What did Christie know and when did he know it?
The
Newark Star Ledger reports:
The New Jersey legislative committee investigating the Bridgegate scandal will probe records of helicopter rides Gov. Chris Christie took to see if he flew near Fort Lee while lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge were closed, sources told The Post ... Sources in the governor’s office said that Christie took a ferry to Ground Zero from Jersey City on the 9/11 anniversary and then flew back to Trenton, but that Wildstein was not on board.
I was particularly struck by the reference to the helicopter ride on 9/11, because I was recently told by an informed source that "if the records are subpoenaed for the governor's trip back from the 9/11 Memorial event, they will demonstrate that the governor flew over the George Washington Bridge" on that day. It appears that those records have been subpoenaed and the governor's office has not issued a denial that the flyover occurred.
If this is true, then Christie will have to explain why he was flown over the bridge on the third day of the politically motivated traffic jam that was engineered by officials in Christie's office and the Port Authority, to punish Fort Lee's Democratic mayor.
Was it because he wanted to see how Bridgegate was panning out? Had David Wildstein—the former Christie crony at the Port Authority who is now looking for an immunity deal and who was with Christie at the 9/11 event, told the governor that Fort Lee was having some traffic problems? Was Christie lying when he denied knowing about it until after the fact? I have reviewed Christie's public schedule that day and he had no events scheduled in Northern Jersey. Indeed, Christie's office told the New York Post that "Christie took a ferry to Ground Zero from Jersey City on the 9/11 anniversary and then flew back to Trenton." (Note that the George Washington Bridge is in the opposite direction from Ground Zero to Trenton.)
And could this be the smoking gun Wildstein hinted at last month?
... evidence exists ... tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference he gave immediately before Mr. Wildstein was scheduled to appear before the [New Jersey House] Transportation Committee.
Did the plot just get thicker ... again?