Governor Chris Christie will end his 75 day exile from the New Jersey press corps this afternoon at 2:30 with a press conference in his outer office.
Christie has not taken questions from the press since his January 9 marathon press conference about the revelations that members of his team had orchestrated the George Washington Bridge lane closures last September.
Yesterday the lawyers that Christie hired to investigate GWB lane closures and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that he, through Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, threaten to withhold Sandy relief from Hoboken unless Zimmer secured a zoning approval for the Rockefeller Group, a client of Port Authority Chairman David Samson, released their findings. The report backed up Christie’s claims from his January 9 press conference that he had no involvement in the lane closures and Guadagno’s denial of Zimmer’s allegations. The investigation cost New Jersey taxpayers roughly $1 million.
The report blamed Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly and his former #2 at Port Authority David Wildstein for the GWB lane closures and concluded that the widely speculated motive for the lane closures…political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich…did not make sense. The report says the motive for the lane closures remains a mystery. Kelly’s termination from Christie’s staff was announced at the January 9 press conference, the day after her “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email to Wildstein became public.
TRENTON — A leading Democratic state lawmaker investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures dismissed the findings of a report released today by Gov. Chris Christie’s lawyers clearing him of responsibility for the traffic scandal. State…
An internal investigation conducted by lawyers working for Gov. Chris Christie’s office found no evidence to support claims his top people tried to strong-arm Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer into approving a development project, according to a report released…
TRENTON — An internal investigation commissioned by the governor’s office found no evidence Gov. Chris Christie knew about the controversial plan to shut down several toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge beforehand, according to a report released…
Posted: March 27th, 2014 | Author:Art Gallagher | Filed under:Bridgegate | Tags:Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Comments Off on Christie bridge scandal: Internal report clears governor, calls for Port Authority restructuring
CNN is broadcasting the media briefing from Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, the lead investigator for the Christie Administration into “Bridgegate”, the scandal involving the Geroge Washington Bridge lane closures last September and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango and others in the Administration held Sandy aid for Hoboken hostage pending a development approval that Zimmer did not want to give.
An advance copy of the Mastro report concludes that Governor Chris Christie was not aware of the GWB lane closures and has told the truth about it since his January 9 press conference. Christie was reportedly in tear when he learned that his Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly had repeatedly lied about her involvement in the lane closures.
The report concludes that Kelly, and David Wildstein, then Christie’s #2 at the Port Authority of NY/NJ acted alone. After 70 interviews and reviewing 250,000 documents, Mastro and his team did not uncover the motivation for the lane closures.
With regard to Zimmer’s allegations, Mastro’s team concluded that the Mayor’s allegations are “unsubstantiated and materially false.
The 345 page, “thorough and exhaustive report” can be viewed here
The former prosecutors that the Christie Administration hired to perform an internal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures and allegations made by Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer that Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno told Zimmer that Sandy aid for Hoboken was contingent upon a development approval will release the findings of their investigation on Thursday morning at 11:30.
A New York Timesarticle about the report published on Sunday says it will address what and when Mr. Christie and his aides knew about the lane closings; analyze the structure, practices and culture of the Christie administration that contributed to the scandal; and issue pointed recommendations to prevent such conduct in the future.
Randy Mastro, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Deputy to former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, lead the team of lawyers from Gibson Dunn in conducting the investigation. Over 70 interviews were conducted and thousands of documents reviewed in the probe that cost New Jersey taxpayers over $1 million.
Three key players in the Bridgegate scandal, Christie former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly, Christie’s former political strategist Bill Stepien and David Wildstein, Christie’s former #2 at the Port Authority of NY/NJ, did not submit to interviews with Mastro’s team.
A joint legislative committee lead by Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Senator Loretta Weinberg continues to investigate the Bridgegate matters. U. S Attorney Paul Fishman’s office is also investigating.
Christie told NJ 101.5’s Eric Scott during his Ask the Governor radio show on Wednesday evening that if Mastro’s report implicates members of his staff, that punitive measures will be taken.
MMM will livestream Mastro’s press conference on Thursday at 11:30 AM
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s office today confirmed a published report that an internal investigation by an attorney hired by New Jersey is the result of a “comprehensive and exhaustive” review and will give “a full airing of what happened…
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed information related to Port Authority Chairman David Samson potentially being involved in conflicts of interests that stem from the agency awarding public contracts to construction companies represented by Samson’…
TRENTON — New e-mails released today by the legislative panel investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closings link Gov. Chris Christie’s chief political strategist, Mike DuHaime, to discussions about the scandal and show more intimate involvement…
