US bridge scandal casts shadow on a Republican star
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a top Republican contender for the 2016 presidential nomination, said yesterday he is “embarrassed and humiliated” by emails and text messages that suggest a top aide deliberately created traffic jams last year to punish a political rival. Christie said he has fired her, and he apologized.
The scandal is being called the biggest test of his political career.
The massive traffic snarl at one of the world’s busiest bridges, which links New Jersey and New York City, caused hours-long backups for commuters and others as children started the school year.
The US attorney in New Jersey announced yesterday he is investigating the shutdown “to determine whether a federal law was implicated.”
Christie, a blunt, outspoken governor who has worked to create a pragmatic, bipartisan image and contrast it with a bitterly divided Congress, earlier dismissed questions about the lane closures with jokes and denied that either he or his staff had been involved.
After the emails and texts were reported on Wednesday, he canceled public appearances and several hours later issued a statement saying he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the revelations. He said he was misled by a key aide and he denied involvement.
Christie told reporters yesterday that he had fired that aide, saying she lied to him.
He said he is responsible for what happened and said he would go to the affected town to apologize.
The revelations raise new questions about his leadership on the eve of his second term designed to jumpstart his road to the White House. In less than two weeks, his second inauguration is planned in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. He also faces a national travel schedule as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Democrats at the national level swiftly circulated the news of the scandal, calling it more evidence that the potential Republican candidate for president in 2016 is a bully. Some conservative Republicans who have been stung by Christie’s comments in the past joined in.
The messages were obtained by news organizations on Wednesday amid a statehouse investigation into whether the huge traffic backup was retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie for re-election last fall.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly wrote in August in a message to David Wildstein, a top Christie appointee on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The authority is in charge of the heavily traveled George Washington Bridge.
“Got it,” Wildstein replied. A few weeks later, Wildstein closed two of three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the bridge.
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