Q&A
Bridgegate investigation: Document preservation and investigation practices
5:50:47
·
5 min
Council Member Krishnan questions Mastro about his role in the Bridgegate investigation, focusing on document preservation practices and the controversy surrounding the lack of notes from witness interviews.
- Mastro confirms he led an internal investigation into the Bridgegate matter for Governor Christie's office
- The investigation involved interviewing more than 70 witnesses and reviewing over 250,000 documents
- Controversy arose when defendants in a related criminal case requested Mastro's interview notes
- Mastro opposed the subpoena, claiming no notes, transcripts, or recordings of witness interviews existed
- Krishnan highlights that this practice was a departure from typical legal practices
- Mastro defends the practice, comparing it to FBI procedures and claiming it's now common in sophisticated investigations
Shekhar Krishnan
5:50:47
Thank you.
5:50:49
Stepping back for a second, the corporation council serves as the lawyer for New York City.
5:50:54
Correct?
Randy Mastro
5:50:55
Correct.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:50:56
As well as the city council and the mayor.
5:50:58
Correct?
Randy Mastro
5:50:59
Correct.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:51:01
In other words, the corporation council as the city's chief lawyer represents the public interest, not the interest of one agency or one branch of government.
5:51:11
Is that correct?
Randy Mastro
5:51:12
Correct.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:51:13
Do you believe transparency and accountability are important in this position of corporation counsel?
Randy Mastro
5:51:20
I believe that transparency and accountability are important, more sensitive with the law department because of privilege issues, so there can't be complete transparency because so much involves privileged communications.
5:51:38
But as a general principle, I personally believe in transparency and accountability.
5:51:44
I chair a good government group citizens union that advocates for those principles in government at all times
UNKNOWN
5:51:50
right now.
Randy Mastro
5:51:51
It doesn't mean that the principle I served necessarily shared those same views.
5:51:55
Sure.
5:51:55
But I I am telling you that I understand that that is part of of government and part of the court council's office consistent with obligations to protect confidentiality and privilege.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:52:09
And do you believe public officials should create and preserve a public record of their work?
Randy Mastro
5:52:18
I believe that when you make a public record, you should preserve the public record.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:52:25
Thank you.
5:52:25
Let's let's look carefully at that.
5:52:27
You had an internal investigation on the Bridgegate matter.
5:52:30
Correct?
Randy Mastro
5:52:32
I led representation of the governor's office that included internal investigation that produced a several hundred page report over 80 interview memos, and hundreds, if not thousands of pages of documents collected.
5:52:47
And we followed the same procedure that I'm
Shekhar Krishnan
5:52:49
gonna get to that, Mister Mason.
Randy Mastro
5:52:50
I'm sorry.
5:52:50
Is the FBI It's not
Shekhar Krishnan
5:52:52
Mister Mason.
5:52:52
I haven't asked him a question about that yet.
5:52:54
Okay.
5:52:54
All I've asked you is a yes or no.
5:52:56
When there's the yes or no question, you can just give a yes or no answer.
5:52:59
Could you lead an internal investigation?
5:53:01
Were you hired by the office of governor Christie to lead an internal investigation into the Bridgegate matter?
5:53:06
Yes or no?
Randy Mastro
5:53:06
I I I I I am my law firm.
5:53:09
We're hired to do that, and I answered questions earlier.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:53:12
Correct.
5:53:12
We're gonna go into a bit more detail about that, building out what majority leader Fauci has said.
5:53:17
In this matter, as you just said, you quote, interviewed more than 70 witnesses and reviewed more than 250,000 documents quote, through the course of your investigation.
5:53:30
Right?
5:53:30
And I'm quoting from your own report.
5:53:32
Yes.
5:53:33
There was a separate prosecution of governor Christie's staff over Bridgegate, as I'm sure you're well aware.
5:53:39
For defendants, in that case, requested your notes from all of your interviews during the course of your investigation.
