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Christie Fires Back at Wildstein Claim That NJ Gov. Knew About GWB Closures

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During the 'Ask the Governor' segment on New Jersey a radio program, Gov. Chris Christie stood by claim that the George Washington Bridge closures occurred behind his back.
During the ‘Ask the Governor’ segment on New Jersey a radio program, Gov. Chris Christie stood by claim that the George Washington Bridge closures occurred behind his back.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is still insisting that he had nothing to do with the politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge.

In his first extensive comments since his January 9 press conference on the scandal, Christie insisted the so-called the bridge shenanigans were done behind his back by underlings on Monday, February 3, while speaking on the “Ask the Governor” segment on New Jersey 101.5 FM radio.

“The most important issue is, did I know anything about the plan to close these lanes, did I authorize it, did I know about it, did I approve it, did I have any knowledge of it beforehand. And the answer is still the same: It’s unequivocally no,” Christie said on the program.

Christie, whose governorship is being threatened by the scandal, said he didn’t know the September lane shutdowns had happened for any reason outside of a traffic study until he read about it in a newspaper after the fact, according to the New York Daily News.

“I was told at the time that the Port Authority was engaged in a traffic study,” Christie said. “That’s what I was told at the time.”

New Jersey lawmakers received 20 subpoenas on Monday and hope they shed light on what Christie knew about the Bridgegate scandal and when he knew it.

And last Friday, Christie’s former Port Authority point man David Wildstein, who oversaw the lane shut downs, told the PA in a letter that “evidence exists” that indicates that Christie did indeed have knowledge of the exact nature of the lane closures as they occurred.

Wildstein resigned from the Port Authority last year as the probe into the bridge fiasco expanded and focused on whether the intent was to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie’s reelection.

After Wildstein’s bombshell announcement, via attorney, regarding this “evidence” of Christie’s knowledge of the motivation behind the lane closings, Christie’s office shot back that Wildstein, who went to high school with the governor, “will do and say anything to save David Wildstein.”

Christie also said on Monday’s radio program that his office was complying with a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey and a separate one from legislative investigators.

Meanwhile, an attorney for Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly, who was fired when the scandal exploded, said she will not turn over subpoenaed documents to the legislative committee, according to ABC News.

Kelly’s attorney, Michael Critchley, sent the committee a letter Monday saying Kelly will not comply with its request, according to the NYDN.

Emails between Kelly and Wildstein indicate they conspired to close the GWB lanes. “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Kelly emailed Wildstein several weeks before the lane closures occurred, flooding Fort Lee with traffic.

“Unfettered access to, among other things, Ms. Kelly’s personal diaries, calendars and all of her electronic devices amounts to an inappropriate and unlimited invasion of Ms. Kelly’s personal privacy and would also potentially reveal highly personal confidential communications completely unrelated to the reassignment of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge,” Critchley wrote in the letter obtained by the Bergen Record newspaper.

Critchley also revealed Kelly has not been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors.

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