Chris Christie struck back at David Wildstein over the weekend, shooting down the allegation that he knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closings before they happened and calling into question Wildsteinâs character.
Wildstein, a Port Authority appointee who knows Christie from their high school days, was implicated in the scandal last month when an email was released from Christieâs Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, telling Wildstein that it was âTime for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.â The lane closings were allegedly a form of revenge on the mayor for not endorsing Christie and caused a horrific traffic snarl for four days, creating delays for school buses and emergency vehicles. Last week, Wildstein said that not only did Christie order the closings, but the entire operation was referred to as the âChristie administrationâs orderâ.
âEvidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference,â Wildstein wrote in a letter released by his lawyer.
The New Jersey governor sent out a letter over the weekend to his supporters titled â5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell Thatâs Not A Bombshellâ and said that Wildsteinâs revelations were in his own best interest and donât hold any truth.
âBottom line â David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein,â the letter read. âIn David Wildstein’s past, people and newspaper accounts have described him as ‘tumultuous’ and someone who ‘made moves that were not productive. As a 16-year-old kid, he sued over a local school board election. He was publicly accused [by his social studies teacher in high school] of deceptive behavior. He had a controversial tenure as mayor of Livingston. He was an anonymous blogger known as Wally Edge. He had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people’s names without telling them.â
The scandal has reportedly thrown Christieâs chances for the presidential campaign in 2016 into chaos, but he still has the support of the GOP.
âWe donât have any proof right now that the governor said, âGo and close the lanes.â We know that somebody who was in his office, Bridget Kelly, ordered the lane closures,â New Jersey assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) said on NBC’s âMeet the Press.â âNothing yet implicates the governor directly.â
Image via Wikimedia Commons