Did You Ever Doubt Christie Ordered Bridge-Gate? (Oh Boy, I Get To Use The Pictures Of Christie Blocking The Bridge Again!)

I don't think it took many firing neurons to come to that conclusion. At her sentencing yesterday, the designated patsy for the crime, Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff, said Christie knew in advance. "The fact that I am on these steps in place of others from the Christie administration, and the governor himself, does not prove my guilt. It only proves that justice is not blind. It has favorites. It misses the mark. It misses the truth. And it picks winners and losers that are sometimes beyond anyone’s control... How did all these men all escape justice? Chris Christie was allowed, without rebuttal from anyone, to say out of one side of his mouth that I was a low level staffer-- a woman only good enough to plan menus and invite people to events. And then say out of the other side that I was somehow powerful enough to shut down the George Washington Bridge."

She then said the obvious-- obvious to anyone not so willfully obtuse as to ignore it-- that there was only one person powerful enough to approve that and only one person who would dare close down the bridge: Governor Chris Christie. Could anyone doubt that? For a minute?

She has no intention of remaining silent either. "Mr Christie, you are a bully, and the days of you calling me a liar and destroying my life are over. The truth will be heard, and for the former governor, that truth will be unescapable, regardless of lucrative television deals or even future campaigns. I plan to make sure of that."

David Wildstein has admitted having some up with the plan to create "traffic problems" for Fort Lee. Kelly testified under oath that she told Christie in advance about Wildstein's plan, which she claims she believed was a legitimate traffic study, and that he gave her the go-ahead. Wildstein also testified under oath that he personally briefed Christie about how the plan would work before it was carried out. Wildstein was granted probation in return for his testimony against Kelly and Baroni, but I guess he was only believable about them and not to the far more important testimony about Christie approving the scheme in advance!

She and Christie's deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Bill Baroni, were found guilty of plotting to shut down of several access lanes to the George Washington Bridge over the course of four days in 2013, creating a traffic nightmare for Fort Lee to screw over Mayor Mark Sokolich for refusing to endorse Christie's reelection bid. Although never directly under oath, Christie denied he knew anything about the dastardly deed. A spokesman read a statement from him: "As I have said before, I had no knowledge of this scheme prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them. No credible evidence was ever presented to contradict that fact. Anything said to the contrary is simply untrue."

She was sentenced to 13 months in prison, although she remains free while her appeal works its way up to the Supreme Court. Baroni is already serving his 18 month prison sentence, although he has joined Kelly's Supreme Court appeal.

Trump Hires All The Best People. When Will Jersey Pig-Man Be Indicted?

Yesterday was a bad day for the Trumpist governor of New Jersey. He and his bozo buddies can screech "Lock Her Up" all they want but the chances of America getting to see the rotund Christie in an orange jump suit behind bars is now a lot closer. And this isn't even about the complaint filed against him yesterday with the Department of Justice by the Democratic Coalition Against Trump. They're asking the government to prosecutor Christie for violating the Voting RIghts Act. Recall that this past August Christie vetoed a bill that would have automated the voter registration system in New Jersey. The bill had widespread bipartisan support in the legislature, and received only one no vote.

Christie has more pressing problems than his pattern of violating voters' civil rights. It looks like he'll be the first of the big-name Trumpists going to prison. I'll explain in a second, but first, watch this:



Trump may be a loud, foul-mouthed buffoon, and perhaps a moron, but that doesn't mean he's always wrong about everything. Yes, Christie "knew about it." In fact, as I've always said-- from the first day-- Christie ordered it. And then directed the coverup. As Ken reported moments after the guilty verdict, two of Christie's top aides were convicted on ALL charges. Kate Zernike's NY Times coverage pointed out that although Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, were the only ones charged-- and could serve 20 years each-- that the trial made it clear that their boss, Christie, "was deeply involved."

The scandal not only crippled Mr. Christie’s presidential candidacy this year, but tarnished his reputation at a time when he has been a key player in Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, named to lead his White House transition team and serving as a political surrogate. Mr. Christie is scheduled to campaign for Mr. Trump this weekend in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, two key battleground states, ahead of Tuesday’s election.

...The scandal has been the biggest political corruption case in New Jersey in years, riveting a state that has a long history of official malfeasance and leaving Mr. Christie deeply unpopular among his constituents.

In the six-week trial here in federal court, the prosecution and the defense both portrayed the Christie administration as a relentlessly political operation in the service of a fiery-tempered and ambitious governor.

Aides began using government resources to seek political endorsements the year Mr. Christie, a Republican, entered office, with an eye to winning not just a broad re-election victory, but also to the presidential race six years away.

Ms. Kelly, who was deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, sent the blunt email that prosecutors said set off the scheme and, when it was made public by a legislative subpoena in 2014, the scandal: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

Mr. Baroni, once Mr. Christie’s top staff appointee at the Port Authority, had ignored increasingly agitated phone, text and email messages from the mayor of Fort Lee about “an urgent matter of public safety” there, with emergency vehicles, school buses and commuters stuck in catastrophic traffic jams. Mr. Christie had avidly but unsuccessfully sought endorsement for re-election from the mayor, Mark J. Sokolich, a Democrat.

On the stand, both defendants said they had been duped by another Christie associate, David Wildstein, into believing that the lane closings were a legitimate traffic study. Mr. Wildstein, a secretive former political blogger, had been appointed as an enforcer for Mr. Christie at the Port Authority. Mr. Wildstein pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scheme and became the star witness for the government.

Mr. Wildstein testified that he had told Mr. Christie about the scheme at a Sept. 11 memorial service, in the middle of the lane closings. And Ms. Kelly testified that she had received the governor’s approval before sending the email triggering what she thought was the traffic study.

But prosecutors had drawn the charges tightly around the specific crime of closing the lanes and then covering up the scheme. At their urging, the judge had explicitly instructed the jury not to consider why other potential co-conspirators were not on trial.

Tom Moran, a Newark Star-Ledger editor, worries that "the big guy got away," while "both Kelly and Bill Baroni are now felons... Christie was smart enough to hide his tracks, guided no doubt by his years as a federal prosecutor. He is the firefighter who knows the tricks well enough to get away with arson."

