Another falsehood about the NYPD’s anti-terror intelligence-gathering has been demolished. No, the department didn’t extend antennas into New Jersey without alerting anyone in the state — not that there would be anything wrong with that.
Gov. Chris Christie, who should know a lot better, made a big deal about being shocked that the city’s cops had mapped the very public lay of the land in Newark. He said he found the operation “disturbing” and, with foolhardy bravado, added on Monday:
“Listen, the NYPD has this reputation. You talk to law enforcement people at the federal and state level in this region, they will tell you that if the NYPD has a choice between telling you and not telling you, more times than not, they don’t.”
Waa. Waa. Waa.
Some old-fashioned reporting by the Newark Star-Ledger revealed the following:
“It seems that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, almost everyone — including Gov. Chris Christie, who was U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time — knew to varying degrees the NYPD was scouring the state, where some of the hijackings were planned and one was launched.”
And:
“Officials from former governors on down said that in the years after 9/11, NYPD officials were very clear that they intended to gather intelligence outside the city to defuse possible attacks.
“What’s more, many officials interviewed by The Star-Ledger said they did not question the department’s activities, and in many instances welcomed them.”
As but one example, Peter Harvey, state attorney general from 2003-06, told the paper he knew New York police had sources in the Garden State and conducted surveillance there — and was told upfront of Commissioner Ray Kelly‘s intention to build “a robust and far-reaching intelligence division” so as not to have to depend on the FBI.
Some behind-the-back operation that was.
Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey said he signed not one but two executive orders authorizing NYPD activities — and welcomed joint efforts to boost security on both sides of the Hudson.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine‘s chief of homeland security and preparedness, Richard Canas, attended regular NYPD briefings. So did Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.
The most Christie will concede is that he vaguely recalls NYPD cops and federal agents crossing paths on one occasion, and that he may have been briefed about NYPD activity in 2007 — but he doesn’t really remember.
Take him at his word. Christie was generally clueless about this important aspect of terror-fighting on his turf. That’s a problem.