Christie, the rotund but likable figure long considered a proud bully, denies he had any knowledge that top-level aids, particularly his Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, who ordered the four-day shutdown of the George Washington Bridge in order to hurt the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who refused to throw his support behind Christie.
The act had deadly consequences.
A 91-year-old woman was denied proper medical care because the bridge was shut down. She was unconscious and later died at the hospital. First responders were also denied access to the other side of the bridge to attend to other medical emergencies of varying nature.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich stopped short of calling the action criminal, but said that the ploy intentionally put his residents’ safety in jeopardy.
“You have intentionally put people in harm’s way,” he told CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” in an interview earlier in the day. “You knew that when Fort Lee called 20, 30, 40 times. You knew that when I kept sending text after text and calling cell phone after cell phone.”
These are the incriminating emails sent by high-level state government aides of Christie that led to the shutdown:
This email came from the intended target, Democratic mayor Mark Sokolich, who pleaded with the governor’s office for a reprieve from the bridge closings and the governor’s aides who enjoyed watching the mayor squirm helplessly:
In light of the email revelations, Christie is channeling his inner janitor and trying to m0p up this mess that threatens to derail his presidential aspirations:
“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsactioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.”
Some deem the governor’s mea culpa insincere and an effort to cleanse himself of the stench of this scandal that he recently made jokes about. Speaking of jokes, social media users were quick to mock Christie the way he mocked the inquisitors into this scandal in the past. One even made a referenced to once-disgraced presidential candidate Ted Kennedy, whose infamous Chappaquidick bridge scandal also led to the death of an innocent woman and ended his run for the White House:
Shorter Chris Christie: The people I hired to represent me in state gov’t in no way represent me or state gov’t http://t.co/TU2hUxGI90
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 8, 2014
Dkos, Reifowitz: If you believe Chris Christie still has a chance to be president, I’ve got a (GW) Bridge to sell you http://t.co/344kWjIhlP
— Auriandra (@Auriandra) January 9, 2014
Sign on Chris Christie’s desk in the Oval Office: THE BUCK STOPS WITH THE GUY WHO MISLED ME AND I’M TOTALLY OUTRAGED ABOUT HIS CONDUCT
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 9, 2014
As someone who has been personally berated by Chris Christie, this is a pretty good night. #bridgegate
— Eden Schulz (@edenwillow) January 9, 2014
He got “Frank Underwood’d” RT @SarahThyre 3m Chris Christie’s presidential bid is dead UNLESS he changes his name to Christ Christier.
— K I N G M O S T (@kingmost) January 9, 2014
Chris Christie Gets Caught in Traffic http://t.co/aYvA5W3pCs via @TIMEPolitics
— Mary Bartula (@Marypop987) January 9, 2014
Consider this: @ChrisChristie hasn’t even been sworn into his second term as governor yet! Anybody wants tickets to his inauguration ball?
— Russell Schaffer (@RussOnPolitics) January 9, 2014
Whose bridge scandal was worse – Chris Christie or Ted Kennedy?
— Aaron (@a_ryan88) January 9, 2014
