N.J. investigation of bridge backup inconclusive
WASHINGTON — New Jersey lawmakers investigating four days of traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge haven’t been able to determine whether Gov. Chris Christie was involved.
The special legislative panel also hasn’t ascertained why a former aide to the Republican governor, Bridget Anne Kelly, directed that the lanes be closed, according to an interim report obtained by Bloomberg News.
“There is not a shred of evidence Gov. Christie knew anything about the GWB lane realignment beforehand or that any current member of his staff was involved,” Christie’s attorney, Randy Mastro, said of the Legislative Select Committee on Investigation’s report. “The committee’s work has simply corroborated our comprehensive investigation.”
Christie declined to comment Friday in Toronto, where he was attending a trade mission.
“I’m just here to talk about Canada, but thanks for the questions,” the governor said.
The bridge controversy has cast a shadow over Christie as he prepares to announce early next year whether he’ll run for president in 2016. The matter remains under review by the legislative panel and by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark.
The 52-year-old governor, in his second term, has denied any involvement in closing the lanes in Fort Lee, on the New Jersey side of the bridge to Manhattan, on Sept. 9-12, 2013.
The contents of the document were reported Thursday night by New Jersey newspaper The Star-Ledger and by The Wall Street Journal.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, said the jams were caused by a traffic study. The backups trapped commuters for hours and delayed school buses and emergency vehicles in Fort Lee, whose Democratic mayor didn’t endorse Christie for re-election.
In January, emails surfaced showing that, a month before the tie-ups, Christie aide Kelly had written to a Port Authority official: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
David Wildstein, the Port Authority director of interstate capital projects, replied: “Got it.”
Christie later fired Kelly. Wildstein resigned before the emails became public.
The committee “is not in a position currently to conclude what Governor Christie himself knew about the lane closures, or when and how his knowledge of these events developed,” according to the report.
“While there is evidence that the governor was informed of the lane closures while they were in progress, the committee cannot evaluate the reliability of this evidence as it has yet to hear from the witness — Wildstein — who has claimed to have contemporaneously told the governor of the closures.”
The panel has two Democratic co-chairmen: Assemblyman John Wisniewski from Sayreville and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg from Teaneck. Wisniewski didn’t respond to an email request for comment on the report. Weinberg declined to comment.
The committee, during nine public meetings, took testimony under subpoena from some of Christie’s senior staff. The hearings were put on hold in July after Fishman said further witness appearances could interfere with his criminal investigation, Wisniewski said.
The panel is scheduled to meet Dec. 8 in Trenton to discuss the interim report; a summary of testimony; and emails, memos and other documents.
“Clearly our work is not finished because we’ve not interviewed all the individuals we want to interview,” Wisniewski said by telephone Wednesday.
He declined to say who the panel might call for questioning, or when.
The draft report was prepared by the committee’s outside counsel, Reid Schar, a partner of the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block. Schar, a former U.S. attorney, led the successful corruption prosecution of ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Information for this article was contributed by Terrence Dopp of Bloomberg News.