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Fort Lee lane closure scandal

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George Washington Bridge

The Fort Lee lane closure controversy, also known as Bridgegate, or Bridgeghazi,[1] concerns actions taken by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's staff and his Port Authority appointees to create a traffic jam in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as political retribution. Dedicated toll lanes for one of the Fort Lee entrances to the upper level on the George Washington Bridge were reduced from three to one from September 9, 2013, to September 13, 2013.

One of the reasons suggested for these actions was to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not supporting Republican Chris Christie in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election.

Another possible reason was that Christie or his aides sought to punish New Jersey Senate majority leader, Loretta Weinberg, who represented the New Jersey district containing Fort Lee, as retribution for the Democrats' intentions to block Christie's reappointment of a New Jersey Supreme Court justice. Christie withdrew his reappointment consideration for Helen E. Hoens, a Republican, while referring to New Jersey Senate Democrats as "animals" one day before an e-mail was sent on August 13, 2013, by Christie's deputy chief of staff to one of his appointees at the Port Authority to initiate plans to cause traffic congestion in Fort Lee.[2]

The story has garnered national attention, in part because, at the time, Governor Christie had been considered one of the top potential Republican nominees for the 2016 U.S. presidential race.

Background

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Main articles: George Washington Bridge and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The George Washington Bridge is the busiest motor-vehicle bridge in the world.[3][4] It carries Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 over the Hudson River between northern Manhattan, in New York City, and Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey. There is a toll to go from New Jersey to New York, and the north end of the heavily traveled New Jersey Turnpike is the bridge.

The bridge is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (usually just called the "Port Authority"), which is run by a twelve-member Board of Commissioners: each state's governor, with the approval of that state's senate, appoints six members over time, with the members' terms staggered. A state governor may veto the acts of that state's board members.[5] Several other positions at the Port Authority are appointed by governors; by tradition, the top two executives are appointed by the governors.[6]

Chris Christie was first elected governor of New Jersey in November 2009. During his first term, he appointed Bill Baroni as deputy executive director of the Port Authority.[7] David Wildstein, who knew Christie during high school and was a local politician and political blogger under the pen name of Wally Edge,[6] became director of interstate capital projects after being hired by Baroni[8] in May 2010 as New Jersey's second highest executive at the Port Authority, and often substituted for Baroni at major meetings.[6]

In 2013, Christie was running for re-election.

Events

On August 13, 2013, Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, sent an eight-word e-mail to David Wildstein, the governor's appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, that read, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee".[7][9] Wildstein responded to Kelly's e-mail: "Got it." Subsequent e-mail exchanges also implicated Port Authority Chairman David Samson, another Christie appointee, by name, in the toll lane closures.[10]

Beginning on September 9, 2013, the dedicated toll lanes for one of the Fort Lee entrances to the upper level of the George Washington Bridge were reduced from three to one until early morning on September 13, on orders from David Wildstein without notification to Fort Lee government and police officials. In an area that normally experiences a great deal of traffic, the lane closings caused a significant increase in congestion. This led to major delays for school transportation and police and emergency response within Fort Lee, both during and after the peak hours of travel.[11]

On September 13, 2013, Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ordered that the lanes be reopened. He said the closure violated agency policy and jeopardized public safety. Foye was an appointee of Andrew Cuomo (D), the Governor of New York.[12]

Investigation

On October 2, John Wisniewski, Deputy Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, said that he would open an investigation with the Assembly Transportation Committee to determine whether or not the lane closures were politically motivated. The Port Authority announced it would conduct an internal review on October 16.[12]

Based on sworn testimony by Port Authority officials at an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing on December 9, 2013, Christie announced on December 13 he had accepted the immediate resignations of Baroni and Wildstein.[13] Asked whether the lane closures had been ordered as political retribution, Christie answered "absolutely, unequivocally not".[14] Christie added: "I've made it very clear to everybody on my senior staff that if anyone had any knowledge about this, they needed to come forward to me and tell me about it. And they've all assured me that they don't."[15]

Documents were turned over under a subpoena to investigators of the Assembly Transportation Committee and those redacted documents were turned over to The New York Times and other news media.[7] The New York Times published e-mails and text messages on January 8, 2014, tying Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, to the closure. The content of the released communications indicates the lane closures were ordered with the knowledge that they would cause a massive traffic jam.[16][17] Christie released a statement later that day denying knowledge of the scandal, rebuking Bridget Anne Kelly for her role in the lane closure event, and vowing that "people will be held responsible for their actions".[18] These lane closures caused slower response time for emergency vehicles. The Fort Lee EMS coordinator later said that the jams delayed paramedic response times, including treatment for a 91-year-old woman who later died.[19]

