# Did Christie (or his staff) intentionally cause the Fort Lee traffic jam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 9, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351 "2014-01-09T13:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 46
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/901 "2014-03-08T23:45:55Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Various “claims” against the Christie administration’s environment of “alleged” corruption have been mentioned here, and in the media, as proof that Christie must have been personally involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment debacle. As has **Truman Burbank** ’s dessert cookie and Nixon. None of these have proven to be the smoking gun investigators require to charge Christie. Of course, that doesn’t stop the MSNBC-type “reporting” from trying to tie anything and everything wrong in NJ to Christie and the Christie administration. “They’re” bound to get one rumor correct very soon. So, no, it hasn’t. More hand waving. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/902 "2014-03-08T23:45:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > I’m sorry, has AshBritt even been mentioned in this thread? When one is flailing, one takes deflections where one can get them. And those quotes were just devastating 😃 > [@](#): > > **_Christie’s_ office** was quick to cite the report Thursday as vindication of how it handled the AshBritt contract, awarded without competitive bidding and offered to towns by well-connected political operatives. **A spokesman _for the governor_** said Democrats were wrong to criticize the administration in what he called “a rush to judgment.” “At the time, many Democrats (with complicit members of the media) jumped on this AshBritt news as some sort of breaking scandal,” read an email **from _the spokesman_, Kevin Roberts**. > > …Then referring to the scandals that the governor’s office is now fending off, **_Roberts_ said** : “Led by some of the same partisan Democrats that are attempting to politicize various issues today, a feeding frenzy ensued. Now, with the release of this independent third-party report from the IG, we learn that the partisans were wrong.” Bolding and italicizing mine. I wouldn’t trust a Christie spokesman as far as I could throw Christie. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/903 "2014-03-09T00:17:54Z")
Maybe this investigation isn’t as much of a fishing expedition as it is a witch hunt? I don’t remember anyone accusing Bill Stepien of being involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment let alone Stepien’s landlord? \*FBI investigates former Christie advisers in bridge scandal - By Shimon Prokupecz, CNN updated 8:54 AM EST, Tue March 4, 2014 Bill Stepien, in arguing why he cannot comply with a subpoena issued by a state legislative committee also investigating the scandal, said federal agents have visited his home and questioned people who know him, according to court papers. “In recent weeks, federal criminal investigators have made their interest in him plain, traveling to his home and importuning his landlord and presumably others to provide information about his conduct and character,” Stepien’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, said. Specifically, the court documents claimed that an agent called Stepien on his cell phone in January and most recently questioned his landlord. The FBI asked “if he was married, was a rowdy tenant, did he pay his rent on time,” according to the papers\*. > **[FBI investigates former Christie advisers in bridge scandal | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/03/politics/christie-scandal-fbi/index.html)** > > The FBI has questioned people connected to Chris Christie’s former campaign manager as part of a federal probe of a traffic scandal, papers say. What information could Stepien’s landlord provide? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/904 "2014-03-09T01:02:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Or like repeatedly referring to Wildstein as Christie-appointee Wildstein. Not at all like that. Wildstein is, in fact, a Christie appointee. He is not, in fact, the Port Authority. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/905 "2014-03-09T01:27:07Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Various “claims” against the Christie administration’s environment of “alleged” corruption have been mentioned here, and in the media, as proof that Christie must have been personally involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment debacle. As has **Truman Burbank** ’s dessert cookie and Nixon. None of these have proven to be the smoking gun investigators require to charge Christie. Of course, that doesn’t stop the MSNBC-type “reporting” from trying to tie anything and everything wrong in NJ to Christie and the Christie administration. “They’re” bound to get one rumor correct very soon. Oh Dear God, I can’t believe I have to do this. The cookie analogy _wasn’t about_ proving Christie guilty, it _was about_ the idiocy of blaming primarily (hell, even mentioning in conversation, much less trying to build a major case about) the powerless mayor for not stopping, somehow the traffic jam. it appears you \*\*really did \*\*miss the point, which I wouldn’t have thought actually possible. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/906 "2014-03-09T02:56:50Z")
