Michael Drewniak
The Gnashing Sword
of St. Christopher Christie

For clarification. This is not really a
photograph of Michael Drewniak

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Feb. 28, 2007

I planned to file a different story today, but the antics going on at the U.S. Attorney’s PR Office in New Jersey trumped any old AC corruption story. I decided to let my readers have a look at what goes on in the Perrier filled back room.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s Public Affairs Officer Michael Drewniak called Wednesday to complain about a paragraph in a story running on the corruption probe in Atlantic City. After heaping insults on me and launching into a stream of character assassination, he finally ended his breathless comments that he had never seen anything written like this before in all his years in journalism.

I don’t know what Drewniak used to write about that a story like this was so extraordinary and rare, perhaps he was a features writer who covered the local daffodil show and never covered your garden variety political corruption story.

Drewniak eventually spit out a half masticated complaint, but let me digress.

Drewniak was on a speaker phone when he called and I could barely hear him. I asked him if he would pick up the hand piece and he said no. His tone sounded angry and I had a feeling I knew which way this conversation was going. I told him we were on the record.

Drewniak did not identify who else was in the room with him if anybody. He told me he had a lot of issues with the story. I asked him if he minded if I put him on my speaker phone and taped the conversation. Drewniak sounded very angry and asked me why I wanted to do that. He said he did not want to be taped. He said he never heard of such a thing before.

They must keep this public relations officer in a box in the dark.

I assured Drewniak that I wanted to tape him because he said he had a lot of points to discuss. That I was not up to anything nefarious or I would have taped him without telling him. Drewniak became incensed and said he would call me back.

Drewniak called back, still flummoxed, and I put him on my speaker phone. He complained about a part of the story regarding Christie that stated:

One suspect said that he and the FBI agents believe that Christopher Christie tipped Gormley off to the investigation and they leaked the operation to the media. Christie and Gormley have a strong friendship between them. However, there is no direct evidence that any of this happened, only the opinion of the suspects and the FBI agents, according to a source familiar with the legal case.

Drewniak wanted to know why I didn’t call “Chris,” for a comment on the story. He noted that I had called Senator Gormley. I asked him if he meant Christopher Christie and he said yes.

I asked Drewniak if the story was wrong, and he stuttered and did not answer the question. I was surprised that Drewniak, a really high-priced mouth piece, had not been ready for at least that basic question.

I repeatedly asked him if the story was wrong and he refused to answer the question. I pointedly asked him if it was true that the U.S. Attorney’s Office stopped the body wire taping of former Senator Bill Gormley and he replied that he could not talk about the details of any investigation.

Drewniak continued on his tirade and used the old deflect and attack strategy without answering any of the questions I asked him. I did the same to him.

The poor man was at a loss for words and ceremoniously asked me if I was a reporter. I didn’t point out the obvious, that Mr. Michael Drewniak, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey tasked with yakking it up with reporters had called me about a news story I had run.

I laughed to myself. I assumed he had an audience sitting around him and he was performing up a storm. I let it slide.

I told Drewniak that we were not getting anywhere. I invited him to write anything he wanted and I would publish it. That really got him riled up. He never asked for a retraction, he never asked for a correction, he spent our precious time together snarling.

Let me say that again. He never asked for a correction, he never asked for a retraction.

After a very nasty phone call and shouting between us, I felt compelled to get something exculpatory out of Drewniak. I pushed and pushed until I got a denial out of him.

Drewniak said that it was not true that Christie had told Gormley about the corruption probe in Atlantic City, but he didn’t sound convincing to me. I’m not saying that Christie did it, all I’m saying is that Drewniak had his knickers in a twist and couldn’t sound convincing.

In all my years of talking to public information officers, I have never, ever, ever, had a conversation like that before. Usually they have something to sell. This guy just wanted to rip the bones from my back.

I have run a zillion stories that the U.S. Attorney's office put out over the years. I even run the stuff that nobody cares about because I know how hard the FBI Agents and U.S. Attorney's office works.  When Drewniak called me, for a split second, I thought he was going to thank me for publishing all the stories he puts out.

I was wrong.

So that was the story today. If Drewniak calls and asks for a retraction or a correction or issues a convincing denial or sends me a basket of daffodils, I will hotfoot it right up to the web for all my readers to read.