role with press relations. 4. Evan Ridley Evan Ridley was another IGA regional director during Mowers’ time in OOG. When Mowers later left to join the Christie re-election campaign, Ridley assumed responsibility for Mowers’ IGA territory, including 1 Renna would eventually replace Kelly as Director of IGA, but not until Mowers had already left OOG to join the Christie re-election campaign. 2 Bergen County and Fort Lee. Mowers said he and Ridley were good friends and that they continued to have occasional contact after Mowers left OOG. 5. Gov. Christie Mowers said he did not have regular contact with Gov. Christie during his time in IGA. He would occasionally see the governor at events held in Mowers’ area of responsibility, but he had no day-to-day contact. C. Port Authority Interaction Mowers said he had occasional interaction with Port Authority staff when preparing for events. In particular, he coordinated with Hunter Pendarvis and Ann Mary O’Rourke. Mowers has met former Port Authority Director of Interstate Capital Projects David Wildstein at a few events, but described only brief interactions with him. Mowers knew former Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni from local New Jersey politics. D. Personal Email Mowers said that IGA staff were frequently on the road and that commercial email services, like Gmail or Yahoo!, were easier to access remotely than official OOG accounts. Consequently, IGA staff would resort to using personal accounts to communicate. Furthermore, Mowers said that if any discussions concerned political topics—such as endorsements or fundraising—staff would be sure to personal accounts to keep such activity separate from official state business. III. FORT LEE MAYOR MARK SOKOLICH Mowers recalled that began interacting with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich shortly after Mowers joined IGA. He said that within the first few months, he helped organize an event in Teaneck in support of Gov. Christie’s plan to reform sick leave payouts for public employees. Mayor Sokolich attended the event in support of the proposed reforms—as did Gov. Christie.2 Mowers said Sokolich may have also attended—along with many other elected officials—events at Drumthwacket. Otherwise, Mowers could not recall specific instances of Sokolich and Gov. Christie interacting. According to Mowers, he and Sokolich communicated by email or telephone every week or two and met in person every couple of months. Their meetings might be in Sokolich’s office, his home, or at a local bar or restaurant. 2 The event occurred on Dec. 8, 2011. See http://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/gwb-scandal-fort- lee-mayor-now-says-christie-campaign-courted-him-for-endorsement-1.667541. 3 IV. TIMELINE A. Governor’s 2012 Budget Address Mowers was shown an email dated January 22, 2012, that he had sent to Pete Sheridan with the subject “Initial Budget Thoughts.”3 The email included two “tiers” of individuals, including Sokolich under Tier 2. Mowers explained that the email contained lists of possible invitees to the governor’s upcoming budget address. The tiers indicated the individuals’ relative priority for receiving an invitation. According to Mowers, a number of factors could influence whether an individual was included on the list and, if so, under what tier. Those who had attended past budget addresses or had attended other recent events with the governor might be moved down in importance, while individuals who had some special connection to issues the governor would be addressing might move up. In reviewing the list, Mowers noted that Rutherford Republican Joe DeSalvo was listed under Tier 1 on account of his being newly elected, whereas Democrat Paul Tomasko of Alpine was included under Tier 1 in his capacity as president of the Bergen County League of Municipalities. Similarly, Dover Democrat James Dodd was listed as either Tier 1 or 2 in recognition of his early support for Gov. Christie’s proposed sick leave reform. Mowers explained that Sokolich had also been an early supporter of Gov. Christie’s agenda—including the sick leave reform and “Cap 2.5,” a plan to constitutionally cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent per year. B. Prudential Center Event Mowers was shown an email from Sheridan to him dated January 30, 2012.4 The email thread began with a “Fort Lee List”—including Sokolich—that Mowers had sent to Sheridan. Sheridan had subsequently sent the names to Kelly, who approved them. Mowers told us this was a list of invitees to a sporting event at the Prudential Center in Newark. The event, however, conflicted with Super Bowl Sunday and was therefore postponed. Mowers was shown a later version of this email thread in which Mowers and Sheridan recognized the conflict with Super Bowl Sunday.5 Sheridan advised Mowers he would “talk to bk/bill abt it.” Mowers confirmed that “bk” referred to Bridget Kelly and “bill” referred to Bill Stepien. Mowers said that on another occasion Sokolich may have attended a football game, courtesy of the governor, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Gov. Christie has MetLife tickets, Mowers said, which the governor either uses for himself and his family or gives to friends and associates. 3 Mowers-000468.