PATHETIC
Gov. Christie’s 107-minute, self-serving, self-pitying display of contrition was a climactic act in a brazen coverup that further threatens to unravel his political career.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, in a marathon Bridgegate mea culpa, apologized Thursday to the entire state of New Jersey — except for two administration insiders he quickly canned.
The combative Jersey guy was unusually contrite in taking the blame for the massive George Washington Bridge traffic snafu while denying any role in creating the political pothole.
“I had no knowledge and involvement in this issue, in its planning and its execution,” the oft-mentioned GOP presidential hopeful said in a nationally televised statehouse news conference.
“And I am stunned at the abject stupidity that was shown here. . . . This was handled in a callous way.”
Christie mentioned the words “apology” or “apologized” two dozen times during the nearly two-hour news conference.
He then traveled from Trenton to Fort Lee to personally apologize to the angry mayor for the four days of gridlock. The governor arrived at Borough Hall just after 4 p.m.
In a cruel twist, his three-vehicle caravan forced the shutdown of one lane of traffic along Main St.
Christie dismissed Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly around 9 a.m. Thursday. She had joined his administration in 2010.
“I terminated her employment because she lied to me,” Christie said bluntly, recounting how Kelly ignored a direct request to tell the truth at a sitdown last month.
Political adviser Bill Stepien was also coldly dispatched about 7 p.m. Wednesday, and ordered by Christie to withdraw his nominationto be state GOP chairman.
Stepien, who oversaw Christie’s 2013 reelection campaign, was seen as a potentially key figure if the governor makes a 2016 runfor the White House.
Two Christie appointments to the Port Authority, Bill Baroni and David Wildstein resigned in December as the scandal grew. As Christie poured on the self-serving apologies, the disgraced Wildstein kept his mouth closed tight before a New Jersey legislative panel investigating the lane closings.
Wildstein — a Livingston High School classmate of Christie — repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment.
“Under advice of my counsel, I reserve the right to remain silent,” Wildstein replied to every query from Assemblyman John Wisniewski.
Wildstein even declined to answer a question about his $150,000-ayear Port Authority gig.
He blamed the massive delays on a bogus traffic study before they were revealed in emails as petty political payback.
The governor’s successor as New Jersey’s U.S. attorney confirmed there is a federal investigation of the the fiasco.
Prosecutor Paul Fishman said his office was “reviewing the matter” to see if public resources were used for political ends. The FBI is also investigating.
But making a federal case against Christie’s aides will be a
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE ON FIRED AIDE AID A BRIDGET ANNE KELLY (LEFT) I terminated her employment because she lied to me.
FORT LEE MAYOR MARK SOKOLICH
I accepted his apology, yes I did. The governor of the state came here ... I’m glad he came. I take him for his word, that he had nothing to do with this.
CHRISTIE ON DISMISSED POLITICAL ADVISER BILL STEPIEN I was disturbed by the tone, attitude, behavior and callous indifference displayed in the email.
heavy lift for prosecutors, legal experts say.
Federal crimes involving interstate commerce and transportation require additional elements of violence — extortion, bribery or robbery — missing from this scandal.
“It doesn’t appear to be a federal offense at this point,” said former Brooklyn federal prosecutor Bradley Simon.
The Port Authority and a state legislative committee are also probing the traffic nightmare, which raised questions about Christie’s reputation for political hardball and his presidential hopes.The legislative committee is expected to release nearly 1,000 pages of documents connected to the scandal online on Friday, according to CNN.
“I am not a bully,” insisted Christie before boarding a helicop-
CHRISTIE ON THE PERCEPTION THAT HE’S A BIT HEAVY-HANDED
I am who I am, but I am not a bully.
ter to meet with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, whose refusal to endorse the Republican apparently sparked the lane shutdowns.
Sokolich initially discouraged a visit from Christie. But the two spent about 35 minutes inside the municipal building.
“I’m glad he came,” said Sokolich. “I take him for his word, which is he has nothing to do with it . . . I accepted his apology, yes, I did.”
Sokolich’s constituents were not as kind.
“How can we trust you?” one man shouted at the departing governor.
Fort Lee resident Lillian Perez said she was still waiting for her apology.
“It’s kind of disappointing, it really is,” said Perez, 45. “He was here, and he said nothing. I definitely was
CHRISTIE’S OPENING STATEMENT I would never have come out here and made a joke about these lane closures if I had ever had an inkling that anyone on my staff would have been so stupid.
expecting more.”
Mayor de Blasio, noting that many New Yorkers were affected by the traffic jams, said he thought the roadway retribution raised bigger questions. “It’s unacceptable and it’s not tolerable for anyone in government to play with the people’s needs,” he said, calling the closures “immoral.”
Christie said he first learned about the involvement of Kelly and Stepien at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday.
Christie insisted that Sokolich was never even “on his radar” during last year’s gubernatorial cam- paign — where the governor actually carried heavily Democratic Fort Lee. “Until I saw his picture last night on television, I couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup,” the governor said.
But a photo emerged Thursday showing Christie shaking hands with Sokolich. And the mayor said he asked the governor about the “radar” crack during their meeting.
“His answer was something to the effect that now we have our own screen,” said Sokolich. “It was pretty funny.”
Sokolich said Christie apolo- gized for the traffic mess, adding that they had a “very warm, very productive meeting.”
Asked if he believed that Christie played no direct role in Bridgegate, he appeared to let the governor off the hook. “I take him for his word,” he said.
A media horde descended on Trenton for Christie’s first public appearance since the scandal was directly linked to his administration one day earlier.
Christie, while insisting he was blindsided by the emails, said he took the blame for the whole mess: “Ultimately, I am responsible for what happens under my watch, for good and for bad.”
Christie blamed himself for accepting at face value the statements made by his staff and his appointee at the Port Authority.
“I’m heartbroken about it, and I’m incredibly disappointed, he said. “I’m stunned. It makes me ask what did I do wrong to have these folks think it was OK to lie to me.”
“I was told it was a traffic study,” he said. “And there was no evidence to the contrary until yesterday.”