He deleted sensitive text messages he exchanged with a top aide at a pivotal moment in this conspiracy, and both now say they can't remember a single word of it. How convenient.

He surrounded himself with an inner circle that was more loyal than principled-- all of whom kept quiet for three years as they watched him lie to us.

They knew Christie was not "blindsided" by rogue staff, as he claimed in his famous mea culpa news conference of January 2014. Three of his closest aides admitted under oath that they had spoken to him about this caper much earlier.

So why was the governor not charged? Because knowledge of the plot, while ruinous to his political standing, is not a crime in itself. And because prosecutors had no emails or texts to hang him with, as they did with Baroni and Kelly.

So the governor will limp onward, damaged but free, never held to account.

That leaves a bad taste. It recalls the 11 common U.S. soldiers convicted of torture at Abu Graib prison in Iraq, while the general who ran the prison got off with a reprimand. Who would say that justice was done?

Defense attorney Michael Critchley spoke to this frustration in his closing argument, when he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted the question on everyone's mind:

"Chris Christie: Where are you?"

For six weeks, the governor's ghost was the dominant figure in this courtroom, as nearly three dozen witnesses lifted the lid on this administration's barrel of stink.

Rank-and-file employees described using their time on the job to hustle for endorsements, offering prizes like chunks of steel from the rubble of the September 11 attacks, or tickets to a Giants game, or a Port Authority grant for a favorite cause. They needed a spreadsheet to keep track of it all.

Kelly described the governor as a monster behind closed doors, prone to tantrums filled with the worst obscenities. In one of his rages, she said, he threw a water bottle that hit her in the arm as she tried to jump out of the way. "I was scared," she told jurors, her voice cracking.

The governor used the Port Authority as a political slush fund, something to ponder each time you pay that damn $15 toll to cross the river.

He used a cut of toll money to finance a new park for his buddy Joe DiVincenzo, the Essex County executive; to buy land in Bayonne to help a friendly mayor, and to donate cash to a favorite charity of a senator in Hudson County.

He gave a high-paying job at the Port Authority to Jerry Speziale, the Democratic sheriff in Passaic County, on the condition that he would not use his $1 million in campaign funds against Republicans, according to testimony.

Even the small stuff was revealing: Christie once ordered Baroni to pass on an obscene threat, word for word, to a police union official he didn't like. When Baroni hesitating, saying the man was a friend, the governor threatened him.

"Do you like your job?" he asked. Baroni made the call.­­­­­

It's no surprise that Christie is a bully. But it is a surprise to learn that it's much worse than we had thought.

Turn to the two who were convicted, and you find no more satisfaction. Even at this lower level, the worst miscreant got away.

David Wildstein, the star witness, was also the star villain. He confessed to a career as a dark political operative, a lie and a cheat, a man without honor. Bridgegate was all his nutty idea. He pushed it relentlessly. He gave the orders to move the cones.

But he was smart enough to cut a deal, to throw his friends overboard, so he will almost certainly slither away as a free man.

They got Baroni, once a promising young senator many believed would be governor, a lawyer known for his vigilance on ethics, of all things. We learned during the trial that he was also an FBI informant from 2005 to 2010, mostly when Christie was U.S. Attorney.

Was it ambition that drove him so far off course, the dream of following Christie to the White House? Is sipping from that cup really this disorienting? I once knew Baroni well, and I am at a loss.

He is a felon now, his legal career replaced by legal bills. And he will be remembered always for the audacity of his lies when he testified before the Legislature about this "traffic study."

...After this verdict, the governor ignored all the damning testimony about his knowledge of this, about sick culture of his administration, about the misuse of taxpayer money for his political ends.

Will the Legislature drag him in now, put him under oath, and get to the truth? Until that happens, the bad taste left by this trial is bound to linger.

I'm sure everyone must be asking themselves why, if Trump knew Christie was guilty (as he explained in the tape above), he hired him as the head of his transition team. Even Trump fans might ask themselves about how that could happen. A little update: the Trump campaign ordered Pig Man to cancel all his appearances for Trump this weekend, including the four-- in Exeter, Stratham, Salem and Windham-- he was supposed to do today in must-win, absolutely crucial-crucial New Hampshire. 

Trump's Republican Party

Oh no, does the KrispyKronies' Kwik Konviktion-on-All-Kounts mean NJ's Big Rat Bastard Gummer won't be President Trump's AG?

Read all about the Kwik Konviktion-on-All-Kounts of KrispyKrony Konspirators Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni on WNYC's website.

by Ken

Though the Big Rat Bastard Gummer of NJ has done his best to treat the Bridgegate scandal as an unwelcome inconvenience -- a made-up conspiracy of which he is the principal victim -- I think we can take it as demonstrated that it cost him his shot at the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

Of course We the People have notoriously short memories, and the BRBGNJ was so forceful and shameless in his thumping leap onto the Billion-Dollar Loser's presidential bandwagon that it seems he may actually have been the BDL's first choice for running mate, and speculation persists as to what his potential reward in the Trump administration might be, like maybe U.S. attorney general? So the BRBGNJ's political future is one obvious question raised by today's developments, as reported early this afternoon by Nancy Solomon, managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio and director of NYC public-radio station WNYC's 2016 election coverage, part of the public-radio team that has been keeping watch on Bridgegate developments.

A jury has found two former top employees of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie guilty on all counts for shutting down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge to punish a Christie foe.

Former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni and former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly were found guilty of conspiracy, misapplication of public resources, and fraud.

The two face sentences of up to 86 years in prison. The sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 21, 2017.

In effect they were found guilty of trying too hard to boost Christie’s political fortunes in preparation for his presidential campaign. Christie allies sought endorsements from Democratic mayors in his 2013 re-election. When Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich balked on that request, his town was gridlocked with four mornings in a row of traffic that delayed ambulances, stranded kids on school buses and left untold numbers late for work and medical appointments.

The damning testimony of the scheme’s architect, David Wildstein and reams of documentary evidence, particularly the incriminating, infamous email from Kelly -- “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” -- were too great for the defense to surmount.

