Chris Christie's press conference claims don't add up
by Hunter
There are quite a few inconsistencies in what Christie claimed during his marathon press conference. Some of them are more glaring than others:
Christie claims he learned about the emails/texts yesterday along with the rest of us. That would mean that not only did his Deputy Chief of Staff/Port Authority appointees lie to him repeatedly since September, she/they didn't even tell him after the emails/texts were turned over to the legislative committee, which happened a couple of weeks ago. Given what was turned over and the number of people involved, that seems implausible.
Two of his own appointees were forced to resign over this weeks ago. Press reports were already reporting that documents turned over to the investigating committee were incriminating for his administration. But he says he didn't know those documents even existed until yesterday. Did the governor confine himself to a hermetically sealed box for the last few weeks? Was he working on a particularly interesting crossword puzzle?
Two weeks ago, Christie said his staff had given him a "full briefing" on the investigation. That emails were being turned over directly implicating his office didn't come up? His entire office staff figured that if they didn't tell Christie that emails ordering the traffic closure existed, he would never find out about it?
This would all have been cleared up in an instant if Christie had verified just once that there was indeed a "traffic study" whose particulars meshed with the facts in question. He never did, and in fact was dismissive of reporters who asked whether he had done that. As hardball politician (and one who has no been no stranger to scandals) he never once asked for a scant page or two of paperwork that would have made the single biggest scandal of his tenure disappear in an afternoon? And that his staff was apparently unable to locate such paperwork on their own was unconcerning to him—his claim to the reporter asking the question was that if he produced such documents his opponents would just "find something else?"
On a more petty point: how did Christie "not get a lot of sleep" for the past two nights when he claims he only found out about the connection to his office yesterday? That's one night, Mr. Ex-Prosecutor.
That's not even getting into the premise of Christie "investigating" how this happened while simultaneously expressing no interest in talking to the primary, now-fired witness, but we'll chalk that up to Christie's normal predisposition to vengeance over logic, or his new claims that the fellow who had previously been described as one of Christie's school chums is in fact someone Christie barely knows (convenient, given that the non-friend has spent the morning pleading the 5th.)
So far Christie is pleading total managerial incompetence, up to and possibly including sudden onset amnesia. We'll see how that works out for him.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/09/1268412/-Chris-Christie-s-press-conference-claims-don-t-add-up
Christie: Vindictive ass or incompetent buffoon
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/09/1268391/-Christie-Vindictive-ass-or-incompetent-buffoon
All of the above and also bully: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024305272
= new reply since forum marked as read
"They thought it was fine because of the culture that Christie has created, one of intimidation and bullying. Remember that bullying incident where he screamed at the school teacher? That wasn't caught by a rival campaign tracker. That was caught on camera by a Christie staffer, and they put that stuff online. They're proud of that! So given that Christie once boasted that "for better or for worse, this staff will reflect my personal style of leadership and decision-making," it shouldn't be surprising that it reflected the worst of his personality. Or put another way, his staff didn't go rogue.
Now, his "I didn't know a thing" schtick, however implausible, at best paints him as a clueless dolt who can't handle his staff -- completely counter to the persona he's built over the last several years as a hands-on in-the-trenches roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-it-done governor. You can't be blissfully unaware of what your top staff is doing and then claim you are deeply involved in the governing business.
But worse for him, the "bully" narrative is now set in stone. It was his greatest source of strength but now it's been neutered. I doubt his staff will be posting any other YouTubes of him being a dick to ordinary people. Good luck with that."
Christie can't be a bully anymore
Bet he slips.
"At this point, believing Christie is a bridge too far.
Or if you prefer, a Bridgette too far."
by stone clearing on Thu Jan 09, 2014 at 11:34:23 AM PST
to you sir or madam a sincere
