PILEUP VS. CHRISTIE
Dems, Gopers put heat on He could be impeached, says N.J. pol
We’re no longer looking at just lane closures. We’re looking at an abuse of power and an attempt to cover up that abuse of power.
John Wisniewski
If it turns out there’s some evidence that he knew about it, he’s taken a complete risk and his political career is over.
Rudy Giuliani
IT DIDN’T get any easier Sunday for embattled New Jersey Gov. Christie, with rival Democrats and would-be competitors in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries hitting the airwaves to voice their concerns over the Bridgegate scandal.
As questions continued to arise throughout the weekend over er who in Christie’s office knew about the sinister traffic plot, the man leading the New Jersey state investigation into to the offense — which is also being reviewed by the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI — sug- g- gested the probe could have disastrous consequences for the governor.
“We’re no longer looking at just lane closures,” New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat, said. “We’re looking at an abuse of power and an at- tempt to cover up that abuse of power.”
Wisniewski told the Daily News that Christie could be impeached if the panel discovers that he had knowledge of the plot to create a commuter nightmare by closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge or of the effort to cover it up with a bogus “traffic study.”
New Jersey Assembly Speaker-elect Vincent Prieto, also a Democrat, is expected to lead his chamber into a special session Thursday to consider reauthorizing subpoena power to enable the Bridgegate probe to continue.
The state committee probing the incident could deliver a new round of subpoenas to key Christie aides
as early as Monday morning.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Sunday that Christie can kiss his White House dreams goodbye if he is lying about not being involved in the Bridgegate scandal,
“He’s held a press conference; he’s flatly denied it,” Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week,” referring to Christie’s assertion that he didn’t know that at least two of his top advisers had conspired to create the gridlock.
“If for some reason (Christie’s denial) is not true, the man has put his political career completely at risk,” Giuliani added. “If it turns out there’s some evidence that he knew about it, he’s taken a complete risk and his political career is over.”
Even if Christie was not directly involved in orchestrating the
Personnel is policy, and the people that you hire are the policies that are implemented.
Rick Santorum
September closures of the lanes merging onto the George Washington Bridge, he is culpable for hiring the people who carried out an act of political revenge at the expense of thousands of travelers, said Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania.
“Personnel is policy, and the people that you hire are the policies that are implemented,” Santorum, a possible candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
Christie’s allies orchestrated the September lane closures on the Fort Lee, N.J., side of the bridge in an act of political revenge.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich is a Democrat who — unlike some leading party members in his state — didn’t break ranks to endorse the governor’s November reelection bid.
Fort Lee’s mayor said Sunday he accepts Christie’s apology. “He unconditionally expressed that he had absolutely no knowledge or no involvement whatsoever in this plot,” Sokolich told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I take him at his word.” Several top national Republicans, meanwhile, rushed to Christie’s defense, as
ques- tions persisted over how the growing investigation could hamper the governor’s 2016 hopes.
“There’s no question — he admitted mistakes happen,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who would play an active role in helping to shape the GOP’s field of presidential candidates, said on “Meet the Press.”
“He admitted he trusted people that lied to him.”
Top Christie aide Bridget Kelly and two of the governor’s Port Authority appointees, Bill Baroni and David Wildstein, have been implicated in Bridgegate.