# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/81 "2014-01-09T20:42:07Z")
There’s misdemeanor murders? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/82 "2014-01-09T20:45:55Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > There’s misdemeanor murders? “Felony murder” refers to a charge when you commit one seemingly unrelated felony and someone ends up dead. Contrast regular murder when you’re trying to make someone dead. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/83 "2014-01-09T21:01:04Z")
Honestly, felony murder threats are going overboard. I’m sure there are more appropriate felony charges in the New Jersey criminal code about misuse of public office if threats of legal action are desirable. On a completely irrelevant side-note, New Jersey has a law that explicitly makes it illegal to manufacture or sell “a golf ball containing acid or corrosive fluid substance.” Seriously, that was a specific problem that needed to be addressed? ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/84 "2014-01-09T21:03:12Z")
I wonder if this will result in Christie breaking his diet. Probably it’s occurred to him that he can cheat his gastric band with a milk shake. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/85 "2014-01-09T21:03:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > On a completely irrelevant side-note, New Jersey has a law that explicitly makes it illegal to manufacture or sell “a golf ball containing acid or corrosive fluid substance.” Seriously, that was a specific problem that needed to be addressed? The master [speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1132/does-the-center-of-a-golf-ball-contain-a-deadly-poison) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/86 "2014-01-09T21:35:12Z")
It’s now being reported the Christie’s gubernatorial campaign manager, Bill Stepien, was involved in the email chain. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/87 "2014-01-09T22:07:10Z")
Has FOX picked up on the story? Are they showing photos of Chris Christie (D) NJ? How long before the Sunday talking heads shake their heads and wag their fingers and say “I’m against politicians of either party shutting down traffic for political retribution”? I want to see the unredacted emails. I also want to see Wildstein cop a plea in return for testimony against Christie. Christie is either incompetent or a monster. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/88 "2014-01-09T22:16:24Z")
Fox News: Benghazi Benghazi! Cancelled Insurance! Look over here at the shiny Benghazi! Who cares about a little traffic backup? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/89 "2014-01-09T22:34:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > On a completely irrelevant side-note, New Jersey has a law that explicitly makes it illegal to manufacture or sell “a golf ball containing acid or corrosive fluid substance.” Seriously, that was a specific problem that needed to be addressed? People the Mafioso want to get at play golf? (Don’t know, but as a former New Jerseyan I can believe it.) ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/90 "2014-01-09T22:42:10Z")
From elsewhere: > [@](#): > > 2C:27-5. Retaliation for past official action > > A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he harms another by any unlawful act with purpose to retaliate for or on account of the service of another as a public servant. > > L.1978, c. 95, s. 2C:27-5, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. This is from NJ’s criminal code, apparently. Quite on point. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/91 "2014-01-09T22:42:24Z")
This strikes me as just like Watergate - sitting politician’s staff goes after the opposition in the run up to an election though he is way ahead. I don’t think we want a Tricky Christie in the White House. Christie’s soundbite for primaries is that he is the candidate who could win by being bipartisan. Causing this disaster to intimidate a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse him shoots that argument all to hell. Is Fox covering this? I wouldn’t be surprised, since the right will never forgive him for giving Obama some good photo-ops before the election. BTW, I read in the Times that the NJ side never told cops on the NY side what they were doing. I assume this mess was on the Eastbound crossing, since I haven’t heard of anything backing up in Manhattan. Christie is dead as a candidate. I doubt he would have won anyway, but if he is smart he won’t even try. I bet he’ll try. ---
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/92 "2014-01-09T23:07:37Z")
> [@hansel](#): > > From elsewhere:This is from NJ’s criminal code, apparently. Quite on point. How is an endorsement (or lack thereof) an “official action”? ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/93 "2014-01-09T23:25:58Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > How is an endorsement (or lack thereof) an “official action”? I would assume that any action (or lack thereof) that you take in your capacity as mayor is “official action” or “the service of another as a public servant”. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/94 "2014-01-10T00:47:53Z")
Hmph. As well as being virtual psychopaths, the e-mailers were also wrong: Wildstein referred to Sokolich as the “little Serbian” - he’s actually Croatian. If you’re going to be a bigoted arse, at least get the facts right. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > I want to see the unredacted emails. I also want to see Wildstein cop a plea in return for testimony against Christie. Christie is either incompetent or a monster. Agreed. Looking at [the e-mail and text records](http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/e-mails-link-christie-aide-to-george-washington-bridge-lane-closures/703/), and how much incriminating information is visible, the censored text must be pretty bad. Where along the line were they edited? ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/95 "2014-01-10T00:53:11Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Christie is dead as a candidate. I doubt he would have won anyway, but if he is smart he won’t even try. > I bet he’ll try. He’s not dead yet. We still have a long way to go before the 2016 primaries and voters have short memories. But that’s only if nothing else comes out, and for Christie that’s a big “if.” ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/96 "2014-01-10T01:27:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Has FOX picked up on the story? Are they showing photos of Chris Christie (D) NJ? How long before the Sunday talking heads shake their heads and wag their fingers and say “I’m against politicians of either party shutting down traffic for political retribution”? Fox knows their audience and their audience doesn’t want to learn about Republican corruption until it’s staring at them with [banner headlines](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie_bridge_scandal_front_pages). So [they ignored the story until yesterday](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-news-christie-scandal). No worries, people don’t watch Fox News to be informed anyway. Seriously. They watch it to have their dispositions coddled, reassured, reinforced. So ignoring this story won’t cause problems for Fox. > [@brazil84](#): > > But who knows, maybe the Mayor of Fort Lee just twiddled his thumbs. No, that didn’t happen. From the [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/nyregion/christie-controversy-bridge-lane-closings.html): “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” she wrote. One month later, on Sept. 9, [Christie appointee] Mr. Wildstein ordered traffic lanes from Fort Lee closed, causing a traffic nightmare that added hours to the commutes of millions of motorists. The gridlock also ensnared police officers, emergency responders and school children. [Mayor] Mr. Sokolich was furious and searching in vain for answers. He called Mr. Wildstein seeking an explanation. Mr. Wildstein seemed to take pleasure in the mayor’s pain, telling Ms. Kelly in an email that his response was “Radio silence.” So it seems that the Mayor was on the case. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/97 "2014-01-10T01:57:46Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > Also, I don’t have time to read all the e-mails and texts in depth, but I could see this, correctly or not, being spun as nothing more than it being taken out of contexts. Read them. (It doesn’t have to be in depth; they’re emails & text.) > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > That’s the part that can’t possibly pass the smell test. Let’s assume he had no knowledge of the initiation of this event for the moment. During the four days this was going on and people were scrambling for answers, at no point did Christie ask why his staff was doing this? And, again, assuming they lied and said it was a traffic study, he bought that line from them? And I cannot imagine Chris Christie seeing this problem in his state and NOT calling someone demanding it be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/98 "2014-01-10T02:03:09Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > He’s not dead yet. We still have a long way to go before the 2016 primaries and voters have short memories. But that’s only if nothing else comes out, and for Christie that’s a big “if.” [As Jonathon Bernstein points out](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-09/will-scandal-cost-christie-the-invisible-primary-.html), there’s an invisible primary going on in both parties right now, as potential candidates approach power brokers (and vice versa) to lay the groundwork for a campaign. This hurts Christie tremendously in that invisible primary. He’s offering up Willie Horton potency attack ads to an eventual challenger, and the backdrop to this is that he already failed a presidential vetting by the Romney campaign, who (according to John Heilemann and Mark Halperin) saw a massive reservoir of scandal that would sink any campaign, and went with Paul Ryan instead: > [@](#): > > There was a 2010 Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of Christie’s spending patterns in his job prior to the governorship, which criticized him for being “the U.S. attorney who most often exceeded the government [travel expense] rate without adequate justification” and for offering “insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification” for stays at swank hotels like the Four Seasons. There was the fact that Christie worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Securities Industry Association at a time when Bernie Madoff was a senior SIA official — and sought an exemption from New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. There was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing. There was a defamation lawsuit brought against Christie arising out of his successful 1994 run to oust an incumbent in a local Garden State race. Then there was Todd Christie, the Governor’s brother, who in 2008 agreed to a settlement of civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission in which he acknowledged making “hundreds of trades in which customers had been systematically overcharged. Whether or not there’s any directly damaging revelations about Christie’s role, the criminal charges against Kelly and Wildstein guarantee a lot more media coverage, keeping the issue alive. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/99 "2014-01-10T02:22:25Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > [Mayor] Mr. Sokolich was furious and searching in vain for answers. He called Mr. Wildstein seeking an explanation. > > Mr. Wildstein seemed to take pleasure in the mayor’s pain, telling Ms. Kelly in an email that his response was “Radio silence.”[/INDENT] So it seems that the Mayor was on the case. Yes, but the question I was asking is what, if anything, Sokolich did to escalate things after Wildstein blew him off. Given the reports that Sokolich and Christie settled their differences today, we may never know. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351/100 "2014-01-10T02:44:36Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > There’s misdemeanor murders? Eh, some people just need killin’, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-christie-or-his-staff-intentionally-cause-the-fort-lee-traffic-jam/678351.md?page=6)