“The evidence in this case has shown that you when the spotlight wasn't burning on them, when they weren't under investigation, when they thought no one else was watching, the defendants engaged in a scheme to punish Mayor Sokolich,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said in his summations. “The evidence has shown that not only did they execute this scheme, but delighted in it.”

The jury of seven women and five men agreed. Their verdict comes at a time when Christie’s popularity among New Jersey residents is at 21 percent, a historic low. He is planning to campaign for Donald Trump this weekend in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Though Christie himself was not on trial, the convictions tarnish the reputation of a man who was once the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, before becoming Governor and a GOP candidate for President, At the Republican National Convention in July, Christie, who is the Transition Chairman for Trump, thundered -- “Guilty or not guilty?” -- in reference to Hillary Clinton.

But now the verdict “guilty” has been rendered four times for aides Christie once named to some of the most sensitive positions in his administration: Kelly, Baroni, and Wildstein, for their role in the Bridgegate scandal, and David Samson, the former chairman of the Port Authority and one of Christie’s closest friends, for demanding a special flight route from United Airline in exchange for special treatment from the Port Authority.

A fifth Christie aide, former transportation commissioner Jamie Fox, still faces charges in the bribery scandal. . . .

THERE ARE TWO WAYS WE COULD LOOK AT THE
FALLOUT FOR THE KRISPYKRONIES' EX-MASTER

Two great visionaries and lotsa flags -- what more
could we hope for to Make America Great Again?

Of course the KrispyKronies will appeal, and I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks that, if nothing else, there will be enough to overturn the verdict(s) in the trial judge's advice to the jury that they didn't have to be persuaded of the defendants' knowing participation in a political retribution scheme. So we've merely completed Phase 1 of their legal ordeal. Meanwhile the higher-ups, the chain gang of political thugs leading all the way up to the Big Rat Bastard Gummer himself, are all sitting pretty.

So there are two possible answers to the obvious question, how today's development affects the BRBGNJ himself, just as we knew there would be going into the KrispyKronies' trial:

(1) Whether they were convicted or not, the BRBGNJ couldn't lose, because despite his former stooges' testimony that, contrary to his public insistences, they kept him apprised of all developments in the Bridgegate traffic disaster, there is still no provable link to his involvement in the scheme, and so once again the stooges are trapped in the punishment system while the big boys stand above it all.

(2) Whether they were convicted or not, the BRBGNJ couldn't win, because the KrispyKronies' trial had -- notably via the testimony of the defendants themselves, left dangling by their onetime protector -- exposed so much about the punitive, power-mongering, personally driven modus operandi of Gummer Krispy's reign of terror in NJ that he's permanently damaged goods, as reflected in his already-plummeted poll-approval numbers.

As developments were developing earlier today, WNYC's Matt Katz, who was inside the courthouse where the surprisingly quick and decisive verdicts were announced, inclined to (2). But I wonder whether Matt is perhaps too close to the story. After all, is there anything in that story that's unfamiliar to America's Biggest Loser? Not the insatiable self-aggrandizement, surely? Or the casual corruption at every level? Or, the personal animosities that animate all-consuming, insatiable vendettas? And certainly not the thirst for unchecked authoritarian power?

Aren't these, in fact, the very tools the Billion-Dollar Loser brings to his heroic quest to Make America Great Again? (In which connection, I heartily recommend John Cassidy's terrific newyorker.com post "Two Americas: Why Donald Trump Still Has a Lot of Support," which Howie reported on earlier today. And, while we're at it, Paul Waldman's WaPo "Plum Line" post yesterday, "Republicans are now vowing Total War. And the consequences could be immense," and for that matter Paul's post today, taking off from the latest jobs report, "The economy is better under Democratic presidents," about which he tweeted, "Maybe it's time for Republicans to admit that Obama is an economic genius.")

#

Sure, Christie Belongs In Prison For The Bridge Coverup-- And So Does Cuomo

How happy would everyone in the Greater Metropolitan Area be to see this?

Everyone I know is waiting with baited breath to see if enough shoes drop in Bridgegate to send Chris Christie-- certainly the mastermind of the plot and the coverup-- to prison for a good long time. Yesterday, though, the prosecution's star witness, former Christie crony David Wildstein, testified that Christie wasn't the only guilty governor. New York's stupendously corrupt governor, Andrew Cuomo, plotted with him to cover up Christie's criminal conspiracy. Cuomo ordered his appointee, Patrick Foye, Port Authority executive director, to sign on a false report written by Christie's office that claimed the closure was the result of a traffic study.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York agreed to falsely explain the mysterious lane closings at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as a traffic study to try to “put an end to” the growing scandal, the admitted culprit behind the scheme testified in federal court here on Tuesday.

At Mr. Christie’s request, he testified, Mr. Cuomo told the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, to “stand down” in trying to publicly blame the lane closings on Mr. Christie and his aides, at least until Mr. Christie had won re-election in November 2013.

Mr. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Christie and Mr. Cuomo have previously denied that such a conversation ever occurred and said that they played no role in the cover-up of the lane closings.

The testimony, from David Wildstein, a former Christie administration official at the Port Authority, left open the possibility that Mr. Cuomo did not know the true reason for the lane closings. Mr. Wildstein, who is cooperating with federal prosecutors in the trial of two former Christie aides, has said they were to punish a mayor for declining to endorse Mr. Christie’s re-election.

The Daily News coverage of yesterday's testimony was brutal: Cuomo, the News reported, directed the head of the Port Authority to "lay off" of an inquiry into the Bridgegate scandal "until at least Election Day in November 2013, when Christie was re-elected," and approve a bogus explanation for the gridlock following conversations with Christie.

Cuomo and Christie had agreed in October 2013 that Foye would sign off on a bogus report on the closures in which the Port Authority would admit a communication breakdown resulted in Fort Lee being caught by surprise by an agency traffic study, Wildstein said.

Wildstein recalled saying it would be a "heavy lift" to get Foye to approve the report, but that he believed it could be done thanks to Cuomo.

"My understanding was Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo had discussed this, if the New Jersey side (of the PA) accepted responsibility, Foye would sign off on this and that would put an end to this issue," Wildstein said.

