New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is being thrown under the George Washington Bridge by former ex-Port Authority official and high school pal, David Wildstein.
“Bridgegate,” as it is being referred to by the media, stems from lane closures leading to the George Washington Bridge that were ordered on September 9th and ended on September 13th. The lane closures resulted in gridlock conditions through the town of Fort Lee, NJ and allegations that the order was given as a punitive measure against the Democrat Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who failed to endorse Christie for governor.
Christie has maintained that he never ordered the lane closures, or even knew of the closures until after they ended.
Just when the “Bridgegate” damage seemed to be repaired by Christie with a firing of a key staff member and a news conference, David Wildstein planted explosive charges Friday that Christie knew about the “Bridgegate” lane closings as traffic backed up for miles on the bridge.
Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, who sent the text message, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” to Wildstein, was fired in early January. Wildstein resigned from his position with The Port Authority.
Wildstein attorney, Alan Zegas, in a three-page letter called Christie a liar and blamed “the Christie administration’s order” for creating the gridlock under the ruse of a traffic study.
The reason for the letter from attorney Zegas seems to be obviously clear. He argues that his client, Wildstein is entitled to have his legal fees paid by the Port Authority. The Port Authority had turned down Weinstein’s previous request to have his legal fees covered under the indemnity clause in the terms of his employment contract with the Port Authority.
The what-Christie-knew-when question is complicated. At the heart of the Wildstein allegation is that Christie knew that the lanes were closed during the closures themselves, a timeline Christie has repeatedly rejected. Those allegations are entirely separate from whether Christie knew of the motivations behind the closures.
At a press conference in December announcing that Port Authority official Bill Baroni was moving on from his position, Christie said that the first he had “ever heard about the issue” was in the immediate aftermath of the leaking of an email from Port Authority executive director Pat Foye in which Foye demanded the lanes be re-opened. That email leak was published in a story by the Wall Street Journal that ran on Oct. 1. “I think that was the first I heard of it,” Christie said at that December press conference. “But it was certainly well after the whole thing was over before I heard about it.”
Wildstein now contradicts his former boss’s statement and says he can prove some of what he claims – that Christie did know of the closures and gridlock as it was happening.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz told CNN it’s time for Christie to consider hiring a criminal lawyer.
“He’s entitled to have a person he trusts who has experience in criminal law consult with him and give him advice,” said Dershowitz.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said he was waiting for the state and federal investigations of Bridgegate to answer his questions. But Sokolich, the Democrat who declined to endorse Christie, was clearly surprised by the Zegas letter.
“Today’s revelations are very disconcerting,” he said. “During his half hour in my office, Gov. Christie indicated this was as much a surprise to him as it was to me.”
What must be kept in mind is that Wildstein has failed to provide any documentation to prove Christie had knowledge of the closings. He didn’t provide any through his attorney, nor did he when he invoked his Fifth Amendment Right at a hearing held in December.
If documentation does exist it puts Christie between a rock and a hard place.
If The Port Authority suddenly reverses its decision and pays Wildstein’s legal fees it will appear as a payoff for him remaining silent and falling on his sword.
If Wildstein produces his alleged proof of Christie lying to the public about his not knowing of the lane closures when they were occurring, it could be a revelation that will derail Christie’s run for the Presidency in 2016.
Further, proof by Wildstein would expand and intensify the investigation, likely bringing Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly back to testify in hearings that might have her rethinking her decision to go quietly into the night.
There are many Christie adversaries who believe that it was unlikely that Kelly took it upon herself to punish Fort Lee’s Mayor without approval from her boss.
Personally, I’ll need more proof than a letter from a lawyer looking to ensure he gets paid for what could be a long and expensive legal matter for his client. Especially considering Wildstein had previously produced over 900 pages of documents, under order of Subpoena, to the investigative panel in which he invoked his Fifth Amendment Right.
None of those documents are those to which he refers to in the letter from his lawyer.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
