The New York Times reports that David Samson, former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board chair and a Chris Christie ally, “pleaded guilty to a felony count of bribery on [July 14] and admitted that he had pressured United Airlines to operate a weekly flight to South Carolina [the so-called “chairman’s flight’] for his personal convenience. The plea . . . appears to put an end to Mr. Samson’s career as a public official and power broker.”
NJ.com reports that federal prosecutors later in the day charged former New Jersey state transportation commissioner and PANYNJ official Jaime Fox with conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly using his influence to help arrange the flight for Samson. Fox’s lawyer called his client “an honorable public servant who believed the arrangement between United and Samson was ‘fully vetted and completely appropriate.’”