On January 9, 2014, Christie apologized at a press conference for the lane closure and said that he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the behavior of his staff. The governor announced that he had fired Bridget Anne Kelly, whom he called "stupid" and "deceitful" for lying to him.[20] Christie admonished his two-time campaign manager Bill Stepien and said he had asked Stepien to withdraw his name from the Republican State Party Chairman race, and to cease his consulting role for the Republican Governors Association.[21] Later that day, David Wildstein refused to testify before the Assembly Transportation Committee, invoking the constitutional protection from self incrimination.[22]

When asked in the press conference about what he would do if subpoenaed to testify on the matter, Christie said "I will not speculate on that," although earlier in the conference he had promised complete cooperation.

Repercussions

As of January 2014, there is a wide range of opinion about the impact of this scandal on a potential Christie presidential bid.[23][24] Similarly, there is much debate about possible criminal prosecutions of Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, especially if the slower responses by emergency vehicles contributed to any deaths or other medical complications.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/chris-christie-bridgeghazi-101929.html
  2. ^ "Rachel Maddow Presents New Chris Christie Bridge Scandal Theory". January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "George Washington Bridge: maintaining world's busiest span". www.myfoxny.com. December 19, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. ^ Woodruff, Bob; Zak, Lana; Wash, Stephanie (November 20, 2012). "GW Bridge Painters: Dangerous Job on Top of the World's Busiest Bridge". ABC News. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  5. ^ "Governance". New York City: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. May 21, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "Ex-blogger is Governor Christie's eyes, ears inside the Port Authority". NorthJersey.com. Woodland Park, New Jersey: North Jersey Media Group. March 4, 2012, 1:53 PM. Retrieved January 9, 2014. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Zernike, Kate (January 8, 2014). "Christie Faces Scandal on Traffic Jam Aides Ordered". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2014. 'Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,' Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, e-mailed David Wildstein, ... who worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge.
  8. ^ Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (December 7, 2013). "Christie Ally Resigning From Port Authority". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  9. ^ Eric, Lach (January 8, 2014). "Meet the Christie Aide Behind the Instantly Infamous 'Traffic Problems' Email". Talking Point Memo. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  10. ^ Blake, Aaron (January 8, 2014). "E-mails Suggest Top Christie Aide Used Lane Closures for Retribution". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  11. ^ Boburg, Shawn (December 28, 2013). "Emails Show Port Authority Officials Were Warned of Hardships Caused by GWB Lane Closures". The Record. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Timeline of Port Authority's George Washington Bridge controversy". NJ.com. November 25, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  13. ^ Portnoy, Jenna (December 13, 2013). "Gov. Christie Announces Another Top Port Authority Official Has Resigned after GWB Flap". The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  14. ^ McCalmont, Lucy (December 13, 2013). "Chris Christie: Andrew Cuomo Story 'Wrong'". Politico. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  15. ^ Jordan, Bob (December 15, 2013). "Bridge Scandal Signals Dems Ready to Give Christie a Hard Time". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  16. ^ Zernike, Kate (January 8, 2014). "Emails Tie Top Christie Aides to Lane Closings, Despite Denials". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  17. ^ "Christie Administration Emails and Text Messages Related to GWB Lane Closures" (PDF). The Record. January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  18. ^ Portnoy, Jenna (January 8, 2014). "Gov. Chris Christie 'Outraged' in Statement on GWB Scandal". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  19. ^ LoGiurato, Brett. "The Chris Christie Lane Closing Scandal Caused Slower Response Times For Emergency Vehicles". Business Insider. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  20. ^ Santora, Marc; Rashbaum, William (January 9, 2014). "Christie Fires Aide in Bridge Scandal as U.S. Opens Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  21. ^ "Christie news conference - CNN". Politicslive.cnn.com. November 6, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  22. ^ Phillis, Michael (January 9, 2014). "Former Port Authority exec Wildstein refuses to answer questions from Assembly panel". The Record. Northjersey.com. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  23. ^ Caldwell, Leigh Ann (January 9, 2014). "Christie drops swagger amid heat of scandal". CNN. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  24. ^ Frumin, Aliyah (January 9, 2014). "Christie apologizes: 'I am embarrassed and humiliated'". NBC News. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
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