"This report would be issued, there would be an explanation to the public, the Port Authority would take responsibility for the failure in communication…and the question of lane closures would go away."

A rep for Cuomo denied the conversation with Christie ever took place, and called Wildstein’s account “false and delusional.”

...Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who ran against Cuomo in 2014, said the testimony confirms what he and other state Republicans suspected-- that Cuomo and Christie colluded in the wake of Bridgegate to undercut his gubernatorial chances.

At the time, Christie was head of the Republican Governor's Association and refused to provide any assistance to Astorino, telling a reporter that the association did not invest in "lost causes."

"Today's damning testimony that confirms Governors Christie and Cuomo were colluding to cover up the Bridgegate scandal is exactly what we suggested was happening at the time,” Astorino said. “Both Christie and Cuomo grossly abused their gubernatorial powers, and Mr. Christie abused the power of the Republican Governors Association to help a Democrat get re-elected. If corroborated, they should both resign their offices."

Media Still Unwilling To Say What Everyone Already Knows-- That Christie Ordered Bridge Closure And Coverup

I don't know if politics attracts inherently corrupt individuals or if politics turns weak individuals corrupt, but I'd one of those explanations or the other covers most of the American political establishment. My informed guess is that by the time Chris Christie-- an anti-regulations lobbyist (on behalf of corrupt banksters, the energy industry and for-profit higher education), a former Morris County freeholder and then a Bush appointee to the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey job-- he was already a rotting, stinking cesspool of corruption. All of his early campaigns resulted in lawsuits based on misconduct. As State Attorney, he went after his political foes and get Big Business off again and again. But the media cover Christie as though he was born, immaculately, in the Governor's chair and, at worst, was the victim of nefarious staffers.

Yesterday's NYTimes, in covering two of the country's most egregiously corrupt governors-- Christe and his pal Andrew Cuomo-- was quick to point out that of the 2 criminal masterminds who should be sharing a prison cell, "neither governor is accused of breaking the law" and that the two gang leaders claim "to have been blind to alleged acts of petty revenge and bribery at the highest levels of state government seems bad enough." The Times doesn't point out that the claims are ludicrous.

Each man had cultivated a small group of trusted advisers who, driven by unshakable tribal loyalty and a hunger to see their bosses taste the White House one day, enforced the governor’s will, punished his enemies and rewarded his friends.

For Mr. Christie, they included Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, the two former officials currently on trial, and Bill Stepien, his former top lieutenant, an old friend and political operative who left ears ringing across New Jersey on the governor’s behalf.

They met for strategy sessions around Mr. Christie’s kitchen table in Mendham and mingled at N.F.L. games. They worked together to single out local officials who supported the governor’s 2013 re-election bid for perks and to mete out revenge to those who did not-- including Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee, N.J., a Democrat who, having declined to endorse the governor, got a catastrophic traffic jam in return, prosecutors say.

Their equivalents in Albany were a group of stalwarts who had marched at Mr. Cuomo’s side, in some cases as far back as the administration of Mr. Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, who became governor in 1983. The men, and they were all men, even had a “term of endearment” for one another, according to the federal criminal complaint released on Thursday: “Herb.” (It remains unclear why.)

Chief among them was Joseph Percoco, who had started working for the elder Mr. Cuomo when he was 19. So high was his place in the family firmament that during Mr. Cuomo’s eulogy for his father in January 2015, he called Mr. Percoco “my father’s third son, who I sometimes think he loved the most.”

It was Mr. Percoco who, everyone in New York’s political establishment understood, woke Mr. Cuomo up in the morning, dispensed threats for him during the day and put him to bed at night.

It was also Mr. Percoco, working with another “Herb” and former Cuomo aide, Todd R. Howe, who shook down a developer and an energy company for at least $315,000 in bribes in exchange for putting his considerable power at their service, prosecutors say.

There was the legal opinion that Mr. Percoco got reversed. The energy policy decisions, made by state experts, that he overrode. The $5,700 raise, the criminal complaint says, that he berated human-resources staff at the governor’s office into approving for the son of an executive who had paid him off.

And there was the fact, apparent from the complaint, that no one in state government questioned his authority to do so.

These days, there is no avoiding the central question: How could the governors not have known?

Mr. Christie has said that while he took ultimate responsibility for the lane closings, it was impossible for him to keep tabs on 65,000 state employees. He was “disturbed,” he said, by Mr. Stepien’s behavior, while Ms. Kelly was “stupid” and “a liar.”

Mr. Cuomo, too, has been moved to muse on personal betrayal.

“The central plank of my administration has always been about public integrity and zero tolerance for any waste, fraud or abuse. If anything, I hold a friend to a higher standard,” he said in Buffalo on Friday. “It’s the first time since we lost my father that I didn’t miss him being here yesterday, because it would’ve broken his heart.”

Precook didn't blink without Cuomo's OK-- and the whole menagerie of crooks in Christie's orbit, Sapien, Wildstein, Baroni and Kelly were less likely to do anything that hadn't been ordered by Christie than his own hands were. The Wall Street Journal story on Monday's trial events referred to Kelly and Baroni as "two former associates of Mr. Christie," as though there were something other than his closely directed operatives.

On trial are Mr. Baroni, deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Ms. Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie. Prosecutors say the defendants were part of a scheme to create a traffic jam in Fort Lee, N.J. to punish the borough’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing Mr. Christie, a Republican.

Mr. Christie hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.

On Monday, the government projected what has become the most well-known exchange of the scandal. On the morning of August 13, 2013, Ms. Kelly emailed Mr. Wildstein, writing “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Mr. Wildstein replied, “Got it.”

Mr. Wildstein said he understood from that email it was time to change the lane configurations on the George Washington Bridge.

“Did you think Ms. Kelly was joking?” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes.

“No sir, I did not,” Mr. Wildstein replied.

Shortly after receiving the email, Mr. Wildstein said he called Mr. Baroni.

Prosecutors projected a list of more than a dozen phone calls that took place that day. Most were between Messrs. Wildstein and Baroni. At 5:48 p.m., for 16 minutes and 30 seconds, Ms. Kelly and Mr. Wildstein spoke on the phone, the list showed.

