Are Chris Christie's problems getting worse?
| WASHINGTON
Chris Christie did a good job defending himself against Bridgegate last week, according to many Washington politicos. At his operatic press conference on Thursday, the GOP governor of New Jersey expressed shock and outrage that his aides would shut access lanes of the George Washington Bridge for political reasons. He said he鈥檇 just learned of the Bridgegate charges himself and summarily fired Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly.
But today鈥檚 a new dawn and for Governor Christie, the woods remain dark and deep, to mix a few metaphors. Bridgegate is not going away. Many questions remain, and top New Jersey Democrats have vowed to continue issuing subpoenas in an attempt to get answers. Christie鈥檚 troubles may be at their beginning, not their end.
More people. For one thing, the universe of Christie aides with some connection to the Fort Lee lane closures keeps expanding.
Ms. Kelly; former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien; and David Wildstein, a Christie associate and Port Authority official, remain at the core of the known Bridgegate problems. But what about David Samson? Documents made public last Friday showed that Mr. Samson, the Christie-appointed Port Authority chairman, accused the agency鈥檚 executive director of 鈥渟tirring up trouble鈥� by leaking information about the controversial lane closures, They also suggest that Christie and Samson met before Kelly sent her now-infamous 鈥渢ime for some traffic problems in Fort Lee鈥� e-mail.
Then there鈥檚 Regina Egea. She鈥檚 been 鈥渁dded to the mix," in the words of MSNBC host Steve Kornacki. Ms. Egea, another senior Christie aide, oversaw Christie appointees at the Port Authority and other agencies. She鈥檚 also Christie鈥檚 pick to be his next chief of staff.
Newly released documents show she got a September e-mail from a Port Authority director charging that the lane closures may have violated federal and state law. 鈥淭hat raises a ton of questions,鈥� .
All these folks may now get subpoenaed to testify before the New Jersey Assembly committee that鈥檚 probing Bridgegate. It鈥檒l be pretty interesting to hear what they have to say about who knew what, when.
More questions. In his bravura performance before reporters last Thursday, Christie made many flat assertions听that he wasn鈥檛 aware of the politics behind the Fort Lee mess. Of course, it鈥檚 quite possible, even likely, that he was telling the truth. But what if he isn鈥檛? What if the situations he described in black-and-white begin to look a little gray? Christie鈥檚 political prospects could be in trouble.
And the press is already picking at key Christie statements. For instance, in his press conference, Christie denied that he and David Wildstein were close in high school. They were not friends, he said. He (Christie) was a jock and Wildstein was not. They ran with different crowds.
鈥淲e were not even acquaintances,鈥� Christie said.
That鈥檚 news to Christie鈥檚 high school baseball coach Tony Hope, apparently. He that Christie was his catcher and Wildstein did all the team鈥檚 statistics.
So they were on the same team, in a way. Maybe the player overlooked the nonplayer who toted up batting averages.
鈥淣ice knowing you kid. Or not knowing you,鈥� jibes Mr. MacGillis.
More scandals. Nor is Bridgegate the only nascent scandal in the New Jersey gubernatorial in-box. On Monday, that federal investigators are looking into whether Christie improperly used Sandy relief funds to pay for tourism ads that starred him and his family.
The ads per se aren鈥檛 the potential problem. It鈥檚 the fact that the winning bidder, the politically connected communications firm, got $4.7 million for the contract. That鈥檚 $2 million more than the next lowest bidder asked for. The loser did not envision personal use of Christie in the ads, however.
鈥淭his was money that could have directly been used for Sandy recovery,鈥� Rep. Frank Pallone (D) of New Jersey told CNN.
Having the New Jersey Assembly on your case is one thing. The feds are another.
鈥淚f the Sandy inquiry finds any wrongdoing, it could prove even more damaging to Christie鈥檚 national ambitions,鈥� writes CNN鈥檚 Chris Frates.
