More subpoena's have been issued. Turns out there was no traffic study, and still no explanation for why this was done. It is alleged that this was done as a way to "punish" a Democratic Mayor who refused to endorse Gov. Chris Christie, and now more things are beginning to pop up over this whole bridge debacle.
Emergency services were unable to get to people, it held up the entire bridge and turned the whole thing into a parking lot essentially. If there is any truth to Gov. Chris Christie having done this, in my opinion he is not fit to be President nor keep his position. This was dangerous, and bullying to extreme over something very petty. It's not looking good for him.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/chris-christie-bridge_n_4440480.html
WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) sought to quell mounting questions over whether his administration used the busiest U.S. bridge in a political retribution scheme, holding a lengthy press conference Friday where he gave his first extended remarks on the issue since the controversy erupted.
Christie essentially admitted that some of his top appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey screwed up, but he insisted there was no political motivation behind what they did, and said he had not known what was happening.
"I'm responsible for everything that happens in this government. ... I didn't know anything about it, but I'm responsible," said Christie. "For every person who acts in this government, I am ultimately responsible. So if you want to hear that, I'm happy to say that, because it's true. ... That's different obviously than direct responsibility, but ultimate responsibility, sure."
The problems began on the morning of Sept. 9, when New Jersey drivers attempting to cross the George Washington Bridge by one of the three access lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., found two of the lanes closed. The result was massive traffic jams, with cars backed up into Fort Lee's local roads.
The closures were ordered by David Wildstein, a high-ranking Port Authority official and Christie ally, without the knowledge of the Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who was appointed by the governor of New York. Wildstein's boss, Christie appointee and former New Jersey state Sen. Bill Baroni, defended the closure, saying it was necessary for a traffic study. Foye said he was never informed of the study, and he ordered the lanes reopened on Sept. 13 when he found out what had happened.
Just weeks before the closures, Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, refused to endorse Christie's reelection bid. On Sept. 12, Sokolich said he believed Wildstein's actions were "punitive," although he later backed off that accusation.
Wildstein resigned last week, although it was reported that he would continue to collect his six-figure paycheck. On Friday, Christie said Wildstein was off the payroll.
Christie also announced that Baroni was resigning, although he denied that it was connected to the bridge controversy. He said the move was planned because Baroni already had served four years with the Port Authority, and the reason it was being announced on Friday was simply because it had become a distraction.
Christie stood by Baroni and Wildstein, characterizing the incident as a "mistake" and asserting that they did not have malicious motives and did not do it for political reasons.
"I can only tell you what Sen. Baroni has said publicly and to everybody in this office, which is they believed the traffic study was necessary and that they ordered it, but the way they did it was mistaken and they didn't follow protocols," he said.
When pressed on the issue of whether there was more wrongdoing, Christie said to a reporter, "There's got to be a time ... that you made a mistake in a story. By definition, you didn't do it on purpose. It was a mistake. ... Sen. Baroni has characterized this as a mistake.
Christie also denied a Wall Street Journal story that said Christie called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently and complained that Foye was pressing too hard to get to the bottom of the bridge matter.
"The story is categorically wrong. I did not have that conversation with Gov. Cuomo in any way, shape or form, and Gov. Cuomo didn't have it with me," said Christie. "And when the story came out yesterday, I called him and said, 'Did we talk about this?' and he said, 'No.'"
National Democrats have begun hammering Christie, seen as a possible 2016 presidential contender, over the controversy as well. On Friday morning, the Democratic National Committee put out a video saying Christie was "playing politics." Super PAC Correct the Record also made a graphic this week charging the governor with "political retribution."
Christie dismissed the Democratic attacks on Friday.
"National Democrats will make an issue about everything about me. So get used to the new world, everybody," he said. "You know, we're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. That's the way it goes, so it's fine."
DNC Press Secretary Michael Czin responded. "At Governor Christie’s press conference today on the bridge scandal that has dominated headlines in New Jersey, Christie took a very long time to not answer one simple question: ‘Why?’ Why were the lanes to the bridge shut down? After an hour long performance, with a lot of his customary swagger Christie’s not answering and the people of New Jersey still deserve answers," he said.
The Democratic-controlled committee investigating the lane closures in the New Jersey General Assembly subpoenaed new documents on Thursday, indicating that it believed there was more to the matter than had been revealed. The inspector general of the Port Authority has also launched a probe into the issue.