Mr. Cortes, the prosecutor, asked if Ms. Kelly explained why she wanted traffic problems.

She wanted to send a message, Mr. Wildstein replied. “Mayor Sokolich needed to fully understand life would be more difficult in the second Christie term than it had been in the first,” he added.

During August, the three planned their traffic jam, with Mr. Wildstein communicating separately with both of his alleged co-conspirators. Mr. Wildstein came up with the idea of using a traffic study as a cover story, he said, and said he would create a file of documents that would support it. Both Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly approved this cover story, Mr. Wildstein said. They also discussed “radio silence,” or the policy of not responding to inquiries about the traffic from local officials.

They planned to not give Fort Lee any advance notice because that would have allowed commuters to change their driving patterns. “The purpose was to create as big a traffic jam as possible,” Mr. Wildstein said.

Another detail was timing. August was considered a little too sleepy, since people tend to go out of town. They considered the week after Labor Day, but nixed that idea, too. Then Mr. Baroni asked when school began. Mr. Wildstein said he looked it up online, then told his boss that the first day of Fort Lee schools was Sept. 9.

Mr. Cortes, the prosecutor, asked how Mr. Baroni responded.

“He smiled and said, ‘Fantastic’,” Mr. Wildstein said.

And this morning-- day 3 of testimony-- Wildstein admitted that he and Baroni spoke with Christie as the traffic on the George Washington Bridge was being blocked... in real time. He also confessed that he had texted Kelly with reports from the clogged bridge on day 2 of the jam they had created and that Kelly texted back, "Is it wrong that I'm smiling?" They ignored repeated pleas from Ft Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for state assistance. Although the egregiously corrupt Christie Administration was happy to lavish plenty of cash on crooked Democratic Party boss Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, it also came out today that the Christie Administration was looking for a way to bring Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop-- and his constituents-- some pain for his refusal to back Christie's reelection. I'm not suggesting that Christie was told how many cones blocked each lane. But I am asserting that this could never have happened had Christie not completely approved it in every strategic-- if not tactical-- detail. It will be a great miscarriage of Justice if Christie doesn't wind up in a prison cell.

Christie Still Hasn't Been Arrested... However, Slowly But Surely The Law Is Closing In On Him

Chris Christie isn't on trial yet. But the testimony on the first day, Friday, of the trial of Bridget Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff and of former Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, indicates that Christie-- who has two years left in his term-- will likely face trial and impeachment by the state legislature. Testimony from former Christie crony David Wildstein-- who already pleaded guilty to 2 federal counts of conspiracy as part of a plea deal for his cooperation-- indicates that Christie was the mastermind behind the plot to shut down the George Washington Bridge as an exercise in political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee.

Wildstein and Christie went to Livingston High School together and both were campaign volunteers for GOP politicians. In 1985, when he was 23, Wildstein, whose family is very wealthy, was elected to Livingston's town council and subsequently served as mayor, where his abrasive style and right-wing extremism ended his electoral aspirations. Afterwards he surreptitiously ran a blog, under the pseudonym Wally Edge, PoliticsNJ.com-- financed by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The blog is widely credited with having helped launch Christie's political career. When he became governor, Christie invented a make-believe, highly paid job at the Port Authority for Wildstein, his second highest-level Port Authority appointment after Bill Baroni (the guy on trial now). Wildstein had no job description but he functioned as Christie's spy and enforcer on the agency. Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal's trial coverage painted a picture placing Christie at the heart of a corrupt, self-serving system.

At the instruction of Chris Christie, the Port Authority systematically allocated grants, vehicles and steel from the Twin Towers to Democratic elected officials from whom New Jersey’s Republican governor sought endorsements for his 2013 campaign, a former Port Authority official testified Friday.

David Wildstein, a cooperating witness in the trial of two ex-Christie aides accused of creating a traffic jam as political payback, said he had received instruction from the governor’s office to use the “Port Authority goody bag” in this way.

“The Port Authority was asked to play a role in helping the governor’s office secure certain endorsements,” Mr. Wildstein said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes asked who gave this instruction.

“Asked initially by Mr. Stepien,” Mr. Wildstein said, referring to Christie aide Bill Stepien. There were others, he added.

“What others?” Mr. Cortes asked.

“Gov. Christie,” Mr. Wildstein replied.

...While Friday was the first day Mr. Wildstein appeared in court, his presence has loomed throughout the first week of the trial. Defense attorneys, quoting witness interviews, have called Mr. Wildstein “maniacal,” “a miserable prick” and an “asshole,” among other labels. During opening statements, one defense attorney suggested the government had “made a deal with the devil.”

Federal prosecutors have noted that while Mr. Wildstein has lied before, his incentive to tell the truth is strong because prosecutors will write a letter to the judge with a sentencing recommendation.

Mr. Wildstein faces up to 15 years in prison.

In court on Friday, Mr. Wildstein outlined a systematic and organized plan to use Port Authority resources to support Mr. Christie’s re-election bid. The Port Authority provided valuable resources that the governor “wanted to get credit for,” he said.

These resources included steel from the former Twin Towers, flags flown at Ground Zero, World Trade Center tours, vehicles, patronage positions and grants, according to Mr. Wildstein. “The governor’s office was always to be the deliverer of good news,” he added.

In a May 2011 email shown in court, Mr. Wildstein wrote to Ms. Kelly, mentioning the “Port Authority goody bag.”

“I like goody bags!” Ms. Kelly replied. “I appreciate it.”

In his testimony Friday, Mr. Wildstein also discussed his relationship with Mr. Baroni, whom he described as “one of the closest friends I’ve ever had.”

At the Port Authority, Mr. Wildstein, whose title was director of interstate capital projects, functioned as Mr. Baroni’s chief of staff, he said. But because Mr. Baroni liked to be “the good cop,” Mr. Wildstein acted as the bad cop-- “being very aggressive, making sure that things got done,” he said.

The two men primarily represented the interests of New Jersey and Mr. Christie, operating according to what they called “the one constituent rule,” he said. They first discussed this rule in 2010, he said, at a Starbucks in New York City.

