The Other Shoe Drops on Christie But the Fat Man Wont Sing (yet)
Anybody that know anything about how things work in politics and how people are rewarded and punish knew from the start of this issue that Chrisite was lying from the beginning. When he was originally questioned by the press he took his usual non chalante attitude and even joke about it. When more facts came out, he now spends hours in a news conference reaffirming the same thing over and over. The culprits are gone I didn’t know about it so not knowing makes me alright.
First not knowing makes him a lousy politician but that is not even the point. The point is, hiow could he not know. As I watched his press conference I was waiting for the part in which he would quote Richard Nixon, a crook and lier, “I’m not a crook”
The NY Daily news describes the news developments very accuratly and below I post the article from
Rich Shapiro and Larry McShane . As the case in court develops I can see the day that he comes before the cameras again and oreads temporary memory loss due to indigestion.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks about his knowledge of a traffic study that snarled traffic at the George Washington Bridge during a news conference on January 9, 2014.
Gov. Chris Christie was aware in September of the George Washington Bridge lane closings that spawned massive gridlock, a former Port Authority official claimed Friday.
A letter on behalf of David Wildstein — the Christie appointee at the heart of the scandal — charged the governor knew what was happening as his sweaty constituents sat in their cars.
“Evidence exists ... tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly,” read the letter from Wildstein’s attorney, Alan Zegas.
The closings, between Sept. 9-12, caused massive gridlock and delayed local police and ambulance response.
ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES
The New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge, which connects Fort Lee, NJ, and New York City.
Christie, in a two-hour news conference earlier this month, repeatedly denied any knowledge of the shutdown — which was purportedly payback against the Democratic Mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.
“I would never have come out here four or five weeks ago and made a joke about these lane closings if I had ever had an inkling that anyone on my staff would have been so stupid,” Christie said at the Jan. 9 news conference.
In a statement released Friday, the Christie administration said the Zegas letter actually confirmed what the governor had previously said.
“He had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with,” the statement said.
JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leaves after a visit with Fort Lee, N.J., Mayor Mark Sokolich at the Borough of Fort Lee Memorial Municipal Building earlier in January.
“As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th.”
The Bergen County mayor had declined to endorse Christie during his landslide re-election campaign last year.
Wildstein — a high school classmate of Christie — resigned his $150,00-a-year job as the Bridgegate scandal mushroomed.
The bridge lanes were closed during the morning rush hour, and only reopened Sept. 13 after word of the shutdowns spread through the PA.
MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
David Wildstein, the Former Port Authority Director of Interstate Capital Project David, through his lawyer said “evidence exists" that ties Gov. Christie to knowing about the lane closures.
Christie proclaimed his innocence and took a few shots at Wildstein during his news conference after emails linked the governor’s staff to the huge traffic tie-ups caused at the world’s busiest bridge.
“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter read.
The letter specifically blamed the bridge closing on “the Christie administration’s order.” It was sent to the Port Authority in an effort to get the bi-state agency to cover Wildstein’s legal bills in the case.
“The governor denies Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer’s other assertions,” said the statement.
TIM LARSEN/OFFICE OF GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE/AP
Christie pictured here with his former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly. Christie fired Kelly in early January.
Wildstein had previously said he was willing to testify if offered immunity in the various probes of Bridgegate.
Wildstein received an August letter from top Christie administration official Bridget Anne Kelly declaring it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
She was fired by Christie for her role in the traffic nightmare.
Wildstein had previously taken the Fifth Amendment when called by a New Jersey legislative panel investigating the bridge lane closings.
Christie’s former campaign manager, in a letter from his lawyer, asked the state panel to withdraw its subpoena ordering him to surrender documents by Feb. 3.
The call for Bill Stepien’s cell phone, calendars and diaries “violates (his) rights under the Fifth Amendment,” claimed attorney Kevin H. Marino.
Stepien was dismissed by Christie because the governor didn’t like his “callous indifference” in emails made public earlier this month.
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