January 8, 2014
Some fun in New Jersy
From The Washington Post:E-mails suggest Christie aides jammed traffic for political revenge
A series of newly disclosed e-mails and text messages suggesting a senior aide and appointees of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) forced a major traffic jam as political retribution against a Democratic mayor has brought a cloud of scandal over the Republican Party�s leading 2016 presidential hopeful.
The communications suggest that Christie�s deputy chief of staff and two of his top appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closed a pair of access lanes from Fort Lee, N.J., onto the George Washington Bridge into New York, causing days of gridlock in Fort Lee last September.
Christie had flatly denied that his office had any role in shutting down the access lanes, but the e-mails show otherwise, illustrating for the first time the lengths to which Christie�s lieutenants went to bully a local politician who turned against the governor during a campaign that was never particularly close.
According to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, a senior staffer for Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) sent an email to a Port Authority official that seems to direct the official to jack up traffic in an area run by a Christie political opponent.Busted! Crap like this will always leak out. Wonder why he stooped to such a childish move in the first place. Posted by DaveH at January 8, 2014 11:58 AM
In September, two of three local access lanes from Fort Lee were closed on the George Washington Bridge, stymying commuters from the city. The mayor of Fort Lee had refused to endorse Christie�s re-election effort. For two months, the Port Authority was silent on why the lanes were closed.
Two agency officials supported by Christie, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, resigned during a probe of the issue, after testifying that the lanes were closed for a traffic study. Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), testified that he didn�t know of any traffic study.
Now, that question about the origins of the lane closures appears to have been answered, at least in part � and in a way that will have significant negative ramifications for Christie�s presidential run. The August emails published by the Journal show Christie�s deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs, Bridget Anne Kelly, telling Wildstein, �Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.� Wildstein�s response: �Got it.�
Comments
Post a comment