“The only person who mattered was Gov. Christie,” Mr. Wildstein said on Friday. “He was the one constituent. If it was good for Gov. Christie it was good for us. If it was not good for Gov. Christie, then it was not good for us.”

Mr. Wildstein’s testimony also offered a window into business practices at the governor’s office and the Port Authority. Mr. Wildstein said numerous people in the governor’s office told him to use his personal email address because such communications were considered “not discoverable” to public-records requests, he said.

So... when will New Jersey's legislature start impeachment proceedings against Christie-- who was already viewed negatively by 68% of New Jersey citizens before the new spate of revelations. According to WNBC one Assembly committee chairman the chances are probably 50-50 that the assembly would pursue impeachment and that "obstruction of justice" would be an obvious charge against Christie.  

The decision on impeachment will be up to Democratic Speaker Vincent Prieto and if he gives the go-ahead, the Assembly Judiciary Committee would begin the process.

It takes a majority of the 80-member Assembly to vote articles of impeachment.

If it passes the Democrat-controlled body [the Dems hold 52 of the 80 seats but many of the assemblymen are controlled by corrupt party bosses close to and in business with Christie], the trial would be in the Senate, where two-thirds of senators would be needed to convict. Although Democrats hold a majority in the Senate, they would need three Republican senators to join them if all Democrats vote to convict.

Friday, the NY Times also broaching the impeachment question, reported that "obstruction of justice means that an individual 'purposely obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent a public servant from lawfully performing an official function by means of flight, intimidation, force, violence, or physical interference or obstacle, or by means of any independently unlawful act.' ... [A]n impeachment trial could mean that considerations outside the scope of the focus of this federal trial could be examined, including whether Christie and his administration used quid pro quo governmental incentives to compel more than 60 Democrat elected officials to endorse him; if the scheme of retribution extended beyond Fort Lee’s borders; and whether Christie and his staff lied or withheld evidence in a state taxpayer-funded investigation of the scandal. If Christie were convicted-- an admittedly unlikely political outcome-- it would remove him from office and preclude him from serving in any public office for the state, but such a prohibition would not apply to any potential federal position, including a cabinet post in a potential Trump administration."

Last week, The Observer predicted that the intensifying scandal will make it even harder for the GOP to hold onto the governor's mansion, a laughable understatement. "Short on resources and resigned to campaigning with the shadow of Christie’s record-low approval ratings over its head, the state Republican party’s best hope could be for the governor to step down early. That move would see Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, who has already announced her bid for the 2017 gubernatorial election, take Christie’s place in the event of Christie’s resignation or a successful impeachment."

Montclair State University political scientist Brigid Harrison said that Guadagno, and Republicans as a whole, will have a tough row to hoe whether Christie stays or goes. She believes there is an outside chance that Democratic lawmakers might pursue impeachment.

“If in fact the governor knew during Bridgegate what was occurring, it certainly could be considered an impeachable offense according to the constitution,” she said. “It’s a much different gubernatorial race than with Christie in office.

“You have a Republican governor who has record low approval ratings, and one would think that they’re only going to plummet further in light of the revelations during the trial. You have a Republican party that has really been decimated in terms of both its war chest and its ability to raise money. And also, importantly the governor has really failed to develop a bench.”

Guadagno would have to distinguish herself from the rest of Christie’s Republican coalition in Trenton in just 18 months. Harrison called that a tall order for a woman who has been frequently relegated to ceremonial appearances during Christie’s time out of state. Other potential Republican hopefuls like Assemblyman Jack Ciatarelli (R-16) and Assembly Minority Jon Bramnick (R-21), she said, would also need to forge new images.

As Seton Hall University’s Matt Hale told The Observer, "Christie has so damaged the Republican brand in the state that I don’t think any Republican can get elected." New Jersey Politics, Inc-- the bipartisan, boss-run political machine that runs the state-- understands that and is trying to decide if it will get behind reliable Democratic hack Steve Sweeney (Norcross' state Senate president) or self-funding Goldman Sachs crook Philip Murphy. Progressives may have to chose between former Congressman Rush Holt and Jersey City's reformist mayor Steven Fulop.

Taking The Guess Work Out Of Who's The Worst Governors

Earlier today, Morning Consult released it's latest survey on how the citizens of the 50 states view their own governors. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has both the highest disapproval ranking (71%) and the lowest approval ranking (23%). That guy is dogshit. Well... this disapproval of Brownback and his policies by Kansas voters is hardly new. When he was up for reelection 2 years ago he was just as hated and polls tended to show him losing. The last poll I found showed him losing the election 39-43%. 24% of Republicans said they were going to vote for Paul Davis, Minority Leader of the state House of Representatives. In the end, a week later, Brownback beat Davis 433,196 (49.82%) to 401,100 (46.13%). Kansas has 105 counties. Davis won 7 of them-- 5 more than President Obama had won in 2012. (In fact, although Obama only got 38% of the vote in Kansas, more Democrats voted for him than bothered to show up to for against Brownback-- 427,918 for Obama and about 26,000 fewer for Davis.

Right behind Brownback in Connecticut's widely-hated corporate Dem, Dan Malloy, with a 70% disapproval and a 26% approval. There are 10 governors with disapprovals numbers higher than approvals, 8 Republicans who have had an opportunity to prove themselves unsuitable for public office and 2 corrupt corporate Democrats who working families have comet realize are basically just Republicans with "D"s next to their names on the ballot, Malloy and Rhode Island crooked Wall Street shill Gina Raimondo. Here's the list (+ one governor who's tied between those who approve and those who disapprove, Mike Pence)

The survey was taken before federal prosecutors finally said aloud in court what most people have long suspected, that Christie "knew" about the lane closings in real time and then lied about it to cover up... well, what he was covering up will be the subject of future litigation, but I would say it's 99.9% safe to assume he was covering up the fact that he ordered the closure of the George Washington Bridge. In any case, even before, the newest revelations, 68% of New Jersey voters said they disapproved of Christie and just 29% approved (presumably New Jersey's deplorables who appreciate how he's made himself an appendage of Trump). Morning Consult pointed out that "Christie’s negatives rose by 8 percentage points since the beginning of the year, and he lost 6 points in approval ratings." Yesterday Newsweek asked the question many Americans, including many in New Jersey, have been asking for two years: why hasn't Christie been charged? Why isn't he in prison?

