NEW YORK - Chris Christie didn’t recall learning about bridge-lane closings as they were occurring and, even if he was told, traffic jams aren’t “memorable” for New Jersey’s governor, lawyers working for his administration saidThursday.
Former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, a former Christie ally at the agency that runs the George Washington Bridge, were responsible for the closings in the town of a mayor who didn’t endorse Christie, said a report, which cleared the governor.
Christie, 51, “had no prior knowledge of this lane-closure idea,” attorney Randy Mastro said in New York.
Mastro leads a team from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, which was hired by Christie’s administration in January to investigate why the governor’s aides and appointees ordered a shutdown of lanes leading to the bridge, which backed up traffic in Fort Lee on Sept. 9-12.
The firm, which also represents Christie’s office in a federal inquiry of the lane closures, is billing the administration $650 an hour.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys interviewed more than 70 members of Christie’s administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, and pored over 250,000 documents, texts and emails.
The governor, a second-term Republican whose approval ratings slid because of the scandal, handed over his iPhone and provided accessto government and personal email accounts. Lawyers were denied interviews with Kelly and Wildstein.
After learning about the closings, Christie ordered a Dec. 13 meeting of senior staff members where he said he was concerned aides were suffering from “senior-itis” after the November election and warned the media could beam a “searchlight” on the administration, according to the 360-page report. “This is a mess, and now I have to clean it up,” he said, according to the review.
“Members of senior staff commented that it seemed clear from the governor’s words and demeanor that he had no involvement in or knowledge of the lane realignment,” the law firm said.
At a dinner in early December, Wildstein told Christie’s press secretary, Michael Drewniak, that he discussed the lane closings with the governor during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the report.
“Wildstein said this as he reiterated that the lane realignment was his idea and a legitimate traffic study, and he never admitted or even suggested to Drewniak that he or anyone else had any ulterior motive,” Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher reported.
The exchange with Wildstein is a “reference that the governor does not recall and, even if actually made, would not have registered with the governor in any event because he knew nothing aboutthis decision in advance and would not have considered another traffic issue at one of the bridges or tunnels to be memorable,” the report says.
State Democrats have criticized the inquiry because it didn’t include interviews with Kelly, Wildstein or William Stepien, the governor’s former campaign manager. They have asserted their right against self-incrimination amid a federal criminal probe.
The Christie administration’s ties to the September traffic messes came to light in a cache of emails and text messages obtained Jan. 8 by news organizations. That afternoon, Christie met with his top aides and advisers at Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion, according to the report.
“It was an emotional session, in which the governor, welling up with tears, expressed shock at the revelations, directed Kelly’s immediate firing for lying to him, and also decided to sever ties with Stepien,” the report said.
Kelly sent an Aug. 13 email to Wildstein that said: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Wildstein, who ordered the lanes closed, replied: “Got it.” Kelly attempted to conceal her role by asking a staff member to delete an email, according to the report.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher concluded that Kelly and Wildstein, who resigned, had an undetermined “ulterior motive” in punishing Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich by creating traffic jams in his town. While Sokolich has said he was being punished for not endorsing Christie’s re-election, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said that retaliation “is not established by the evidence we have seen.”
Other investigations by federal prosecutors or state lawmakers may determine “what really motivated this plan,” the report concluded.
Information for this article was contributed by Elise Young of Bloomberg News.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 03/28/2014