He’s not missing the point. He’s demagoguing. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/907 "2014-03-09T04:36:25Z")
He’s missing the point the same way the _matador_ misses the horns. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/908 "2014-03-09T05:04:49Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Maybe this investigation isn’t as much of a fishing expedition as it is a witch hunt? I don’t remember anyone accusing Bill Stepien of being involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment let alone Stepien’s landlord? > > \*FBI investigates former Christie advisers in bridge scandal - > By Shimon Prokupecz, CNN updated 8:54 AM EST, Tue March 4, 2014 > > Bill Stepien, in arguing why he cannot comply with a subpoena issued by a state legislative committee also investigating the scandal, said federal agents have visited his home and questioned people who know him, according to court papers. > > “In recent weeks, federal criminal investigators have made their interest in him plain, traveling to his home and importuning his landlord and presumably others to provide information about his conduct and character,” Stepien’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, said. > > Specifically, the court documents claimed that an agent called Stepien on his cell phone in January and most recently questioned his landlord. > > The FBI asked “if he was married, was a rowdy tenant, did he pay his rent on time,” according to the papers\*. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/03/politics/christie-scandal-fbi/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/03/politics/christie-scandal-fbi/index.html) > > What information could Stepien’s landlord provide? Gee, I wonder if there’s some relevant statement in the article that you conveniently decided wasn’t relevant enough to quote… …Oh, wait! There is! [QUOTE=The same article above] Stepien managed both Christie gubernatorial campaigns, but Christie asked him to leave his political organization in January after his name surfaced in e-mails around the scandal involving abrupt traffic lane closures near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee last September. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/909 "2014-03-09T16:20:56Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > It’s still the same Wildstein and Wildstein worked at the Port Authority. There is still no proof that Port Authority Wildstein reassigned the Ft Lee tollbooth lanes on Christie’s orders. There is only the assumption that he did. Besides the email from Governor’s Office Kelly. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/910 "2014-03-10T14:46:52Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Besides the email from Governor’s Office Kelly. Hahahaha. Kelly’s email definitely implicates Kelly. If you can make the case that Kelly’s email implicates Christie, I’d love to see how you do it. While the feds are desperately seeking Kelly’s EX in-laws and Stepien’s landlord, I still think they would be farther ahead if they offered Kelly a deal. The Port Authority’s Wildstein and Baroni are dead meat but Kelly could provide, if it exists, an actual link to Christie’s involvement. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/911 "2014-03-10T14:56:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Gee, I wonder if there’s some relevant statement in the article that you conveniently decided wasn’t relevant enough to quote… > > …Oh, wait! There is! My question was, “What information could Stepien’s landlord provide”? I would expect the feds to question Stepien and to seek Stepien’s records. That’s SOP. What would investigators ask Stepien’s landlord? _Has Stepien paid his rent on time? Was Stepien a noisy tenant? Did Stepien pay you with Christie Bucks?_ ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/912 "2014-03-10T15:11:48Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > …Bolding and italicizing mine. I wouldn’t trust a Christie spokesman as far as I could throw Christie. (post shortened) > [@doorhinge](#): > > Looks like yet another of the “mounting evidence” against the Christie administration bites the dust. There must be something “they” can charge Christie with. All of the unverified rumors can’t be wrong. Can they? > > \*\*\*Audit clears Christie on no-bid Sandy contract but raises other questions - > updated March 07, 2014 at 10:46 AM > > TRENTON — A federal audit released Thursday concludes that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration did not violate any rules in awarding a no-bid contract to a politically connected company to haul away debris left by Hurricane Sandy.\*\* But the audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general also said municipalities that contracted with the firm — AshBritt Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla. — beyond a 60-day emergency period in the immediate aftermath of the storm might have violated federal guidelines.\* > > [Audit clears Christie on no-bid Sandy contract but raises other questions - nj.com](http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/audit_clears_christie_on_no-bid_sandy_contract_but_raises_other_questions.html) > > Appropriate questions were asked and the question was answered. I wouldn’t trust a Christie spokesman either, “IF” I were you. However, it’s important note that “a federal audit released Thursday concludes that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration did not violate any rules in awarding a no-bid contract to a politically connected company to haul away debris left by Hurricane Sandy”. Do you believe the federal audit? How far could you throw the federal audit? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/913 "2014-03-10T15:16:47Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > My question was, “What information could Stepien’s landlord provide”? I would expect the feds to question Stepien and to seek Stepien’s records. That’s SOP. What would investigators ask Stepien’s landlord? _Has Stepien paid his rent on time? Was Stepien a noisy tenant? Did Stepien pay you with Christie Bucks?_ You said… > [@doorhinge](#): > > \*\*I don’t remember anyone accusing Bill Stepien of being involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment \*\*let alone Stepien’s landlord? …while passing over a reference in the article you yourself were citing of Stepien being involved in the GNJLR (if we must call it that). So let’s not handwave that away, please. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/914 "2014-03-10T15:24:28Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Oh Dear God, I can’t believe I have to do this. The cookie analogy _wasn’t about_ proving Christie guilty, it _was about_ the idiocy of blaming primarily (hell, even mentioning in conversation, much less trying to build a major case about) the **powerless mayor** for not stopping, somehow the traffic jam. > it appears you \*\*really did \*\*miss the point, which I wouldn’t have thought actually possible. (bold added and some other stuff) “Powerless mayor”!!! Sokolich was “powerless” to call the Port Authority’s Foye, a fellow Democrat, in an attempt to end the Great NJ Lane Reassignment? Who was empowered in the Ft Lee government to contact a NY Democrat in the Port Authority, in order to end a Port Authority created traffic jam? I wonder what Skolich’s reelection campaign slogan might be? "_Powerless, and loving it"? “I couldn’t fix Ft Lee’s problems but neither could anyone else you know”?_ ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/915 "2014-03-10T15:30:43Z")
it was \*about the idiocy \*of blaming primarily… Unabated, I see. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/916 "2014-03-10T15:41:10Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Hahahaha. Pretty much summarizes all your postings on this topic. > [@](#): > > While the feds are desperately seeking Kelly’s EX in-laws and Stepien’s landlord, I still think they would be farther ahead if they offered Kelly a deal. Please cite some examples, or even one, of **desperately**. > [@](#): > > Do you believe the federal audit? I said trust, not believe, and no, I don’t necessarily trust the federal audit. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/917 "2014-03-10T16:50:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > You said… …while passing over a reference in the article you yourself were citing of Stepien being involved in the GNJLR (if we must call it that). So let’s not handwave that away, please. Are you referring to this paragraph? - I_nstead, the lawyers say Stepien is trying to “have it both ways,” by arguing that the subpoena is too broad when it asks for records of his conversations with certain people, and too narrow when it asks that he self-select documents related to an apparent plot by Christie aides to tie up traffic near the George Washington Bridge._ It appears to me that Stepien is being asked to produce evidence, which Stepien has the freedom to chose, which would prove that Stepien was involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment debacle. That’s not the same as charging, claiming, or proving that Stepien was actually involved in the Great NJ Lane Reassignment. It sounds more like a fish expedition. A desperate fishing expedition. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/918 "2014-03-10T19:11:04Z")
If you are after _really_ desperate fish, you don’t even need to bait the hook. Disparaging remarks about their station in life should be enough. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/919 "2014-03-10T19:39:37Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > A desperate fishing expedition. From the NY Times a short while ago. Not linking because of the pay wall. > [@](#): > > Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have subpoenaed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for records related to potential conflicts of interest involving its chairman, David Samson, a prominent New Jersey lawyer and close political ally of Gov. Chris Christie, according to people with knowledge of the matter. and > [@](#): > > Neither of the federal prosecutor’s offices would comment on the subpoena nor its possible connection to the bridge inquiry. But an examination of possible conflicts of interest involving Mr. Samson would appear to represent a significant widening of the scandal. Tick. Tick. Tick… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/920 "2014-03-10T19:59:43Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > From the NY Times a short while ago. Not linking because of the pay wall. A link would be appreciated anyway. Some people do subscribe and even those who don’t might have remaining free views. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351.md?page=47)