When the lane closure scheme became public, federal investigators got wind of it, eventually making the case that went on trial Monday.

Christie himself hired a $650-an-hour Manhattan law firm-- a taxpayer expense that eventually totaled $8 million-- to investigate the scheme. That investigation exonerated him in 2014. The legislative committee also concluded its work in late 2014 without accusing Christie of involvement.

But the legislative investigation was hampered by the concurrent federal investigation, which limited the ability of the state Assembly to call in witnesses. After Monday’s bombshell opening remarks, a number of New Jersey assemblymen suggested that they would reopen the investigation after the trial ends.

“It’s possible-- we don't know-- that the governor may be one of the unindicted co-conspirators," says Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who chaired the legislative investigation. "The government made it very clear. They did not hedge: They said the governor knew about the lane closures while they were happening. That is damning. That puts him at the nexus of the conspiracy.

“As for why he remains potentially an unindicted co-conspirator: The governor may have learned from his days as a U.S. attorney how to insulate himself by keeping the records, the paper trail, at a minimum. Whether or not that status changes will depend a lot on what is said, argued and entered into evidence at this trial,” he says.

...When the federal government formally charged only his aides, Christie described the action has having “exonerated” him.

But a former federal prosecutor who spoke to Newsweek about the case and discussed why Christie was not indicted declined to use the word “exonerate.” He speculates that the feds never charged the governor because federal investigators had been unable to come up with a paper trail with which to convince a jury.

“In theory, they seem to be saying that Christie was generally aware that havoc was being wreaked, but he wouldn’t have known the particulars of what went on,” says the attorney, who asked not to be identified in order to discuss the case. “As a general rule, federal prosecutors say federal conspiracies are very broad, and you don't need to know all the details to be guilty of involvement. But I assume the prosecution believes the governor didn't know all the details, that he had a general knowledge, but not enough to hold him criminally responsible and to persuade a jury to hold him personally responsible.”

Monday’s opening remarks made clear that the federal case will be based on Christie’s knowledge of and acquiescence to the scheme. Lawyers for the defendants were already expected to argue that the accused acted under authority of the governor. Furthermore, the prosecution will be bringing unindicted alleged co-conspirators who are expected to further elaborate on what the governor knew and when.

Ultimately, it appears the federal prosecutor will make the case that the defendants are part of a corrupt system, and that “the fish is rotten from the head down,” one attorney says.

...In the end, the show that opened Monday in Newark reveals the abysmal state of American political culture, from presidential politics on down, characterized by the practice of laying total waste to one’s opponents, seemingly without the slightest regard for duty to public service and the common good. Bridgegate is just another tactic out of a playbook that has run from Congress’s government shutdowns to Trump lying about his opponent and his own record. Christie might never be held legally responsible for Bridgegate, but his reputation and very likely his political future are on trial now.

Next year will be New Jersey's next gubernatorial election and Christie is term-limited. Maybe he'll be part of the Trump administration by then. Most of his potential replacements aren't much better than he is: the crooked boss-backed hack who runs the state Senate for George Norcross, Stephen Sweeney, some Goldman Sachs crook named Philip Murphy (in case people have forgotten how much they hated Corzine) and the sleazy assemblyman and chair of the state's Democratic Party, John Wisniewski, who ostentatiously backed Bernie while also backing crooked Machine candidates down-ballot. Bright spot would be if Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop, a real reformer, runs.

I Bet Today Even Trump's Finally Happy He Picked Pence Instead Of His Larded Up Jersey Crony

I knew I'd get a chance to use my Chris Christie art collection again! This morning Kate Zernike, writing for the NY Times, which Trumpy-the-Clwon hasn't sued yet, reported that prosecutors in Bridgegate have finally come out and said aloud what anyone in their right mind knew from day-one of this, namely that Christie knew about the lane closings in real time. When will they charge him with ordering the lane closings and orchestrating the coverup? Do you want to see the New Jersey governor in prison-- as though he was an Illinois governor? I do.

Today was the opening day of the trial of former Christie top level aides Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly (not to be confused with Trumpist Kellyanne Conway). They were the two who carried out Christie's orders to shut down the George Washington Bridge to spite Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey knew that his close associates were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, prosecutors said on Monday.

It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded.

The prosecutors made the assertion during opening statements in the trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with closing the lanes in 2013 and then covering it up.

Mr. Christie has insisted that he had no knowledge of the plot to close the lanes, and said that he did not recall being told about the closings while they were happening.



Defense lawyers have also said that Mr. Christie knew. But the statement on Monday was striking in that it was prosecutors confirming that assertion.

Prosecutors from the United States attorney’s office said that two of the alleged co-conspirators in the case, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, had bragged to the governor about the lane closings, and that they had been done to “mess” with the mayor of Fort Lee because he had declined entreaties to endorse the governor’s re-election.

The prosecutor, Vikas Khanna, instantly advised the jury that they should not consider the actions of “others” or wonder why they were not charged.

The details of the plot that Mr. Khanna laid out were largely familiar by now: that one of the defendants, Bridget Anne Kelly, sent an email in August 2013 saying “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” after confirming that the mayor of that borough would not endorse Mr. Christie. A month later, two of three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were shut down, and the other defendant, Mr. Baroni, the highest ranking official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, studiously ignored the mayor as he pleaded by text, email and a handwritten letter for the agency to reopen the lanes.

Oh, what a shot!

The Cruel Humiliation Of Chris Christie-- Next Stop, Secretary Of Transportation?

