Boston.com
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TRENTON,
N.J. (AP) - Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday apologized to his
constituents and said he was ''embarrassed and humiliated'' by his staff
but had no idea his aides may have closed highway lanes to exact
political retribution.
Christie faces political fallout over traffic jam
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie on
Thursday apologized to his constituents and said he was ‘‘embarrassed
and humiliated’’ by his staff but had no idea his aides may have closed
highway lanes to exact political retribution.
Christie also said he was firing Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, ‘‘because she lied to me.’’
Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening
scandal that threatens to upend Christie’s second term and likely run
for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to
punish the mayor, who didn’t endorse Christie for re-election.
The revelations thrust a regional
transportation issue into a national conversation raising new questions
about the ambitious governor’s leadership on the eve of a second term
designed to jumpstart his road to the White House.
The U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Paul Fishman,
said he was ‘‘reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law
was implicated.’’
The messages do not directly implicate
Christie, but they contradicted his assertions that the closings were
not punitive and that his staff was not involved.
Christie acknowledged Thursday that was a lie, because his staff didn’t tell him what they had done.
He also said he had ‘‘no knowledge or
involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution’’ and was
stunned by the ‘‘abject stupidity that was shown.’’ Nevertheless, he
said, he was responsible for what happened.
Email and text messages were obtained
Wednesday by The Associated Press and other news organizations amid a
statehouse investigation into whether the lane closings that led to the
tie-ups were retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing
Christie for re-election last fall.
‘‘Time for some traffic problems in Fort
Lee,’’ Kelly wrote in August in a message to David Wildstein, a top
Christie appointee on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A few weeks later, Wildstein closed two of
three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the heavily-traveled George
Washington Bridge, which runs between New Jersey and New York City.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich called it ‘‘appalling’’ that the traffic jams appear to have been deliberately created.
Christie said he would go to Fort Lee on Thursday to apologize to Sokolich.
Kelly hasn’t commented, and Christie said he hadn’t spoken to her since the emails were released.
Beyond the specifics of the lane closures,
critics suggest the incident reflects a darker side of Christie’s brand
of politics that contradicts the image he'd like to project as he eyes
the presidency.
The governor repeatedly sidestepped criticism
that he bullied adversaries in an overwhelming re-election victory in
November. Facing a little-known and underfunded opponent, he cast
himself as a different kind of Republican: a compromising, consensus
builder who ultimately earned strong support from minorities, union
members and even many Democrats.
It was described as the opening argument for
Christie’s prospective White House run. That argument is now clouded, at
least temporarily, during one of the most important transitions of his
political career.
In less than two weeks, he is scheduled to
celebrate his second inauguration in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty
on historic Ellis Island, a symbolic beginning to a second term
designed to expand Christie’s bipartisan appeal. He also is expected to
unveil his second-term priorities — solidifying his presidential resume —
in a state-of-the-state address later this month, while beginning an
aggressive national travel schedule as chairman of the Republican
Governors Association.
Wildstein, a childhood friend of the governor,
is scheduled to testify later Thursday before a state Assembly
committee. He asked a judge Thursday to squash the subpoena, but the
judge refused to do so.
Democratic National Committee chair Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz said the ‘‘revelations are troubling for any public
official.’’ But she said: ‘‘They also indicate what we've come to expect
from Gov. Christie — when people oppose him, he exacts retribution.
When people question him, he belittles and snidely jokes. And when
anyone dares to look into his administration, he bullies and attacks.’’
Christie on Thursday said he also asked his
choice for state GOP chairman, his former campaign manager Bill Stepien,
to withdraw for consideration for the post because of the ‘‘callous
indifference’’ he displayed in emails on the traffic jams.
___
Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in Washington contributed to this report.
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