Christie Ordered Review Clears Christie in Bridge Scandal

Posted by Tina

Governor Chris Christie ordered a complete review of the bridge scandal following his long interview with the media. During that interview he took responsibility for the bridge closing and revealed the names of those in his administration that he fired when the scandal broke. Today the New York Times has published findings of the review as reported by the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. The Times doesn’t dispute the findings but does take a shot at the law firm since it has ties to the Christie administration.

The firm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, was not able to interview the three people who are most closely tied to the scandal including the Governors former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, Bill Stepien, the governor’s former aide and campaign manager; and David Wildstein of the Port Authority but insists it is “prepared to vigorously defend” its review, as reported by the New York Times:

Randy M. Mastro, the lawyer leading the internal investigation, said that the level of cooperation from Mr. Christie’s office and the volume of records reviewed had allowed investigators to resolve the most pressing questions to arise from the scandal. The governor himself handed over his iPhone and telephone records and allowed the lawyers to search his government and private email accounts.

Questioned about the credibility of an internal inquiry, Mr. Mastro said there was no incentive to sugarcoat the findings. Any shortcomings of the investigation are likely to be exposed by parallel investigations now underway, by the State Legislature and the United States attorney in New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman.

“At the end of the day, we will be judged by whether we got this right,” said Mr. Mastro, who called the review “comprehensive and exhaustive.”

Much about the review remains secret, and Mr. Mastro declined to describe any specific content before its release. But it is expected to lay out a detailed narrative of the events, motivations and communications leading up to the closing of the lanes, which snarled traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., for thousands of commuters last September.

It sounds like Governor Christie will ultimately not be harmed by this scandal but that won’t stop his opponents from trying. As for the three who declined to cooperate, I imagine they have some legal problems and were advised not to respond to the lawyers questions on advice of counsel.