Free Republic

President-elect Donald Trump is so disgusted with Chris Christie’s handling of the Bridgegate scandal that he’s kicking the New Jersey Gov. out of his inner circle, The Post has learned. “Trump thought it was shameful that Christie didn’t take the fall for [convicted aide] Bridget Kelly,” said a source close to the transition team. “Trump is really angry that Christie is sending a soccer mom to jail. He believes 100 percent that Christie was behind it all.” Christie’s former deputy chief of staff was convicted in federal court earlier this month along with former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni. They...

Two former allies of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were convicted on Friday for their roles in the "Bridgegate" lane closure scandal, following a six-week trial that served to further tarnish the Republican's damaged reputation. Bridget Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty in Newark federal court on all counts, the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey said on Twitter. Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud, conspiracy and depriving the residents of Fort Lee, New Jersey, of their...

A New Jersey judge on Thursday issued a criminal summons for Gov. Chris Christie in connection to his role in the George Washington Bridge scandal. Judge Roy McGeady issued a probable cause summons for Christie, saying there’s evidence to show he might have known that aides were up to political shenanigans and did nothing to top it. It comes weeks after activist Bill Brennan filed a complaint against Christie citing official misconduct. Brennan said he filed the complaint over the fallout from the 2013 Bridgegate lane closures, which he said cost taxpayers millions of dollars. “Defendant Christopher J. Christie knowingly...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that fellow candidate Chris Christie’s “oppo research guys” got their facts wrong when the New Jersey governor attacked Cruz during a Fox News appearance. Christie, addressing comments Cruz made about not believing in “Republican-on Republican violence,” said on Fox News Monday that he didn’t “need to be lectured by Ted Cruz.” Cruz made those comments when asked to comment on Donald Trump’s controversial remarks on Mexican immigrants. “I find it ironic that Ted Cruz is giving lectures on Republican-on-Republican violence,” the New Jersey governor said on Fox News Monday. “The guy who put...

The Bridgegate scandal has yet to take down New Jersey governor Chris Christie (though it probably hasn't helped his 2016 chances), but in an unexpected twist, it indirectly sparked the resignation of a handful of top United Airlines executives. Jeff Smisek, chairman and chief executive, Nene Foxhall, executive vice president for communications and government affairs, and Mark R. Anderson, senior vice president for corporate and government affairs, stepped down on Tuesday amid a federal corruption probe into whether the airline launched an unprofitable Newark to Columbia, South Carolina, flight solely for the benefit of the Port Authority of New York...

Timer ready? Go!: foreign countries and rich people gave millions to the Clinton Foundation and/or paid Bill big bucks to give speeches. In return, the State Department pushed policies favorable to them. And, stop! I timed that at exactly eleven seconds. On today's Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle made the absurd claim that the shady dealings described in Clinton Cash, officially out today, won't hurt Hillary much because they're too hard for Americans to understand. "I challenge you to explain in one or two minutes to, you know, anyone, what is going on here with the Clintons and all this foundation...

A former crony of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pleaded guilty Friday in the “Bridgegate” scandal — and is willing to testify that the fading GOP star knew about crippling lane closures as they were happening, his lawyer said afterward. David Wildstein, who scored a $150,000-a-year Port Authority job through his Christie connections, entered into a cooperation deal with prosecutors and admitted scheming to snarl traffic near the George Washington Bridge as part of a political payback scheme. Two other ex-officials with ties to Christie were also indicted on charges they plotted with Wildstein to take revenge against Democratic Mayor...

A former crony of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pleaded guilty Friday in the “Bridgegate” scandal — and is willing to testify that the fading GOP star knew about crippling lane closures as they were happening, his lawyer said afterward.

One report has been derided by critics of Gov. Chris Christie as a whitewash; his defenders see the other as a partisan smear-job against the governor. But both a new interim report for a legislative committee investigating the politically motivated lane closures last year near the George Washington Bridge and one commissioned by the governor’s office and released in March reach a similar conclusion: There is no evidence that Christie participated in the scheme or knew about it as it happened. They also share a shortcoming: Neither group of investigators had access to some witnesses who may be able to...

