N.Y. TIMES
Gov. Chris Christie apologized to the people of New Jersey on Thursday, saying that he was “embarrassed and humiliated” by revelations that a top aide and other close associates ordered lane closings on the George Washington Bridge to deliberately snarl traffic as an act of political vengeance.
He said he fired that aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff, whom he called “stupid” and “deceitful.”
On the morning of Sept. 9, 2013, David Wildstein, one of Christie's top officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, shut down two of the three access lanes in Fort Lee that lead to the George Washington Bridge. Drivers weren't given any advanced warning, creating dangerous traffic jams on local roads on the borough's first day of school.
The lane closures were more than just inconvenient for commuters; they delayed emergency responders from attending to at least four medical situations in Fort Lee, including a 91-year-old woman who lay unconscious and later died.
Since the controversy began heating up in early December, officials in the Christie administration -- and Christie himself -- have scoffed at Democrats who raised the possibility that the lane closures were part of a political payback scheme directed at Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, who did not endorse Christie's reelection bid. Instead, they said the lanes were closed as part of a traffic study.
The new emails, obtained from Wildstein in response to a subpoena request from the state legislature, blew apart that explanation.
On Aug. 13, Christie's Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly wrote to Wildstein, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
"Got it," Wildstein replied.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) still insisted that New Jersey officials may have closed three lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September to study traffic patterns, directly contradicting statements Port Authority officials made last year.
“What I was told was that it was a traffic study, and there was no evidence to the contrary until yesterday,” Christie said at a press conference apologizing for his administration’s role in shutting down bridge lanes and causing potentially life-threatening traffic jams. “There still may have been a traffic study that now has political overtones to it as well,” he added.
Christie, meanwhile, said he will head to Fort Lee Thursday to try to meet with the mayor and apologize to him in person, and to speak with local residents.
Sokolich has remained relatively silent over the past six weeks as news of the controversy trickled out. But after the emails were published Wednesday, he was furious.
"My reaction wavers everywhere from comical to criminal," said Sokolich. "It is absolutely the most disheartening example of petty politics ... to create a manmade set of circumstances that put all of us in harm's way."
Christie is now being hounded by the perception that he is a bully who retaliates against others for petty political reasons -- a tough reputation to shake if he wants to run for president in 2016.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has opened a probe into the lane closures, his spokeswoman said.... the U.S. attorney in New Jersey said it would launch an inquiry into claims that Christie's staff was behind the traffic jam after a local mayor declined to endorse Christie's re-election bid.
“The Port Authority Office of Inspector General has referred the matter to us, and our office is reviewing it to determine whether a federal law was implicated," Rebekah Carmichael, public affairs officer for the U.S. attorney's office, said in a statement.
What seems to be missing, however, is a clear connection to an alleged violation of federal public corruption statutes. Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak, a lawyer, was vague when asked what criminal statute might be in play. "There’s gotta be dozens of state and federal criminal law violations," he said.
There's no allegation that Christie or any of his top aides profited financially from shutting down two access lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., snarling traffic in the town and on the George Washington Bridge for several days. And if the Christie administration had jammed phone lines instead of traffic lanes, it would have violated federal law. But making a federal corruption charge stick against anyone in the administration, based on the information that has been made public, could be a stretch.
"This may fall under the category of egregious behavior which we wish is criminal, but may or may not be," Loyola Law School professor Jessica A. Levinson told The Huffington Post.
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Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, thinks federal charges are a possibility, suggesting prosecutors could look at wire fraud charges if officials lied in emails about the cause of the shutdown.
"A determined prosecutor could make a case," Sloan said.
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In spite of his attorney’s protests to the committee, Wildstein gave his oath at 1:11 p.m. EST. But a minute later, he announced that he would refuse to answer further questions, citing constitutional protections.
Audible groans from onlookers were immediate. Chairman Wisniewski said Wildstein’s decision could result in his being held in contempt for not following the subpoena’s orders.
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NORTH JERSEY.COM
Emergency responders were delayed in attending to four medical situations – including one in which a 91-year-old woman lay unconscious – due to traffic gridlock caused by unannounced closures of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, according to the head of the borough’s EMS department. The woman later died, borough records show. In at least two of those instances, response time doubled -
HUFFINGTON POST
"They don't concern me except when they act recklessly and they put my family, put my residents and citizens in harm's way," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a Wednesday interview. "Shame on you."
The mayor told Blitzer he believed the federal government should conduct a criminal investigation into the incident.
Sokolich said his greatest concerns lie in the future, when media coverage settles and the governor's staff is no longer under a magnifying glass.
"My problem is, when it goes away, what happens to my community? That's my problem," Sokolich said. "And I've said it since day one I am very, very fearful of ramifications in the future, quite frankly.''
N.Y. TIMES
In 2010, John F. McKeon, a New Jersey assemblyman, made what he thought was a mild comment on a radio program: Some of the public employees that Gov. Chris Christie was then vilifying had been some of the governor’s biggest supporters.
He was surprised to receive a handwritten note from Mr. Christie, telling him that he had heard the comments, and that he didn’t like them.
“I thought it was a joke,” Mr. McKeon recalled. “What governor would take the time to write a personal note over a relatively innocuous comment?”
But the gesture would come to seem genteel compared with the fate suffered by others in disagreements with Mr. Christie: a former governor who was stripped of police security at public events; a Rutgers professor who lost state financing for cherished programs; a state senator whose candidate for a judgeship suddenly stalled; another senator who was disinvited from an event with the governor in his own district.
In almost every case, Mr. Christie waved off any suggestion that he had meted out retribution. But to many, the incidents have left that impression, and it has been just as powerful in scaring off others who might dare to cross him.
....This was an outrageous misuse of public resources, a reckless endangerment of the public, and apparently a massive lie. But was the governor in on it? ....If it turns out he did know, he is obviously lying and unfit for office — let alone a 2016 presidential run.
And even if he did not, his officials are liars. If Christie can’t control them, how can we trust him as a potential future leader of our country?
N.Y. DAILY NEWS
In the best possible light, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built a top staff of lying thugs who threatened lives and safety to serve his political ends. If not, Christie is a lying thug himself.
Emails and text messages among his close aides made public Wednesday documented that in September they gleefully engineered George Washington Bridge lane closures to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for failing to endorse their boss’ reelection.
Local officials say the gridlock they caused delayed ambulances in responding to four calls, including one involving an unconscious 91-year-old woman who later died.
Christie’s presidential ambitions are all but kaput, as he will be lambasted and lampooned as a man of low character and horrible judgment — again viewing him in the most favorable way.
“I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.
“This type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it, because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.”
Give full credit to his statement, and Christie stands as a hardball-playing governor who horribly misjudged or distorted the character of those around him and compounded the felony by trying to skate by their wrongdoing without full investigation. Take his denials of knowledge with skepticism, and the man is a monster.
WASHINGTON POST, GREG SARGENT