Free Republic

Influential Republicans in early presidential primary states believe New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is poised to once again become a frontrunner for the party’s 2016 nomination, following a news report that he is no longer a target of federal scrutiny for his role in a bridge-closing scandal. “If he had been found in the wrong, he would have been irreparably damaged,” said Matt Moore, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. “This is hugely helpful.” “To have that not hanging over his head puts him back where he started from,” said Chuck Laudner, an Iowa-based strategist for former Pennsylvania senator...

As snow has battered much of the east coast, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spent Friday at a Puerto Rico resort, according to a report.Citing a person who saw the Republican poolside at a resort in San Juan, CNN reported Christie was there vacationing with his family.A statement out Friday from Christie’s office confirmed that the governor, who has been embroiled in the fallout of controversial lane closures last September that were eventually linked to aides that have since been fired or resigned, left for a vacation through Monday. The statement did not specify where Christie went on vacation.(PHOTOS: Chris...

Sarah Jessica Parker took Gov. Chris Christie to task on Tuesday for not coming clean with New Jersey about his role in the Bridgegate scandal. The actress, who attended high school in Englewood, N.J., and whose parents still live in Bergen County, said the Republican never apologized for fostering a work environment where his staff was empowered to inflict political retribution.

Gov. Chris Christie, who starts a second term with multiple investigations into his administration’s tactics underway, will accentuate bipartisanship and diversity in his inaugural speech Tuesday. “We have to be willing to play outside the red and blue boxes,” Christie said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “We have to be willing to reach out to others who look or speak differently than us.” -snip- But organizers canceled an evening party on Ellis Island, a symbolic spot synonymous with the promise of the United States, because there was fear snow would make travel dangerous. The island where some...

The course is predictable. An elected official or a staffer does something that is terribly wrong, unethical, and perhaps even mean-spirited. The news media goes into hyperdrive, a legislative committee cranks up an investigation and issues subpoenas, politicians from the other party attack, and those from the miscreant’s party distance themselves as quickly as possible. The elected official is excoriated from every direction, and then talk turns to prosecution, impeachment, or—better yet—both. Last weekend, in connection with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and either “Bridge-gate” or “Jam-gate” (take your pick), we have started hearing the “P” and “I” words. There...

U.S. investigators are looking into whether embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie misused about $2 million in Superstorm Sandy relief funds for an ad campaign that put him in the spotlight in an election year, a lawmaker said on Monday. Already enmeshed in a scandal over snarled traffic at the George Washington Bridge, Christie, a rising star in the Republican party, is now being audited by the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., a Democrat. The inspector is focusing on a federally financed $25 million Jersey Shore marketing...

Brit Hume has himself a theory about why New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s got this nagging “bully” reputation hanging round his neck: it’s not his fault, see, he’s just a bull in the emasculated china shop of the world. “In this sort of feminized atmosphere in which we exist today, guys who are masculine and muscular like that in their private conduct, kind of old-fashioned tough guys, run some risks,” Hume said on Sunday’s Media Buzz.

A personal injury lawyer from Fort Lee, New Jersey, filed the case in federal court on behalf of six local residents who missed work or suffered other alleged damages due to the traffic jam last September. Many more people could join the plaintiffs if the court allows the case to become a class action.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey issued repeated apologies Thursday for the abuse of office that now threatens to undermine his political future. Though he sounded remorseful — and clearly sorry that this scandal might sink his ambitions for national office — he blamed his staff for making him a victim. Unbeknown to him, he said, they shut down lanes to the George Washington Bridge to create a four-day traffic jam to punish a local mayor who failed to endorse him in last year’s election. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, appearing contrite, held a nearly two-hour news conference in...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could face criminal prosecution over the George Washington Bridge lane closures if it is found anyone was harmed because of them, Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz says. Appearing Thursday on CNN, Dershowitz singled out the case of the 91-year-old woman who died after emergency personnel were slowed in reaching her because of the September lane closures. If it is shown the woman would have lived if help had arrived sooner, Christie could be charged because of "willful negligence," he said. Christie apologized in a press conference earlier Thursday after it was revealed that two...

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Since 1992, when Bill Clinton moderated the Democratic Party's image by criticizing a hip-hop artist for her racially incendiary comments, politicians have searched for their "Sister Souljah moment" – when a candidate takes what appears to be a brave stand against extremes in their party. In 2000, George W. Bush caricaturized conservative jurist Robert Bork in an attempt to appear more compassionate than the GOP brand. That same year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain demonized the far right's "agents of intolerance." Eight years later, Sen. Barack Obama distanced himself from his own pastor, calling Jeremiah Wright's racially charged comments "a...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he is “outraged” by newly released documents linking a senior member of his staff to the closure of lanes on a major bridge in September — shutdowns that caused massive traffic jams and sparked allegations that the closures were the result of political retribution. The Republican, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, denied personal knowledge of any plans to close the lanes and vowed that “people will be held responsible for their actions.” (snip) “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff,...

To this point, Chris Christie has treated the George Washington Bridge closure story as a joke, and national reporters have regarded it as a minor irritation. The public release of e-mails among his staff changes all that. The e-mails prove that Christie’s loyalists closed the bridge deliberately as political retribution, not as a “traffic study” as claimed. They display an almost comical venality bordering on outright sociopathy. And they will probably destroy Christie’s chances in 2016. The bridge story itself, while small in nature, reveals a political culture around Christie of people who have no business holding power. Bridget Anne...

Glenn Beck is slamming New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his record — and his weight — calling the governor a “fat nightmare.” “Chris Christie is a fat nightmare. He is a nightmare,” Beck said in an interview with CNN’s S.E. Cupp that is set to air on Friday’s “Piers Morgan Live.” Cupp, who is guest hosting Morgan’s program, noted Christie will likely run for president in 2016 and is polling as the strongest Republican potential candidate against Hillary Clinton. “Don’t care. Don’t care. Don’t care. Don’t care,” Beck responded. Cupp called Christie “the real world,” but Beck continued his...

The New Jersey Legislature approved legislation on Thursday that would allow students without legal immigration status to pay in-state college tuition. Gov. Chris Christie planned to sign it on Friday, a spokesman said. During Mr. Christie’s re-election campaign this year, he spoke favorably of tuition equality. The compromise bill will allow access to in-state tuition for immigrants without legal status who have graduated from a New Jersey high school after at least three years of attendance. Mr. Christie said the legislation would become effective immediately, allowing students to take advantage of it in time for the spring semester.