Making a Federal Case of It

It doesn’t look as if Chris Christie will put Bridgegate behind him at anytime soon. This report comes from Talking Points Memo:

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have convened a grand jury to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane closures, ABC News reported on Friday.

Twenty-three grand jurors on Friday heard testimony from Michael Drewniak, press secretary to Gov. Chris Christie (R). Drewniak’s attorney, Anthony Iacullo, told ABC News his client was not a target of the investigation.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics as to what would be discussed in the grand jury,” Iacullo said. “I would say though that Mike is a witness and we have been assured that he continues to be a witness throughout these proceedings and Mike has continued to cooperate as requested by the government into this inquiry."

In January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey confirmed that it was looking into the lane closures, which caused a multi-day traffic jam in Fort Lee, N.J., in September. But as ABC News reports, the existence of the grand jury confirms that the matter has evolved into a criminal investigation. Last week, a legal team representing Christie’s office released a report claiming the governor had no role in the closures, and pinning blame for the plot on two former Christie allies: former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein and former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly.

The full TPM piece is here.

Suddenly, Things Get Worse for Christie

Uh-oh, the Chris Christie scandal may get worse very quickly. This comes from Kevin Drum’s column on the Mother Jones Web site:

David Wildstein, the executive who was was said to be Chris Christie’s “eyes and ears” at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is deeply implicated in last year’s scheme to close the Fort Lee lanes of the George Washington Bridge in order to conduct a “traffic study.” He has since resigned, and the Port Authority is refusing to pay his legal bills. Apparently this has pissed him off. Today he sent a letter asking them to change their mind, which included this lovely little nugget:

The New York Times, in which that damning nugget originally appeared, observed that “The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie may have been aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during [his two-hour news conference earlier this month.”

To which Steve Benen of The Maddow Blog adds:

We do not yet know what kind of evidence Wildstein has, but it obviously has the potential to be very damaging to the governor.

For context, note that in his press conference three weeks ago, Christie left himself no discernible wiggle-room--the governor emphatically insisted he had no idea what his top aides were up to when they conspired to punish Fort Lee. Re-reading the transcript of his remarks, I found multiple examples in which Christie spoke without ambiguity:

* “[J]ust so we’re really clear: I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or it execution, and I am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here.”

* “I knew nothing about this.”

* “I’m telling you, at 8:50 yesterday morning--I got done with my workout at 8:45. My trainer left. I’m getting ready to get in the shower and at 8:50 Maria Comella called me and told me about the breaking Bergen Record story, and that was the first I knew of any of the emails or the information that was contained in that story.”

To date, there is nothing definitive that has called these claims into question. But again, according to Wildstein’s lawyer, “evidence exists” that Christie knew about the Fort Lee scheme “during the period when the lanes were closed.” What’s more, Wildstein’s lawyer says he can prove it.

Has it come time yet to wonder whether the arrogant Mr. Christie’s hold on the New Jersey governor’s office might not last much longer? And what impact could his scandalous downfall have on his already unpopular fellow Republicans across the nation?

READ MORE: “Christie’s Scapegoat Strikes Back: David Wildstein Wants to Talk,” by Joan Walsh (Salon); “New Jersey Gov. Christie Knew of Bridge Lane Closures, Attorney Says,” by Heather Haddon, Ted Mann and Patrick O’Connor (The Wall Street Journal); “Top Christie Aide Says Governor Was Aware of Bridge Lane Closures,” by Igor Volsky (Think Progress); “Chris Christie Knew All About the Bridge Lane Closings, Claims Ex-Friend Who Closed the Lanes,” by Joe Coscarelli (New York); “Bridge-gate: Key Figure Says Chris Christie Knew About Lane Closures,” by Harry Bruinius (The Christian Science Monitor); “The Official Who Oversaw the Lane Closures Has Turned On Christie. Here’s Why It Matters,” by Alec MacGillis (The New Republic); “Christie’s Office: Letter ‘Confirms What the Governor Has Said All Along,’” by Eric Lach (Talking Points Memo); “Christie Asks for Public’s Patience While He Comes Up with New Story,” by Andy Borowitz (The New Yorker).

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).