5:53:46
In their criminal case, they filed a subpoena for those notes.
5:53:50
Correct?
Randy Mastro
5:53:51
Correct.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:53:52
You oppose this subpoena.
5:53:53
Correct?
5:53:55
And you opposed it on the ground that, quote, no notes, transcripts, and recordings of the witness interviews existed, end quote, from your own report.
Randy Mastro
5:54:03
We we produced all of the memoers of the more than 70 I think more than 80 interviews.
5:54:10
We produced all of those and said there were no other documents to produce.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:54:14
Right.
5:54:14
And I'd like to remind you, again, you interviewed more than 70 witnesses and reviewed more than 250,000 documents and yet you represented to the court and you can argue with their own report, but these are your own words that, quote, no notes, transcripts, and recordings of the witness interviews existed.
5:54:31
That's true.
5:54:31
You heard a bit more in the questioning earlier about how this was a substantial departure from the practices of Gibson done as someone who has worked at 2 large corporate law firms as as how lawyers practice law, both at law firms, and generally.
5:54:47
But I wanna reach you
Randy Mastro
5:54:48
That's actually
Shekhar Krishnan
5:54:49
true.
5:54:49
Master.
5:54:50
That's true.
5:54:51
Let me read you the decision because the judge had some strong words for your conduct.
5:54:56
The court said, although Gibson Dunn first, Gibson Dunn acknowledged that it intentionally changed its approach in this investigation.
5:55:03
Although your firm Gibson Dunn did not delete or shred documents, what you did in not preserving notes, quote, had the same effect.
5:55:13
End quote.
5:55:15
You were paid again Although Gibson Dunn did not delete or shred documents, what you did had the same effect.
Randy Mastro
5:55:22
It did not.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:23
You were you part of the FBI at that time, Mister Mashdown, that investigation?
Randy Mastro
5:55:28
No.
5:55:28
But it's yes
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:29
or no.
5:55:29
Were you part of the FBI?
Randy Mastro
5:55:30
Was not part of that.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:31
Were you a federal prosecutor on that case?
Randy Mastro
5:55:34
I was a federal prosecutor not on that case.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:36
Thank you.
5:55:37
In fact, this was an internal investigation where you were producing a report and recommendation.
5:55:42
Recommendations that included best practices.
5:55:45
Is that correct?
Randy Mastro
5:55:46
But but you are asking me whether I worked for the FBI because you know the FBI only does one memo of an interview and doesn't keep
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:53
That's that's correct.
5:55:54
As you testified to That's alright.
Randy Mastro
5:55:55
Say for the FBI.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:55:57
And and as I just recall you testifying, you are not part of the FBI, This wasn't a criminal investigation.
5:56:02
You weren't a federal prosecutor.
5:56:03
You were leading an internal investigation where you were creating a report and recommendation of best practices.
5:56:09
And at shocking that in the case where you were issuing a report of best practices, one of the most fundamental practice of lawyering preserving records and notes didn't apply in this case.
5:56:18
He chose not to apply it.
5:56:19
But I wanna ask
Randy Mastro
5:56:20
you, there were no records to preserve
Shekhar Krishnan
5:56:22
I missed a master
Randy Mastro
5:56:23
on pipe notes.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:56:24
I'm sorry.
5:56:24
After 70 witnesses and 250,000 documents, the fact that there were no records to produce.
Randy Mastro
5:56:28
Me to answer?
Shekhar Krishnan
5:56:29
Just false hollow.
5:56:30
No.
5:56:30
Because I'm gonna move on to the next question.
Randy Mastro
5:56:31
I You were paid.
5:56:32
You don't want me to answer.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:56:33
There wasn't a question.
5:56:34
Okay.
5:56:34
You were paid.
Randy Mastro
5:56:35
There's no question, but this is your last answer.
Shekhar Krishnan
5:56:37
Here's my question.