Just this week, two seemingly unrelated events unfolded, but they actually reveal a new liberal tactic. The Hillary Clinton Front-Group, American Bridge, filed a bogus federal complaint against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and then a federal probe into New Jersey Governor Chris Christie found no evidence linking Christie to “Bridge-Gate.” Meanwhile, Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted last month. Make no mistake, these events are related. Emerging is a new liberal tactic to gin up legal proceedings against conservatives and then use the media to amplify the investigations and make the officials look guilty. These attacks are part of a...

The U.S. Justice Department investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s role in “Bridgegate” has thus far uncovered no information he either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge, federal officials tell NBC 4 New York. The September 2013 closures—where several entrance lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Ft. Lee were shut down causing a traffic nightmare for commuters—has been the subject of several federal and state investigations. […] According to one former federal prosecutor, who had no involvement in any of the probes into the bridge closure, investigations of this...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appears to have largely moved past the lane-closing scandal that rocked his administration and threatened to derail his political career one year later. But many outside his tight inner circle are still waiting for investigations to conclude before making up their minds. What happens next will depend largely on the outcome of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey into the lane realignments that started a year ago Tuesday on the George Washington Bridge and were apparently hatched by the Republican governor’s aides as political payback. That includes how close they cut to...

Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday. Former Christie loyalists Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien had been fighting subpoenas calling for them to turn over documents regarding the plot to create traffic jams in Fort Lee to retaliate against the town’s Democratic mayor. The legislative panel asked for the court’s help in getting the two to comply with the subpoenas. Calling the decision one involving “complicated and untested jurisdictional issues,” Judge Mary Jacobson expressed reservations...

The lawyer who led an investigation that determined Gov. Chris Christie was not involved in the bridge closure scandal told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Thursday there is not a “shred of evidence” Christie knew anything. Randy Mastro, a former federal prosecutor, released a report on his team’s investigation Thursday. The report relied on interviews with officials in the Christie administration, including the governor, and 250,000 documents. Mastro said on “The Kelly File” his investigation was exhaustive and thorough, and in the end completely exonerated Christie. “There is not a shred of evidence that Governor Christie knew anything about this lane...

Does anyone seriously believe an investigation commissioned by Governor Chris Christie into Bridgegate will satisfy his critics? The New York Times waits until only the third paragraph of its report into the exonerating conclusion of the probe to mention the connections between the law firm and the Christie administration, but it still remains the first comprehensive look into the scandal — and finds no connection to Christie himself: 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...

Moving cautiously to repair his image, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is maintaining a low profile this weekend as the nation’s governors gather in Washington. Republican officials have been eager to change the subject as Democrats link Christie’s troubles to vulnerable GOP governors in a challenging election season. The usually outspoken Christie is scheduled to attend just one public event over the three-day annual meeting. He avoided a media-sponsored forum on Friday, wasn’t granting interviews, won’t attend a White House dinner and was skipping a news conference hosted by the Republican Governors Association, an organization he heads. …

The New Jersey legislative committee investigating the Bridgegate scandal will probe records of helicopter rides Gov. Chris Christie took to see if he flew near Fort Lee while lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge were closed, sources told The Post. Lawmakers also want to know if the New Jersey governor took a ride with then-Port Authority exec David Wildstein, who allegedly orchestrated the lane closures on the order of a Christie aide.

The New York Times reported last week on a May 2013 meeting between Hoboken Mayor, Dawn Zimmer and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The Times article cites email obtained from meeting attendees and states that the first item on the meeting agenda was a “‘review of concepts for flood control measures at Rockefeller property’”. The NY Times article suggests that Mayor Zimmer’s pleas were going unheard and is claiming that the email quote from the May 9th meeting shows a preference for the Rockefeller Group. But, does it? It certainly appears as though Zimmer was getting everything that...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, after a low-key initial response to Friday’s explosive allegations about his involvement in a bridge-closing scandal, mounted an aggressive defense late Saturday afternoon, attacking The New York Times and a former political ally in an email to friends and allies obtained by POLITICO. “Bottom line — David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein,” the email from the governor’s office says, referring to the former appointee who reignited the controversy.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's former campaign manager will plead the Fifth Amendment when he is asked about his role in an apparent plot to create a traffic jam in Fort Lee, N.J., according to a filing from his lawyer. The campaign manager, Bill Stepien, was one of two people disciplined for his actions related to the access lane closures, shortly after the apparent scheme was disclosed in a series of e-mails and text messages...