that shed much more light on what the committee is actually saying:
1. NO TRAFFIC STUDY- For months, Port Authority officials blamed the lane closings on a traffic study to measure the effect of closing two of Fort Lee's three access lanes to the bridge. That's what Port Authority Deputy Director Bill Baroni — a Christie ally — told the state Assembly Transportation Committee last November.
But the new report says there "is no evidence of a bona fide, professional managed traffic study."
"The record demonstrates that the purported study was, in fact, an excuse to cover up lane closures that were implemented for other reasons," the report says.
2. MOTIVE UNCLEAR-"Taken altogether, the evidence clearly suggests that the lane closures were intended as a punitive measure directed against Mayor Sokolich," the report says. "What the Committee cannot say for certain is whether the closures were intended as retribution for the Mayor’s failure to endorse Governor Christie or for some other, unknown reason. Without current access to Kelly and Wildstein, and certain other witnesses and documents, the Committee remains unable to reach a definite conclusion as to what (and who) may have motivated them."
3. BARONI'S TESTIMONY QUESTIONED- the report says Baroni tried to get instruction from Kelly on Sept. 17 — four days after the closings ended — on to how to handle questions from Sokolich.
"These interactions reveal that Baroni was aware by this point, if not earlier, that a high-ranking individual within Governor Christie’s administration, Kelly, was involved in the lane closure issues and was providing direction on how to manage the growing controversy," the report says. "The interactions also suggest Baroni did not truly believe the lane closures were a bona fide traffic study."
The report then notes that Baroni testified before the state Assembly Transportation Committee that a traffic study was to blame for the closings.
"Given what is now known, there are serious questions as to whether Baroni testified truthfully when he claimed that the lane closures had been part of a traffic study and that Fort Lee had remained in the dark simply because of communications failures between the Port Authority and Fort Lee," the report says.
4. RESPONSE OF CHRISTIE'S OFFICE- the office "responded very slowly and passively to mounting indications that serious harms had been inflicted on thousands of New Jersey motorists for political rather than legitimate policy reasons."
It also says "the sequence of events, coupled with (the offices') evident lack of curiosity regarding the actual origin and purpose of the lane closures, at least raises questions (as yet unanswerable by the Committee) about whether key people in (the office), as events unfolded, took increasingly implausible explanations at face value because they knew or suspected a more damaging true story and preferred that it not come to light."
5. WITNESS TAMPERING- n Dec. 12 of last year, Kelly instructed Christina Renna, another Christie staffer, to delate an exchange in her personal Gmail account in which Renna had reported on a frustrated phone call from Sokolich regarding the lane closings and Kelly responded, "Good."
That, the report says, the state Assembly Transportation Committee had taken sworn testimony three three days earlier about the lane closings and "evidence indicates Kelly had asked to see a copy of Baroni’s prepared remarks beforehand."
"Thus, there is ample evidence that Kelly was well aware of the ongoing legislative investigation," the report says, and "as a result, her request that Renna delete a relevant email message may have violated New Jersey’s witness tampering statute."
6. CHRISTIE'S INVOLVEMENT- the new legislative report doesn't draw any conclusion. It notes, according to testimony from Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak, that Wildstein claimed he told the governor of the closures while they were occurring at a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York City.
"There is no conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Chris Christie was or was not aware of the lane closures either in advance of their implementation or contemporaneously as they were occurring. Nor is there conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Christie did or did not have involvement in implementing or directing the lane closures," the report says. "Nevertheless, according to Michael Drewniak’s testimony, Wildstein has claimed that he informed the Governor of the lane closures at a 9/11 Memorial observance that the two attended. While the Committee currently has no means to independently evaluate Wildstein’s reported statement, the statement, as well as the current lack of information from Wildstein, Kelly, Stepien, and others, leaves open the question of when the Governor first learned of the closures and what he was told."
This report is far from an exoneration of Christie. In fact its a pretty unflattering look at his entire administration. Painting this as some sort of exculpatory report is disingenuous and the lead to the story " Report: No Evidence Christie Involved in Bridge Plot " seems to me to be deliberately misleading.
= new reply since forum marked as read
- Here's a guy what knows when to wear gloves......
pig.
