Did Chris Christie Lie About His Contacts with David Wildstein

During his two hour press conference, Chris Christie claimed to have had no contact with David Wildstein, the Port Authority official who arranged for the George Washington Bridge debacle to occur for "a long time."   Based on a Wall Street Journal story, it would seem that Christie's definition of a "long time" may differ from that of the rest of us.  How else to explain photos from a 9-11 event that show Christie and Wildstein together and obviously talking to one another.  As Richard Nixon learned, the cover up and resultant lies can sometimes be more damning than the offense itself.  Here are some story highlights:

Gov. Chris Christie was with the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 — the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage from local officials beset by heavy traffic.

It isn’t known what, if anything, Mr. Christie discussed with David Wildstein that day, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official was among the delegation of Mr. Christie’s representatives who welcomed him to the site of the World Trade Center for the commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks there.

Mr. Christie addressed Mr. Wildstein in a news conference last week, saying he had not encountered him “in a long time.”

“I have had no contact with David Wildstein in a long time, a long time, well before the election,” which was held Nov. 5, Mr. Christie said last week. “You know, I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations I’ve had with David since he worked at the Port Authority. I did not interact with David.”
 
Mr. Wildstein did not respond to a request for comment through his attorney.

Also present with Mr. Christie that day were Bill Baroni, the authority’s deputy executive director, who was helping Mr. Wildstein manage the fallout from the closures among local officials, subpoenaed documents show. Also there was David Samson, the Port Authority chairman and close Christie ally, who has said he didn’t learn of the lane closures and traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., until an email from a New York port official ordered the lane closures reversed. Messrs. Samson and Baroni didn’t respond to requests for comment.

[S]ubpoenaed documents show that several of Mr. Christie’s closest aides knew the closures had caused heavy traffic and allegations of political retribution during the week when they were going on. Mr. Christie has said he believed the entire incident was the result of a traffic study, until documents released on the matter indicated it was engineered as possible political retribution against Fort Lee’s mayor.

Who, if anyone, authorized Bridget Kelly to send her message and how Mr. Wildstein knew what she meant are central questions in the parallel legislative and criminal probes now investigating the matter.

The photograph of the men together raised new questions about what the Christie administration knew about the lane closures and when, said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the Democratic chair of the transportation committee that issued subpoenas over the lane closures.

“It buttressed the skepticism that many have had about his statement,” said Mr. Wisniewski, about when Mr. Christie learned of his aides’ involvement in the closures. “I can’t help but wonder what conversation took place between them.”

I guess time will tell what the truth really is.  Meanwhile, perhaps to pander to the far right of the GOP, Christie vetoed a bill that would have aided transgender citizens of New Jersey.

Gov. Chris Christie is seen with David Wildstein, in red tie, on Sept. 11, 2013, before a ceremony on the 12th anniversary of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in Manhattan, in a photo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Sept. 11 was the third day of the lane closures in Fort Lee, N.J.