Kate Zernike
The New York Times
1/8/2014
A series of newly obtained emails and text messages shows that Gov. Chris Christie’s office was closely involved with lane closings on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge in September, and that officials closed the lanes as retribution against the mayor whose town was gridlocked as a result.
Mr. Christie has insisted that his staff and his campaign office had nothing to do with the local lane closings, and said that they were done as part of a traffic study. The bridge scandal highlights one of his biggest vulnerabilities as Mr. Christie steps out onto the national stage as a potential presidential candidate: the accusation that he is a bully who retaliates against the smallest slights.
The emails show that Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff in Mr. Christie’s office, gave a signal to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close the lanes about two weeks before the closings occurred.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” she emailed David Wildstein, Mr. Christie’s close friend from high school, and one of his appointees at the Port Authority, which controls the bridge…
The article continues at The New York Times.
Related: Texts, e-mails suggest political vendetta in NJ bridge controversy
…Democrats have alleged the lane closures were revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie in his re-election effort, and the e-mails and text messages provide some evidence for that suspicion…
A ‘Bridgegate’ too far: Plouffe, MSM stoke outrage over Chris Christie, give Dems a free pass
…We’re certainly not excusing the alleged behavior of his staffers, and if Christie himself had anything to do with what happened, he most definitely needs to answer for it.
But it’s also important to maintain perspective — something the Left seriously sucks at. If the same people crying foul over Bridgegate were willing to devote a fraction of their energy to holding Democrats accountable, the Obama administration would be forced to play defense, too.
And this White House has got plenty of dirty laundry…
Update: Chris Christie Pins Blame on Staffer for Bridge Controversy
…What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable. 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…
Update 2: EMS responses delayed by GWB lane closures in Fort Lee
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…