Resignations of deputy executive and others who are Gov. Chris Christie's loyalists over Bridge shut down
Bill Baroni’s resignation as deputy executive director comes as New Jersey Democrats allege that officials loyal to the New Jersey’s Republican governor on the agency, which runs the bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey among other transportation infratructure, shut down lanes on the busy George Washington Bridge as payback for the refusal of Fort Lee mayor, a Democrat, to back Christie’s reelection. Fort Lee is directly affected by bridge traffic.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni (right) and Chairman David Samson (center). Baroni resigned from the agency over the growing controversy involving lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, being viewed as political payback for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, located near the bridge.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s top appointee to the Port Authority resigned Friday — the second casualty of a growing scandal over lane closures that caused massive delays at the George Washington Bridge.
New Jersey Democrats have claimed that Christie loyalists at the Port Authority shut the lanes as payback after the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee — the town on the Jersey side of the bridge — refused to back the reelection of Christie, a Republican.
At the time, the Christie camp was seeking the endorsements of local Democrats to increase the margin of his expected victory and burnish his credentials as a 2016 presidential candidate.
The official who stepped down Friday, Bill Baroni, was the $289,000-a-year deputy executive director.
He had testified at a legislative hearing in Trenton that the lanes were closed for a traffic study.
But Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who is Gov. Cuomo’s top appointee to the bistate agency, testified he was unaware of any such study.
Other witnesses said another Christie ally at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, directed the bridge’s supervisor to close the lanes — and not notify Foye, Fort Lee’s mayor or the cops.
The shutdown, which began on Sept. 9 and lasted four days, closed two of the three local-access lanes from Fort Lee to the bridge’s upper level.
The closure caused four-hour delays on the Jersey side of the GWB — one of the world’s most heavily traveled bridges — creating a potential nightmare for emergency vehicles.
Fort Lee officials said they received no advance notice of the closures.
Wildstein, the Port Authority’s director of interstate capital projects and one of Christie’s high school friends, sent a resignation letter last week.
On Friday, Christie said he believes Baroni’s version of events and does not believe his staffers ordered the closures. He said that he did not learn about the closures until later. Christie also downplayed Baroni's exit, saying he “offered his resignation and I accepted it, but this wasn’t something I hadn’t planned already.”
The tough-talking governor also accused Democrats of hyping the bridge dustup and “all the other politics swirling around it.”
Emergency services were unable to get to people, it held up the entire bridge and turned the whole thing into a parking lot essentially. If there is any truth to Gov. Chris Christie having done this, in my opinion he is not fit to be President nor keep his position. This was dangerous, and bullying to extreme over something very petty. It's not looking good for him.
-----------------------
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/chris-christie-bridge_n_4440480.html
WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) sought to quell mounting questions over whether his administration used the busiest U.S. bridge in a political retribution scheme, holding a lengthy press conference Friday where he gave his first extended remarks on the issue since the controversy erupted.
Christie essentially admitted that some of his top appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey screwed up, but he insisted there was no political motivation behind what they did, and said he had not known what was happening.
"I'm responsible for everything that happens in this government. ... I didn't know anything about it, but I'm responsible," said Christie. "For every person who acts in this government, I am ultimately responsible. So if you want to hear that, I'm happy to say that, because it's true. ... That's different obviously than direct responsibility, but ultimate responsibility, sure."
The problems began on the morning of Sept. 9, when New Jersey drivers attempting to cross the George Washington Bridge by one of the three access lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., found two of the lanes closed. The result was massive traffic jams, with cars backed up into Fort Lee's local roads.
The closures were ordered by David Wildstein, a high-ranking Port Authority official and Christie ally, without the knowledge of the Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who was appointed by the governor of New York. Wildstein's boss, Christie appointee and former New Jersey state Sen. Bill Baroni, defended the closure, saying it was necessary for a traffic study. Foye said he was never informed of the study, and he ordered the lanes reopened on Sept. 13 when he found out what had happened.
Just weeks before the closures, Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, refused to endorse Christie's reelection bid. On Sept. 12, Sokolich said he believed Wildstein's actions were "punitive," although he later backed off that accusation.
Wildstein resigned last week, although it was reported that he would continue to collect his six-figure paycheck. On Friday, Christie said Wildstein was off the payroll.
Christie also announced that Baroni was resigning, although he denied that it was connected to the bridge controversy. He said the move was planned because Baroni already had served four years with the Port Authority, and the reason it was being announced on Friday was simply because it had become a distraction.
Christie stood by Baroni and Wildstein, characterizing the incident as a "mistake" and asserting that they did not have malicious motives and did not do it for political reasons.
"I can only tell you what Sen. Baroni has said publicly and to everybody in this office, which is they believed the traffic study was necessary and that they ordered it, but the way they did it was mistaken and they didn't follow protocols," he said.
When pressed on the issue of whether there was more wrongdoing, Christie said to a reporter, "There's got to be a time ... that you made a mistake in a story. By definition, you didn't do it on purpose. It was a mistake. ... Sen. Baroni has characterized this as a mistake.
Christie also denied a Wall Street Journal story that said Christie called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently and complained that Foye was pressing too hard to get to the bottom of the bridge matter.
"The story is categorically wrong. I did not have that conversation with Gov. Cuomo in any way, shape or form, and Gov. Cuomo didn't have it with me," said Christie. "And when the story came out yesterday, I called him and said, 'Did we talk about this?' and he said, 'No.'"
National Democrats have begun hammering Christie, seen as a possible 2016 presidential contender, over the controversy as well. On Friday morning, the Democratic National Committee put out a video saying Christie was "playing politics." Super PAC Correct the Record also made a graphic this week charging the governor with "political retribution."
Christie dismissed the Democratic attacks on Friday.
"National Democrats will make an issue about everything about me. So get used to the new world, everybody," he said. "You know, we're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. That's the way it goes, so it's fine."
DNC Press Secretary Michael Czin responded. "At Governor Christie’s press conference today on the bridge scandal that has dominated headlines in New Jersey, Christie took a very long time to not answer one simple question: ‘Why?’ Why were the lanes to the bridge shut down? After an hour long performance, with a lot of his customary swagger Christie’s not answering and the people of New Jersey still deserve answers," he said.
The Democratic-controlled committee investigating the lane closures in the New Jersey General Assembly subpoenaed new documents on Thursday, indicating that it believed there was more to the matter than had been revealed. The inspector general of the Port Authority has also launched a probe into the issue.
Resignations of deputy executive and others who are Gov. Chris Christie's loyalists over Bridge shut down
Bill Baroni’s resignation as deputy executive director comes as New Jersey Democrats allege that officials loyal to the New Jersey’s Republican governor on the agency, which runs the bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey among other transportation infratructure, shut down lanes on the busy George Washington Bridge as payback for the refusal of Fort Lee mayor, a Democrat, to back Christie’s reelection. Fort Lee is directly affected by bridge traffic.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni (right) and Chairman David Samson (center). Baroni resigned from the agency over the growing controversy involving lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, being viewed as political payback for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, located near the bridge.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s top appointee to the Port Authority resigned Friday — the second casualty of a growing scandal over lane closures that caused massive delays at the George Washington Bridge.
New Jersey Democrats have claimed that Christie loyalists at the Port Authority shut the lanes as payback after the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee — the town on the Jersey side of the bridge — refused to back the reelection of Christie, a Republican.
At the time, the Christie camp was seeking the endorsements of local Democrats to increase the margin of his expected victory and burnish his credentials as a 2016 presidential candidate.
The official who stepped down Friday, Bill Baroni, was the $289,000-a-year deputy executive director.
He had testified at a legislative hearing in Trenton that the lanes were closed for a traffic study.
But Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who is Gov. Cuomo’s top appointee to the bistate agency, testified he was unaware of any such study.
Other witnesses said another Christie ally at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, directed the bridge’s supervisor to close the lanes — and not notify Foye, Fort Lee’s mayor or the cops.
The shutdown, which began on Sept. 9 and lasted four days, closed two of the three local-access lanes from Fort Lee to the bridge’s upper level.
The closure caused four-hour delays on the Jersey side of the GWB — one of the world’s most heavily traveled bridges — creating a potential nightmare for emergency vehicles.
Fort Lee officials said they received no advance notice of the closures.
Wildstein, the Port Authority’s director of interstate capital projects and one of Christie’s high school friends, sent a resignation letter last week.
On Friday, Christie said he believes Baroni’s version of events and does not believe his staffers ordered the closures. He said that he did not learn about the closures until later. Christie also downplayed Baroni's exit, saying he “offered his resignation and I accepted it, but this wasn’t something I hadn’t planned already.”
The tough-talking governor also accused Democrats of hyping the bridge dustup and “all the other politics swirling around it.”