The unseemly spectacle of the Trumpish running mate selection-- culminating in Trump playing the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" a dozen times in a row for startled reporters before bringing out the hapless Mike Pence-- should serve as a prelude to what a Trump administration would be like. In all things and at all times, Trump's narcissism will hover over every decision. His understandable desire to pick his old crony Christie was thwarted because of a family dispute, Christie having sent Ivanka's crooked father-in-law, Charles Kushner, to prison on a series of campaign fraud felonies. Almost a full year ago, we saw that

Trump, who constantly brags about how rich he is and claims he's financing his own campaign, says he's turning down "millions of dollars." Crooked New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner is an old friend of Trump's, and Trump's daughter Ivanka is married to Kushner's wormy son Jared, publisher of the NY Observer. Kushner was convicted of making illegal campaign contributions and of tax evasion and witness tampering, and served a year of a two-year sentence in prison. [Last August] he had a "non-fundraiser" for Trump at his palatial $6.7 million beachfront mansion in Long Branch on the Jersey Shore. He gave Trump $100,000. The invitation for the non-fundraiser read: "Seryl and Charles Kushner invite you to their home to meet DONALD TRUMP," with Trump’s name in red letters beneath a pair of American flags, just above "Make America Great Again!" Trump insists it was a just garden party.

Kushner, who has primarily given to Democratic crooks like Chuck Schumer, Joe Lieberman, Jon Corzine and Robert Mendoza, blames Chris Christie-- who was the prosecutor who sent him to prison-- for his legal woes. Maybe the only string attached to the $100,000 he gave to Trump's super-PAC was the satisfaction of seeing Christie get buried. But I doubt it; after all, Kushner is well-known for having once retaliated against his own sister by hiring a prostitute for her husband, taping it and sending her the tape. Trump was happy to get the $100,000, but has never allowed himself to be photographed with his pal Kushner.

One GOP sad sack, Mike Murphy, a failed campaign operative who's lost dozens of races for every candidate he's ever worked for, most recent the Jebster, tweeted Saturday morning "I have a vision of Chris Christie hopping around on one foot trying to shake his other foot out of a now smoking, broken TV screen..." And while the Newtster was on Face The Nation yesterday, making a play for a cabinet position in the imaginary universe where Trump becomes president, Christie was dealing with massive Schadenfreude coming at him from every direction, not the least from Trump's rotten little slimy son-in-law. The NY Times was less catty than Jared... but still devastating: Chris Christie Lost Out on the Job He Wanted. And His Bad Year Got Worse. Zate Zernike started her gruesome story by pointing out that on Thursday morning, one of Christie's closest confidants "pleaded guilty to a felony charge of abusing power at the agency that Mr. Christie tapped him to lead. By that afternoon, federal prosecutors had charged a former cabinet official in connection with the same case, which spun out of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that has dogged Mr. Christie for nearly three years."

And Christie's day on got worse as a storm knocked down tree and a power line in front of his house, starting a fire, and cutting off his electricity. And then, of course Christie failed to "get the job he had been publicly pining for, and on which he had pinned his hopes of political resuscitation" despite an early and ill-advised endorsement of the much loathed Trump "that dragged Mr. Christie’s poll numbers to record lows at home and alienated him from moderate Republicans he once called friends."

“He was such a lap dog and tried for it so hard, he ended up not just losing badly in the presidential stakes-- I think he just looks much weaker than he was before by his rabid pursuit of Trump,” said Ed Rollins, a longtime Republican strategist who is now advising a “super PAC” supporting Mr. Trump. “It was not a glorious couple of years here, or for the citizens of the state.”

When Mr. Trump confirmed on Friday morning that he was picking Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate, the initial reports were that they would make their first appearance together in Bedminster, N.J., where Mr. Trump has a golf course and plans to be buried. It would be “the site of Trump’s mausoleum and the burial ground of Christie’s political aspirations,” in the words of Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist close to two former Christie administration officials charged in the lane-closing case, Bill Baroni and David Wildstein.

The Trump campaign later said the appearance would be in Manhattan.

But even without an announcement in his backyard, Mr. Christie has suffered embarrassment at the hands of Mr. Trump.

He set off internet ridicule on Super Tuesday when he stood behind Mr. Trump, mute and obedient. As they appeared together, Mr. Trump mocked the governor for eating too many Oreos, and for all but moving out of New Jersey as he campaigned for president in New Hampshire.

Mr. Trump appeared to relish poking fun at his effusive booster: “I hated to do it but I had to make my point,” he said, after accusing Mr. Christie of abandoning his state.

Mr. Christie’s staff had to fight back against reports from within the Trump campaign, quoted in the New Yorker, that the governor had fetched food from McDonald’s for Mr. Trump. (On Friday, the New Yorker humor columnist Andy Borowitz further mocked him with a spoof headlined: “Furious Christie Refuses to Pick Up Trump’s Dry Cleaning.”)

In the end, Mr. Trump seemed to all but ignore any loyalty from Mr. Christie, picking Mr. Pence, who had endorsed a former rival to Mr. Trump, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

“It’s death by humiliation,” Ms. Roginsky, who is also a Fox News contributor, said. “Slow, twisting and played out in public, like a reality show elimination.”

On Friday, Mr. Christie’s office declined to offer a statement on Mr. Pence. The governor appears to be left with the prospect of campaigning even harder for Mr. Trump in hopes of getting a post in the administration, should Mr. Trump win.

But that would have to happen against the wishes of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is said to be no fan of Mr. Christie, who, as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, sent Mr. Kushner’s father to prison. And the governor would face a tough confirmation fight should he be nominated for a post such as attorney general.

Mr. Christie will have to endure more heartburn between now and Election Day.

The trial in the bridge case is scheduled to begin in September, and defense lawyers have promised to savage him and show that he knew about the lane closings, despite his protestations and “tell it like it is” slogans. The charges announced on Thursday-- that Mr. Christie’s associates negotiated bribes with United Airlines--— will continue to play out with the sentencing in the case of David Samson, former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in October.

“I was going to say he could be secretary of transportation, but that probably wouldn’t be a very good thing for him,” Mr. Rollins said of Mr. Christie. “Though he has some experience there, controlling bridges and planes and that sort of thing.”

His approval in New Jersey is a dismal 26% but Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute said that "if Trump wins, Trump will find something for him. He’ll take anything, as is kind of obvious." Let's make sure that never happens... never. A Democratic Senate is unlikely to confirm Christie for anything... except a long and well-deserved prison term.