NJ.com is reporting that Chris Christie's office says he never talked to PAPD lieutenant about GWB lane closures. Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of NJ, and NY, has ordered an internal probe into the conduct of its department's members during the GWB lane closures.
Christie office also said governor had never spoken about the closures to Lt. Thomas "Chip" Michaels' brother, Jeffrey Michaels, a Republican lobbyist and former GOP legislative aide. ... "The Governor has never had any conversations with either Jeff or Chip Michaels on this topic," Christie spokesman Colin Reed, said in a statement this morning.
A source close to the Port Authority Police Department told The Star-Ledger on Sunday that the probe will focus on reports that Michaels, a 15-year veteran of the department and a member of its GWB unit, chauffeured former Port Authority official David Wildstein through Fort Lee's traffic-congested streets on the first of four days of closures. ... Michaels is from Livingston, where Christie and Wildstein grew up, and the lieutenant had coached the governor's son in a youth hockey league.
Foye also ordered PAPD Chief Louis Koumoutsos to look into reports that officers told commuters that if they were unhappy about the traffic during the closures, they should complain to Fort Lee's mayor.
Isn't it "starting" to become extraordinary that virtually everyone around Governor Christie was either in on, or knew about this lane closure scheme, except for him. Can you imagine if he is innocent, how sad this must make him. I'm reminded of a really old movie, I can't even remember, where the top General went around constantly "shocked, truly shocked to discover" important things and demanding to know "Why wasn't I informed of this." It may have been the Beatles Help. (I know the original Casablanca reference, I'm trying to spice things up for you with double allusion and reference in the same sentence.)
I'm also working on digesting down and interesting article on a typology of three different strategies the 2016 GOP presidential candidates fall into in how they react to the Christie allegations. I'll put it in an update.
Hope this small development holds back your addiction to Christiegate news.
Hang in their fellow addicts. I'm still looking for a bigger "score" but my S.O. and I are now scheduled to leave for Florida on Wednesday, after being snowed in in Boston last week, and I'm supposed to be making hotel reservations, and rental car arrangement, as well as do a bunch of chores on our list. So, I'm on a "short lease" today. She's out to lunch with a friend now, probably trying to track down a "Christie-gate Rehab Center" for me. She's due back any minute so I have to run. I'll try to sneak out later. This might be one of my last posts until next Wednesday, when I'll be a free-range dog, once again. Cheers.
P.S. Can you believe a hounddog of my stature is reduced to sneaking around even to write important things on blogs? Oh, the caninity of the whole situation! Please look for upcoming post "My Secret Life: Tails of a Sad Supersleuth HoundDog."
Woof, woof!
2:16 PM PT: One of the interesting sub-genres of Christiegate writing is how other Republicans are reacting, especially presumed 2016 candidates. In 2016 GOP hopefuls’ Christie dilemma: Rally? Attack? Steer clear? Aliyah Frumin, of MSNBC provides this overview and proposed typology:
Strategy No. 1: Rally around Christie. These folks want to give the governor the benefit of the doubt that he had no prior knowledge of some of his staffers’ plan back in September to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge – allegedly for political retribution. Many in this camp, including Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, say the governor shouldn’t step down from the Republican Governors Association, which Christie chairs. After all, the RGA announced it raised a record-breaking $6 million in January, even as accusations piled up against the governor. ...
Strategy No. 2: Go negative. Count Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania among this group. ... These Republicans, according to Hunter College political science professor Jamie Chandler, have long considered Christie a RINO— Republican in Name Only. By criticizing Christie they “get their base of voters excited again. They single themselves from the establishment of the party,” said Chandler. ...
Strategy No. 3: Mum’s the word. These politicians are staying quiet or being very cautious. That includes Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. ... “They don’t want to get in the middle of an intra-party squabble,” says Ken Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College. He says potential candidates like Bush and Portman are more likely to paint themselves as compromise candidates, and if they decide to run, “they don’t want to be seen antagonizing anybody.”
This promising area of new research should attract many PhD students in political science. In the meantime, have fun reading the details in the original post. I'm on hold with the airline trying to get our non-refundable tickets from last week credited for our Wednesday trip. Can't wait to get to someplace with no snow. Cape Coral and Sarasota Florida will be a great change. We might move there permanently, although I want to go to back to California, my home state.
2:46 PM PT: