Free Republic

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was greeted with a scattering of boos when he appeared at a Super Bowl ceremony in New York City on Saturday. The embattled governor wouldn't answer questions from the press about the bridge-gate scandal sparked when his top aides orchestrated traffic gridlock on the George Washington Bridge connecting New York and New Jersey as apparent political retribution. He has denied any knowledge of an plot.

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it. In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the...

The New York Times changed the lede of its explosive story about former New York Port Authority official David Wildstein on Friday. Whereas the original story stated that Wildstein has the evidence to prove Gov. Chris Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closings when they were happening, the new version has Wildstein saying “evidence exists.” […] This seemingly minor change carries a big difference in meaning. The original lede reads as though Wildstein is saying he specifically has evidence that links Christie to knowing about the bridge lane closures. The second lede suggests only that “evidence exists,” not...

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...

He knew. The liberal New York Times reported today that Governor Chris Christie knew about the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge when they were happening. The New York Times reported: The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening. In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing...

“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” However, hubris often is. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte made the first observation. The second belongs to me, a one-time investigator and auditor within government. Together, they capture the average law-abiding taxpayer’s general disgust at the hubris demonstrated by New Jersey governor Chris Christie and his subalterns in what has nationally become known as “Bridgegate.”

One week ago today, we covered in detail serious allegations from the Democratic Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey against Chris Christie's administration. Dawn Zimmer claimed that two high-ranking Christie officials -- including the Lieutenant Governor -- told her that aid for her city's recovery from the storm was contingent on her approval of a building development deal favored by the governor. I discussed several curious elements of this accusation at the time, noting the Mayor's unqualified praise of Christie several months after this alleged shakedown attempt took place, and citing a local reporter to whom Zimmer had floated a different...

Federal prosecutors digging into the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal have issued subpoenas to Gov. Chris Christie’s re-election campaign and the state Republican Party as the widening probe into allegations that the governor’s office abused its power gathers steam. The subpoenas seek documents related to the September lane closures in Fort Lee, said Mark Sheridan, a lawyer representing the Christie for Governor organization and the Republican State Committee.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's re-election campaign and the state's Republican Party committee have received subpoenas from federal prosecutors investigating allegations that his aides created traffic jams as political payback. Mark Sheridan, a lawyer representing Christie for Governor and the Republican State Committee, tells The Associated Press the subpoenas are for documents related to the closure of traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge. A state legislative committee investigating the traffic jams has also issued subpoenas to the two organizations. Sheridan says the Republican governor's campaign and the party will cooperate with investigators. The traffic lane closures created gridlock in...

<p>New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell were the first victors in the Tea Party wave, riding fresh conservative enthusiasm--and outrage over Obamacare--to victory in November 2009. The left, predictably, is trying to link Christie's bullying scandal and McDonnell's corruption indictment to that Tea Party support. The truth, however, is that they dumped their Tea Party principles and supporters long ago.</p>

Fabulous Foods, which catered the Ellis Island celebration, donated the food meant for the governor and his friends to Table to Table when the event was canceled. The food will benefit two Jersey City churches.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Well, Bret Baier at Fox News tweeted that he's heard the same thing: Wealthy Republican donors are starting to give up on Chris Christie for 2016. F. Chuck Todd at NBC News has tweeted the same thing. "Some GOP Donors Think Christie's '2016 Hopes are Done.'" Today, Christie gave his inaugural address to commence his second term as governor of New Jersey. Among the things he said: "We must shun partisanship. We must take action on behalf of the people." CHRISTIE: We cannot fall victim to the attitude of Washington, DC, the attitude that says, "I am...

Now that the dust is beginning to settle, the biggest takeaway from what's swirled around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is this: Hillary Rodham Clinton can never be president. Or, more pointedly, no intelligent, reasonable person who thinks what happened in New Jersey disqualifies Christie for the White House can vote for Clinton for the same office. Anyone declaring Christie out of bounds today who later claims careful or informed deliberation while pulling the Hillary lever in 2016 is a bald-faced liar. They are but naked, shameless, rabid partisans.

Hoboken Mayor: 'It's True' Christie Administration Withheld Sandy Funds By Leigh Ann Caldwell, Chris Frates and Cassie Spodak, CNN Zimmer tells CNN that Christie played politics with Sandy recovery funds Christie team denies funds were held hostage for backing of redevelopment project (CNN) -- In another controversy surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said Sunday that Christie directly ordered the withholding of Superstorm Sandy recovery funds unless she backed a redevelopment plan he favored. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Zimmer said she was told by a member of Christie's administration that Sandy relief funds...

With Chris Christie ostensibly knocked off his perch as the early frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the search is on to find an alternative that is acceptable to both conservative and moderate GOP primary voters. At least, that’s what the political press would have you to believe. Appearing on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, USA Today political reporter Susan Page was asked for her take on one possible substitute for Christie that “will bridge the divide” that exists between conservative tea party voters and the GOP’s moderates. The most likely contender at this early stage of the...

Where is Willie Geist when we need him? Thomas Roberts—who has replaced Brian Schachtman as Way Too Early host—is seemingly also taking over much of Geist's turf as Morning Joe sidekick. And whereas Geist was, at least in the MSNBC context, a voice of affable equanimity, Roberts is an unabashed liberal advocate. Witness today's Morning Joe. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski questioned the character of Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer. Joe and Mika wondered how, after assertedly writing in her personal diary that Chris Christie's corrupt nature "literally brings tears to my eyes," Zimmer could then take to Twitter to paradoxically...

Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes an interview during the 30-minute Politicking With Larry King program on Thursday night in which the long-time interviewer asked his guest, Dan Rather: “Do you ever think the thought that Fox News Channel is an actual part of the Republican Party?” The veteran newsman paused for a moment before responding that the claim “goes too far” even though network founder Roger Ailes has used the channel to benefit the GOP. However, “is it a sole operative and propaganda machine for the party? I'd have to stop short of that.” King...

First came bridge-gate. Now the mayor of Hoboken, N.J., has accused Gov. Chris Christie's administration of withholding Superstorm Sandy relief when she refused to OK a redevelopment project — with links to the agency at the heart of the bridge scandal — the governor favored.

The mayor of a New Jersey city that sustained severe flooding from Hurricane Sandy claims the Christie administration withheld millions of dollars in recovery grants because she refused to sign off on a politically connected development. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer tells The Associated Press that Gov. Chris Christie’s lieutenant governor and a top community development official said recovery funds would flow to her city if the commercial development went forward. MSNBC first reported her comments Saturday. Zimmer says Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno pulled her aside at a May event and told her unless the project is approved “we are not...

Between Monday’s Nightly News and Tuesday’s Today, NBC devoted ten minutes and forty-four seconds to coverage of the now six-day-old controversy surrounding New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Meanwhile, poor ObamaCare enrollment numbers just released Monday afternoon garnered only forty-one seconds of air time on Today and were completely ignored on Nightly News. On Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams touted investigations into Christie’s “bridge traffic scandal” and hyped “an investigation into how some of the emergency relief money was spent after Hurricane Sandy.” Williams announced: “It is quite clear that for Christie’s political rivals, it has now become something of an...