Bridgegate Fall Guy Was Inside Man

[DonViejo]

By Matt Katz, Andrea Bernstein

The political operative who helped mastermind the notorious lane closures at the George Washington Bridge – and is now cooperating with a federal investigation of the Bridgegate scandal – had more extensive contact with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s inner circle than the governor has acknowledged.

That is the conclusion of a WNYC examination of calendars maintained by David Wildstein during his four years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with a review of more than 1,000 photographs provided by the Port Authority and thousands of pages of documents released by the governor’s own legal team and the New Jersey Legislature.

Christie has insisted he had little to do with Wildstein, his former $150,000-a-year appointee at the Port Authority with whom he attended Livingston High School in the 1970s.

“I don’t even remember in the last four years even having a meeting in my office with David Wildstein,” Christie said at his marathon two-hour press conference in January 2014, after the legislature released Bridgegate records including the now infamous email to Wildstein declaring, “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Christie told reporters: “I may have, but I don’t remember it.”

But the documents, corroborated by current and former Port Authority and Trenton staffers who requested anonymity because of the ongoing federal investigation, paint a new picture of Wildstein’s role in the Christie Administration. That view chips away at Christie’s and his lawyers’ portrayal of Wildstein as a rogue employee largely isolated from the governor who acted with one staffer in closing lanes and causing epic traffic jams on the roadways of Fort Lee for four morning commutes in September 2013.

The records and interviews indicate that during his tenure at the Port Authority, Wildstein met at least twice with Christie, joined him at seven public events and had regular meetings with the governor’s closest confidantes. On the day after a news report revealed that Wildstein was involved in the mysterious lane closures, his calendar had one 14-hour entry: Trenton.

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http://project.wnyc.org/christie/#latest-436654

[Vinca]

1. Does anyone really think Wildstein won't sing if confronted with a prison sentence?

[cheyanne]

2. I wonder what his choices are.

It looks to me as though the corruption in NJ is so deep that a prison sentence would be preferable to facing the wrath of the Christie clan. You, your parents, your children and your pets would probably have to move to another state just to get any job at all.

One reason I think the fix is in is that no one seems to be finding a motive for the closures any more. The "scorned woman" theory is not plausible. For awhile, the Harbor Lights Development seemed to be the target. See http://www.lauravecsey.com/twelve-eighty-two-blog/smoking-gun-for-bridgegate-might-rest-with-losing-bidders-in-fort-lees-1b-hudson-lights-development.

[wheniwasincongress]

3. Chris Matthews/Hardball's second story

was the "Bridgegate" coming indictments. Apparently Chris Christie himself is not expected to be directly indicted, but those who are may point to Christie and say "he knew." I believe they said we are expecting news about it any day now.