If Bridgegate Involves Christie, After All The Denials, He Will Be Cooked!

Christie repeats: 'I had nothing to do with this'

By Rebecca Shabad

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) again denied Monday night having any involvement with authorizing the George Washington Bridge lane closures, but admitted the traffic problems could have been mentioned to him in passing at the time.

“I had nothing to do with this. I’m so disappointed that this has happened. But I’m so determined to get to the bottom of it, and to fix it once and for all if I haven’t fixed it already by the actions I’ve already taken, and to move on to do the job the people of New Jersey elected me to do,” Christie said on NJ1015’s “Ask the Governor” live show. 

Christie said someone may have mentioned the traffic in Fort Lee, N.J. during the lane closures last September, but added “It wouldn't have been meaningful to me." 

”Things could have been mentioned to me about traffic,” Christie admitted, but when asked why he didn’t investigate it, he then said, “I didn’t know about traffic.” 

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The governor’s comments come just a few days after the letter claimed “evidence exists” that Christie knew of the lane closures at the time that they were imposed.

Another staffer within the Christie administration also resigned over the weekend, reportedly because she had been directly involved with the scheme of political retaliation.

On the radio show Monday, Christie said he had “no knowledge, no planning, no authorization, nothing to do with this before this decision was made to close these lanes by the Port Authority.” 

The governor confirmed the U.S. Attorney’s office has subpoenaed his administration’s office, and said he would comply with the request for documents in the investigation. 

As for the investigation by the state legislature, Bridget Anne Kelly--Christie's former deputy chief of staff--said she would invoke the fifth amendment and won’t turn over documents, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Christie fired Kelly in early January for orchestrating the scandal. He also broke ties with Bill Stepien, his former campaign manager.

Nothing has surfaced that makes Christie believe one of his staffers is still lying, he said on the radio show. If that changes and any current employee is implicated, “They will be fired,” he added. 

Christie said he has told investigators: “Be thorough, be efficient…but get me the story.”

Democrats Salivating To Impeach Christie--Regardless Of The Facts

NJ Probe Chairman: Christie Could Face Impeachment

Sunday, 12 Jan 2014 11:03 PM

By Greg Richter

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could be impeached if it turns out he knew of the plan to close lanes and snarl traffic on the George Washington Bridge, the Democrat heading the legislative probe of the matter says.
"Using the George Washington Bridge, a public resource, to exact a political vendetta, is a crime," N.J. Assemblyman John Wisniewski told NBC News this weekend.


"Having people use their official position to have a political game is a crime. So if those tie back to the governor in any way, it clearly becomes an impeachable offense," Wisniewski said.

Christie has denied any knowledge of the lane closures ordered by his close associates at the busy bridge linking northern New Jersey and upper Manhattan.

The closures backed up traffic into Fort Lee, N.J., for four days in September before they were reopened under orders from an angry official of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Hudson River crossing.

Regardless of whether he was directly involved, Christie's account of how he learned of the closures has changed, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In his two-hour press conference last week, Christie offered changed the initial date of when he first learned of the incident.

In a Dec. 13 press conference, he said he first learned of the closures after the Journal's Oct. 1 publication of emails from Patrick Foye, the Port Authority's executive director.

But in last week's press conference, where he announced the firing of his deputy chief of staff, Christie admitted he learned of the closings earlier, though he did not give a specific date.

It was learned last week that Christie's then-chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, ordered the shutdown, allegedly as political payback because Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich had not supported Christie's re-election bid.

Christie denies knowing anything about the shutdowns beforehand, and fired Kelly for lying about her involvement.

Christie announced the change in the time he first learned of the lane closures one day before Wisniewski's panel released documents that showed some of the governor's top staff knew of the incident while the lanes were closed and just afterward. They also were aware of complaints by Sokolich that the action might be politically motivated

The traffic lanes were reopened Sept. 13.

One email showed that Regina Egea, a member of Christie's cabinet, received a copy of Foye's email three hours after it was sent to Port Authority officials. It is not known whether she told Christie about the email.

Wisniewski told NBC he finds it hard to believe Christie was unaware of what was happening.

"These people travel with him, these people discuss things with him every single day. This is not an isolated, unknown story," he said. "He knew there was an investigation. He knew people were looking at it, and his senior staff was involved [and] he expects us to believe he knew nothing? I just find that implausible."


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