Are Patterns of Abuse Emerging?

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie--whose administration has already been charged with deliberately snarling traffic on a Hudson River bridge in order to punish a Democratic mayor who’d refused to endorse the Republican guv--they do. Now come allegations that Team Christie sought to practice “blackmail in Hoboken, telling Mayor Dawn Zimmer that she would not get [Hurricane] Sandy aid for her town unless she approved a real estate project pushed by the Christie administration.” Tom Moran of New Jersey’s Star Ledger newspaper explains why these new accusations are even worse than “Bridgegate”:

This one is beyond ugly. Because in the end, Zimmer did get shorted. Hoboken got $342,000, a pittance for a town that was 80 percent under water after the October 2012 storm. She had requested $127 million.

This is a credible charge. Zimmer is describing the same kind of thuggish behavior from the Christie administration that we saw during Bridgegate.

But this one cuts deeper. Leaving people stranded in horrid traffic for four days is bad enough. But denying aid to victims of Sandy as a means of leverage against an elected official is simply revolting. And surely illegal.

Time for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman to jump on this. And the Legislature should ramp up an investigation as well.

READ MORE: “Christie Camp Held Sandy Relief Money Hostage, Mayor Alleges,” by Steve Kornacki (MSNBC); “Hoboken Mayor Discussed Chris Christie, Sandy Aid Allegations with U.S. Attorney, She Says,” by Ryan Hutchins (The Star-Ledger); “Is Bridgegate Politics as Usual, or Beyond the Pale?,” by Bo Cutter (The National Memo).

Not Presidential Material?

From Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post:

Former New Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean, one of the state’s most revered figures and a mentor to current Republican Gov. Chris Christie, contends that the leadership qualities Christie has shown while in office should give pause to voters nationally, as they begin to size up Christie as a potential president.

“On the one hand, I think he’s got a lot to offer. I think he’s the most able politician since Bill Clinton,” Kean (R) said in an interview with The Washington Post. “On the other hand, you look at these other qualities and ask, do you really want that in your president?”

Kean’s comments come as the current governor is beset by controversy over revelations that officials loyal to Christie engineered closure of part of the George Washington Bridge in September, inconveniencing tens of thousands of state residents in an apparent act of vindictiveness against a local mayor.

NBC News’ “First Thoughts” blog says, “So far, there’s no more devastating comment from any Republican than Kean’s comment. Of course, it’s worth noting, Kean’s son and Christie just recently clashed, so this is personal for him, too.”

READ MORE: “Former Gov. Tom Kean Guestions Chris Christie’s Presidential Cred in Wake of Bridge Scandal,” by David Giambusso (The Star-Ledger); “How the Media Created Chris Christie,” by Joan Walsh (Salon); “Chris Christie’s Other Lingering Controversy” and “Taking ‘Worship of Self’ to a Whole New Level,” by Steve Benen (The Maddow Blog); “Christie Apologists Hit Rock Bottom: Why the Right’s Lame, New Defense Is Doomed to Fail,” by Brian Beutler (Salon); “Steve Kornacki Offers Up His Own Solution to Bridgegate Mystery,” by Natasha Lennard (Salon); “BridgeGate: The Who and the Why,” by Josh Marshall (Talking Points Memo); “Christie Showed His Strips as U.S. Attorney,” by Martin Longman (Washington Monthly).

Bridge Scandal Sinks Christie’s 2016 Hopes

This comes from Salon editor-at-large Joan Walsh:

Although I’m on record saying a year ago that [New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie would never be president, precisely because of his vengeful and bullying temperament, I actually did see a route for him to win a GOP primary, which many people dismiss. It was the same route Mitt Romney took: being the guy with the money who let the Tea Party crazies knock each other off. Romney was never the frontrunner in polls, but as each rival took his or her turn in the lead (yes, Michele Bachmann was taken seriously after the Ames, Iowa straw poll), and even won a primary here or there, Romney steadily racked up delegates and cash and wound up the last man standing, despite the loathing of the far-right base.

Christie might have done the same thing, if Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and Marco Rubio all jumped in, alongside Rick Perry and maybe for some real fun, Iowa’s Steve King. But if Christie, like the Tea Partiers, has to endure a mini-primary to win the Establishment and big donor crown, he would be in big trouble.

Now he’s in big trouble already, and you can bet GOP operatives are combing the record along with Rachel Maddow’s staff and dozens if not hundreds of local and national reporters, to tell the story of the real Chris Christie. That’s in addition to the state and federal investigators who will be looking for evidence that Christie knew more about the Fort Lee plot than he’s shared. Christie will be spending more time with lawyers than with GOP donors in the months to come, and he may have to focus on keeping his job rather than winning the White House. His path to the White House is all but closed, even if some national pundits can’t bear to admit it yet.

Her entire piece about Christie’s political and legal woes is here.

READ MORE: “Forget 2016, Chris Christie May Not Even Be Governor Much Longer,” by Joan Walsh (Salon); “Chris Christie: Dimwitted Dupe or Demented Liar?,” by Brian Beutler (Salon); “At the Heart of the Scandal,” by Steve Benen (The Maddow Blog); “Christie’s Either Naive or a Liar. Neither Makes Him Presidential,” by David Garber (Political Carnival); “Obama Sees a Problem, Says I Will Fix It. Christie Sees a Problem and Says Not My Fault,” by Jason Easley (PoliticsUSA); “Christie Bridge Scandal: Five Outrageous Examples of Political Revenge,” by Erin McCann (The Guardian).