27 September 2016

Oh Snap!

Notwithstanding an investigation of Chris Christie's involvement in "Bridgegate" (conducted by Christie's lawyer at public expense), the fact that David Wildstein has now testified that the New Jersey governor was specifically kept in the loop about their traffic snarling tactics by aides:
The prosecution's star witness in the Bridgegate scandal claimed Gov. Chris Christie was told of the traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge in the midst of the gridlock in Fort Lee in September 2013, and laughed when he heard about it.

At the same time, David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to federal crimes associated with the scandal and is now cooperating with the government, testified that not only was Christie aware of the lane shutdowns as they were occurring —so was David Samson, the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as were other members of Christie's closest inner circle.

Wildstein, testifying for the third day in federal court, said the governor's campaign manager Bill Stepien was in the loop before the lanes were actually shut down, that he not only made Samson aware of the lane closures before he told Christie, he specifically told him they were an act of political retaliation against the Fort Lee mayor.

………

According to Wildstein, he and Baroni "boasted" to the governor about the heavy traffic they had created when they saw him in person at a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York in 2013.

Wildstein said he and Baroni approached the governor and told him there had been a "tremendous amount of traffic" in Fort Lee that morning. "Major traffic jams. You'll be pleased to know Mayor Sokolich is very frustrated," Baroni told the governor, Wildstein told the jury.

A former political blogger who wrote anonymously under the name of "Wally Edge" before he was hired by the Port Authority to a $150,000-a-year position that never before existed, Wildstein said the governor took on a sarcastic tone as he was told about what was happening in Fort Lee.

"Well, I'm sure Mr. Edge would not be involved in anything that's political," he said Christie told them.

"Were you and Mr. Baroni bragging?" asked assistant U.S. attorney Lee Cortes.

"Yes, very much so," Wildstein replied. "We discussed how pleased we were the boss was happy."
I really hope that they turn enough of Christie's former aides that his ass ends up in jail.

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