Gov. Christie Clears Himself Of Bridgegate Scandal With His Own Probe
March 24, 2014

Are you ready for the JOTD? (Joke of the day) Chris Christie's lawyers are proclaiming Gov. Chris Christie is innocent of any wrongdoings in the Bridgegate scandal...

Hahahaha:

With his office suddenly engulfed in scandal over lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey two months ago summoned a pair of top defense lawyers from an elite law firm to the State House and asked them to undertake an extensive review of what had gone wrong.

Now, after 70 interviews and at least $1 million in legal fees to be paid by state taxpayers, that review is set to be released, and according to people with firsthand knowledge of the inquiry, it has uncovered no evidence that the governor was involved in the plotting or directing of the lane closings.

The review is the first of multiple inquiries into a scandal that has jeopardized Mr. Christie’s political future. It will be viewed with intense skepticism, not only because it was commissioned by the governor but also because the firm conducting it, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, has close ties to the Christie administration and the firm’s lawyers were unable to interview three principal players in the shutdowns, including Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff.

I'm not seeing where Christie's lawyers interviewed his former deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly, former campaign manager Bill Stepien, Mr. Wildstein, Bill Baroni or current Christie press secretary Michael Drewniak, do you? So if he verbally issued orders to any of the subpoenaed people and or was privy to the closing of the traffic lanes with personal communications I think these people would know.

The investigation’s most significant obstacle was the lack of access to the three figures at the center of the lane closings — Ms. Kelly, the author of the infamous “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email; Bill Stepien, the governor’s former aide and campaign manager; and David Wildstein, a Christie ally at the Port Authority — who all declined to be interviewed.

And as is usually the case, he's another typical conservative on government spending, except of course when he spends government funds for his own benefit. Why didn't he question his own people before he fired them? He's paying these lawyers exorbitant fees, for what?

The review will be delivered to Mr. Christie, who has promised to make it public quickly without alterations. The work by Mr. Mastro’s firm is being paid for by state taxpayers, at a rate of $650 an hour. That has led to criticism from some Democrats who say the public should not be asked to underwrite what they view as the governor’s damage-control efforts.

Obviously, Gov. Christie wanted his own investigation to use to defend himself if the other two, real investigations uncover damaging evidence against him. Stay tuned...

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