Newly released emails show Gov. Chris Christie's office was directly involved with the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September.
Newly released emails show that New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration was directly involved with the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge last fall, and they reveal a political plot to devise “traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
The email exchanges, obtained by , refute the denials Christie has publicly made that the lane closures were politically motivated.
According to the documents, Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Christie, ordered Port Authority officials to close the bridge lanes three weeks before the chaotic traffic jams that ensued the week of September 9.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Kelly wrote in an email to David Wildstein, a Christie-appointed executive at the Port Authority, which controls the bridge.
Wildstein, the official who ordered the closures and who resigned in December amid the bridge controversy, replied: “Got it.”
Christie has repeatedly denied that no member of his staff or campaign was involved in the lane closings.
“I worked the cones, actually,” Christie said. “Unbeknownst to everybody I was actually the guy out there, in overalls and a hat. … You really are not serious with that question.”
He told reporters in another press conference last month, “It’s just not that big a deal.”
But the controversy seems to have deepened after Wednesday’s revelations indicate that Kelly was kept up to date during the week of the traffic jams, and she was also told that Christie’s Port Authority executives were ignoring Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s request for an explanation for the sudden closures, according to The Record’s report.
Mayor Sokolich called the office of Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the Port Authority, another Christie appointee. Baroni’s assistant Matthew Bell sent an email that Sokolich called with an “urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee.” After receiving the email, Baroni forwarded the email to Wildstein who then forwarded it to Kelly. Kelly asked Wildstein if Baroni called the mayor back, to which Wildstein replied, “Radio silence. His name comes right after Mayor Fulop.” Kelly responded “Ty.”
Before his November re-election, Christie sought endorsements from North Jersey Democrats in an effort to promote bipartisanship. But Sokolich, a Democrat, declined to endorse Christie’s re-election bid, in addition to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.
Another email showed Christie’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, now the New Jersey GOP state chairman, referring to Mayor Sokolich as “an idiot.” Wildstein replied, “It will be a tough November for this little Serbian,” referring to the mayor. Sokolich cleared up his nationality and said that he is, in fact, Croatian.
“That slight is offensive to me, and it’s offensive to me of everyone of Serbian background, I will tell you that,” he told The Huffington Post. “That to me, if I were Serbian, I would be absolutely, positively appalled by it.”
Wildstein and Bill Baroni both resigned in December over the escalating brige scandal while Christie continued to deny any involvement or knowlege of the incident. Christie suggested their resignations weren’t directly linked to the bridge flap.
Amid the fallout following the revealed emails, two New Jersey Democratic legislators have called for a federal investigation into the lane closures, The Recordreported.
Wildstein and Kelly could not be reached for comment, and a spokesman for Christie declined to comment Wednesday. Christie’s office said in an email that it canceled the governor’s only scheduled event on Wednesday about housing recovery after Hurricane Sandy. His office offered no reason for the cancellation but said the event would be rescheduled.
Christie’s administration has claimed the lane closures were the result of a traffic study prompted by the Port Authority. The emails were supplied by David Wildstein in response to a subpoena issued by state lawmakers investigating the bridge closures. Wildstein has been called to testify about the documents before the panel of state legislators Thursday.
Read the full emails here.
