Tapper: ‘Damning’ Emails Show ‘Inescapable Conclusion’ That Bridge-Gate Was Political Payback
The unfolding Chris Christie “Bridge-gate” scandal got a whole lot more serious Wednesday with the emergence of texts and emails suggesting that the closure of lanes to the George Washington Bridge was political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. CNN’s Jake Tapper, as cautious and respected a reporter as there is in television, also obtained copies of those emails, and offered a harsh assessment of them on CNN’s Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield.
The Bergen Record broke big news with the emergence of emails and texts, between Christie staffers and others, indicating that the early-September closure of all but one lane onto the George Washington Bridge was designed to inflict revenge on Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and his constituents. This local story has been bubbling onto the national news scene for some time now, but made a serious jump with Tapper’s reporting.
Tapper has posted copies of the emails and texts on his blog, and while he notes that there is no evidence that Governor Christie knew about the emails and texts, described them to Ashleigh Banfield as “damming,” adding “They do seem to very strongly suggest that the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September, 2013, were done directly to harm the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. That is the inescapable conclusion from the e-mails and text messages we obtained.”‘
He and Banfield then read through several of them, including one from senior Christie staffer Bridget Anne Kelly that read, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” and others that show Christie aides reveling in the effects of the closures on the governor’s opponents.
Banfield then pointed out that not only was this “the first day of school, the buses were all showing up late. There were also first responders, who said they were having trouble responding to their emergencies.”
Tapper noted that Christie hasn’t responded to the revelations as yet, but that “He said in December that he took his aides’ word for it it was just a traffic study gone wrong.”
Banfield pointed out that there would be no chance to question Christie at a swearing-in ceremony he had scheduled. “We just got the notice an hour ago that Chris Christie has revised his schedule and this has been postponed. We will see if we can get any response otherwise,” Banfield said.
Here’s the clip, from CNN’s Legal View:
