Bridges is finished IMO. When he was asked in today's press conference whether he was going to file a defamation lawsuit against Ross, he flat out said no. The excuse was along the lines that he wasn't going to dignify the claims. Pull the other leg -- find me a lawyer who obviously has a degree of financial means and is truly adamant that he has been defamed (as SB himself has asserted -- and he would be right in the event that JLR's statements about SB knowing and/or telling him to split the donations contained any falsehoods) in such a public way that would not pursue legal action. JLR then would be forced to reveal in open court all his cards, for to do otherwise would guarantee that SB will make out a defamation claim.

Then a reporter asked SB why he didn't deny strongly all of JLR's claims yesterday and SB's reply was that he is a lawyer and needed to act cautiously and get all the facts etc. Err, if you didn't do the things that he said you did, what is there to find out.

Sorry but I am a lawyer and I wasn't born yesterday. In terms of whether I am convinced that SB isn't hiding something and whether I am convinced that he's a fit and proper person to be a MP, based on this performance alone (forgetting for the moment all the other objectionable crap he has been caught spewing), I judge him utterly unfit for any kind of public life. Add up all the other crap, he couldn't disappear fast enough for the good of humanity. And hearing how he was far too stupid to discern JLR's obvious and blatant attempt to set him up also suggests that SB is actually pretty dim.

O'dear this is a bad soap opera. He should have left it alone and Simon Bridges should taken Mallards advice and silently moved JLR out. Neither of them are going to come out of this intact.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107927550/toxic-relationships-with-jamilee-ross-reported

I have never voted National or even considered it because I don’t agree with their politics or policies as I see them, but I genuinely regret what is happening now. While I am not fond of our adversarial system, I do believe an effective opposition has an important role to play in holding the government of the day to account and keeping it honest. Our democracy is not well-served by the kind of thing that is happening now. I wish our politicians on both sides were of a better quality.

Rikkitic:

 

I have never voted National or even considered it because I don’t agree with their politics or policies as I see them, but I genuinely regret what is happening now. While I am not fond of our adversarial system, I do believe an effective opposition has an important role to play in holding the government of the day to account and keeping it honest. Our democracy is not well-served by the kind of thing that is happening now. I wish our politicians on both sides were of a better quality.

 

 

 

I was thinking this exact thing this morning myself.

It's an extremely odd situation all around.

I often think is this nonsense new or is it a case of the press have greater access and the Politicians have less opportunity to hide their dirty laundry.

I think the fact that everyone has a camera and recorder at their disposal makes scandals much more likely to occur. I am sure that if recordings were spilt on both sides of the political divide there would be a fair bit of embarassment.

I am surprised JLR isn't facing privacy breach charges. Was SB aware he was being recorded?

networkn:

 

Rikkitic:

 

I have never voted National or even considered it because I don’t agree with their politics or policies as I see them, but I genuinely regret what is happening now. While I am not fond of our adversarial system, I do believe an effective opposition has an important role to play in holding the government of the day to account and keeping it honest. Our democracy is not well-served by the kind of thing that is happening now. I wish our politicians on both sides were of a better quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was thinking this exact thing this morning myself.

 

It's an extremely odd situation all around.

 

 

 

It is a sad situation that seems to be caused by someone who is clearly unwell and has been for a while. He has chosen to take a vendetta out on his employer and this happens very often, just not in the public domain. Once it all blows out (and it will) only one person will still be affected and his family. The fact he has been secretly recording conversations with his employer is the scary, part as it could happen to any one of us. We all say things on the phone to our friends about others that we wouldnt want to be made public.

I am not sure why his "out of work" friends and family arent rallying him to STFU right now.

dejadeadnz:

 

Bridges is finished IMO. When he was asked in today's press conference whether he was going to file a defamation lawsuit against Ross, he flat out said no. The excuse was along the lines that he wasn't going to dignify the claims. Pull the other leg -- find me a lawyer who obviously has a degree of financial means and is truly adamant that he has been defamed (as SB himself has asserted -- and he would be right in the event that JLR's statements about SB knowing and/or telling him to split the donations contained any falsehoods) in such a public way that would not pursue legal action. JLR then would be forced to reveal in open court all his cards, for to do otherwise would guarantee that SB will make out a defamation claim.

 

Then a reporter asked SB why he didn't deny strongly all of JLR's claims yesterday and SB's reply was that he is a lawyer and needed to act cautiously and get all the facts etc. Err, if you didn't do the things that he said you did, what is there to find out.

 

Sorry but I am a lawyer and I wasn't born yesterday. 

 

The decision not to file a defamation lawsuit against Ross is not an admission of guilt by SB, nor does it even imply that SB has something to hide. He has made a perfectly valid decision based on the circumstances, one which many other lawyers could also make. Litigation serves no purpose at this point. 

Let JLR play his cards, and if there is no substance to his claims, then let him attempt to resurrect what will be left of his career.

I agree. Not every potential legal breach results in legal action. Nor should it. It would be a case of burning money. The recording supports (I believe) SB claim he did not breach the electoral rules re donations.

Bluntj:

 

We all say things on the phone to our friends about others that we wouldnt want to be made public.

 

Well, maybe "we" shouldn't.

A law suit potentially opens a pandoras box that once open will be hard to control. 

Fred99:

 

Bluntj:

 

We all say things on the phone to our friends about others that we wouldnt want to be made public.

 

 

Well, maybe "we" shouldn't.

 

In politics as in business there is seldom "friends" there is acquantances and collegues but this should never be confused with friendship.

networkn:

 

I agree. Not every potential legal breach results in legal action. Nor should it. It would be a case of burning money. The recording supports (I believe) SB claim he did not breach the electoral rules re donations.

 

It also doesn't provide any information about what happened to the $100k which should have been declared to the EC, and contains some extremely toxic evidence that the National Party would consider "selling" list seats, and do that based on achieving a racial balance to keep donors/supporters happy.

Even if those aren't "proven" crimes - it's the end of SB's career - and signals the need for a full cleanout.