“He played no role whatsoever in that decision or the implementation of it,” Mastro said. “We further found no evidence that anyone in the governor’s office besides [Christie deputy] Bridget Kelly knew of this idea in advance or played any role in the implementation of it.” Mastro said Kelly “lied to her colleagues” and even attempted to destroy a damning document.
Mastro added that the knowledge of the lane closures was limited to Kelly and Port Authority official David Wildstein, with whom he said the idea originated, and did not include any other Christie administration members. He also reported that while the investigation found evidence of an ulterior motive to the lane closures, there was no indication that motive was to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for refusing to
The investigation has drawn significant criticism, as Mastro’s firm has long represented Christie, and Mastro himself has represented the Port Authority; meanwhile, investigators were unable to meet the principal figures in the case, including Kelly and Wildstein.
Mastro also found that charges from Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer — that Christie’s administration pressured her to approve a development project or else her town’s Hurricane Sandy relief aid would be revoked — were “not only unsubstantiated, but demonstrably false in material respects.”
Watch below, via Fox News:
[Image via screengrab]
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