Chris Christie, the popular governor of New Jersey, has been one of the stars of the Republican Party for a few years now. Admittedly, he does have a lot going for him. New Jersey is usually a relatively liberal state — President Obama won it in 2012 with 58 percent of the vote — but Christie sailed to an easy reelection this fall. He recently became head of the Republican Governor’s Association. He has a strong background as a US Attorney. In 2012, he delivered the RNC Convention keynote address. And until this week, I would have bet on him to win the Republican nomination for President in 2016.
Then this week, this whole debacle over the George Washington Bride broke. Apparently we’re calling it “bridgegate” because over the past 40 years pundits have utterly given up on trying to be creative while naming political scandals.
For anyone who hasn’t been watching the news in the last 48 hours, here’s a quick summary of what’s happening in the Garden State. On September 6, 2013, the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey and New York, had some lane closures. For anyone lucky enough to have never driven over the GWB, it is ginormous. It has two levels and is one of the busiest bridges in the world. I hope that you never get stuck on the GWB, because I have, and believe me, it sucks.
The GWB is a big deal. And when it experiences double-lane closures for no apparent reason, bad things happen. Like children not being able to get to school. People not being able to get to work. And a 91-year-old woman dying because she was stuck in an ambulance. This was all a massive problem for Fort Lee, the town in New Jersey where the bridge starts.
It has now come out that Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, sent an email to the Port Authority suggesting it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” The man to whom she wrote, David Wildstein, said in a separate email that it was going to be a “tough November for this little Serbian,” presumably referring to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (who is actually Croatian.) The Port Authority closed the bridge lanes on Wildstein’s orders, although claimed it was a traffic study. Kelly has since been fired.
The political shitshow that is now unraveling four months later is confusing, weird, embarrassing, and fascinating. Here are the top seven reasons you should all be paying close attention to this story.
7. We Still Have No Idea What Exactly Happened
There’s nothing more delightful than a game of political whodunit. Or in this case, I guess it would be “whydunit.” At this point, it’s pretty clear that Bridget Kelly recommended the closure of the GWB lanes, and that her friends at the Port Authority helped her out. In fact, David Wildstein was a high school classmate of Christie’s, and has long been a political player in New Jersey. But why? Currently there are two possible theories. One is that Christie’s staff was seeking retribution against Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who did not endorse Christie in the gubernatorial race this year. Another is that they were seeking revenge on the New Jersey Senate Democratic leader, State Senator Loretta Weinberg, after a contentious judicial nomination back-and-forth between the two political leaders.
Shocked kitty doesn’t like dirty political tricks.
These are just two theories that have come out over the last few days. More might arise, or one or the other might be proven to be true. But speculation is fun, and the media has run with it since this story broke. On September 12, Sokolich wrote to the Port Authority claiming the bridge closure was “punitive.” It’s looking like he might be right.
6. There’s a Rabbit Hole Here
This isn’t going to be a little thing. Wildstein took the stand yesterday during an investigation into the whole mess by the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee…and pleaded the Fifth on EVERYTHING. The attorneys questioning him say they’ve never heard someone plead the Fifth as many times as he did. Now pleading the Fifth makes sense if you could incriminate yourself, but some of the questions he chose not to answer couldn’t have possibly been incriminating. WIldstein is hiding something, and he might be just the tip of the iceberg.
And I have a feeling it’s a pretty spacious rabbit hole. Double Down, a book on the Romney campaign by Mark Halperin and John Heilermann, took a look at the campaign’s quest for a VP. Apparently Christie was crossed off the list because, according to Ted Newton, one of Romney’s advisors, “When you look below the surface, it’s not pretty.”
5. Christie’s Catch-22
Did Chris Christie know about the bridge plan? Well, no one’s really sure. Some political insiders think he did, and is now just claiming ignorance to protect himself. Others think that someone else may have been calling the shots. Kelly was very loyal to both Christie himself, and Christie’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien. An anonymous source claims that Stepien’s job was to keep the governor’s fingerprints off things and Kelly’s was to put plans in action.
Christie is left with two options here, both bad. He is either a liar who knew about bridgegate, or a weak leader who couldn’t control his own people. As someone who wants to be President of the United States, neither of those is a particularly attractive quality.
4. If He Knew, This Says a Lot About Christie
If Christie knew, or was behind the scheme to shut down the bridge, that says a lot about who he is as a politician and as a person. It says he plays dirty. And to me, it says that he’s been in an ivory tower far too long.
A man who shuts down the GWB, or at least lets his staffers shut down the GWB, for pretty personal reasons isn’t thinking about why people take that bridge. They take it to get to work and to school. And why do people go to school and work? Because they have to. Because they support their families; because they have things they need to do. If Christie had the hubris to say his political grudges were more important than every single person who had to cross the bridge that day, he’s forgotten what it’s like to be a regular person. He doesn’t know what it’s like for people who need to get to work because they need the money. He’s forgotten that the world (or at least New Jersey) doesn’t revolve around whether or not he’s friends with the political leaders in another town. If Christie knew, shame on him.
3. If He Didn’t Know, It Says Even More
If Christie really didn’t know what was going on, then he has a staff problem and a leadership problem. A strong leader — a possible presidential nominee — needs to appear strong. He needs to be the power on the throne and he can’t have accusations of staffers running the show. In a lot of ways, if he actually didn’t know about this, it will hurt him more in the 2016 game than if he did and is now lying. A disgustingly dirty player may be preferable to a weak one.
2. Christie Could Come Out on Top
All is not lost for Christie. He’s already received some applause for his actions in the last few days. He immediately fired Kelly, who he claimed “betrayed” him, no questions asked. He gave an exhausting press conference in which he dutifully answered every question. He proved that he wasn’t immediately sunk over these accusations, and if he handles this right, he could come out as a strong leader.
Or, he could come out a corrupt bully. He could end up completely off the list for potential 2016 nominees. Scandals are tough, but they’re not impossible. Clinton barely escaped the Monica Lewinsky scandal with his presidency, but he’s now an elder stateman of the Democratic Party. How Christie handles this could make or break his political career.
No pressure.
1. This Feels Unreal
Like any good young political junkie, I love overly dramatic political shows. The West Wing, Scandal, and House of Cards are my bread and butter. And while writing about bridgegate, I feel like I’ve been transported into one of them. A bridge closed for political retribution? That’s not normal politics. That’s dirty…that’s conniving…that’s some Frank Underwood-level manipulation.
If not fictional, this at least feels like a political move that would have happened years ago, before Watergate made us suspicious and before the Internet allowed us to track every suspicion. The problem is that Christie’s staffers apparently were either too cocky to think they’d get caught, or forgot that if you send an email, it is forever. Pro-tip to anyone planning to pull a major political move in the future: use snail mail. Or owls. Or code. Or smoke signals. Just don’t use electronic communication. You will get caught.
This promises to be one interesting ride. Keep your eyes on this story. I promise you won’t regret it.
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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.
Featured image courtesy of [Donkey Hotey via Flickr]