New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie has fired a staff member who reportedly caused traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge to get revenge on a mayor who refused to back his 2013 re-election campaign.
The CBC is reporting Christie also issued an apology after initially denying that he or his staff were involved.
Newly disclosed communications between a top aide to Christie and appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey suggest Christie’s office used the Port Authority to close access lanes from Fort Lee, N.J., to the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge for several days in September as retribution for Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich not endorsing Christie’s 2013 re-election campaign.
Text messages and e-mails show Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, sent an e-mail to top Port Authority official David Wildstein saying that ‘its time or some traffic problems in Fort Lee.’
Wildstein responded to Kelly’s e-mail: ‘Got it,’ according to CBC News.
The revelations thrust this regional transportation issue into the national political spotlight. They raise new questions about the prospective Christie’s bid for the White House in 2016.
