Lawyer for scandal figure: 'Evidence' disputes Christie on bridge lane closures
February 2, 2014 -- Updated 1757 GMT (0157 HKT)
Rift between Christie, ex-ally
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Lawyer for key figure in bridge scandal releases letter with new assertion
- Letter says there is evidence contradicting what Chris Christie said about traffic lane closures
- Christie's office says letter just affirms what Christie has said all along
- Scandal involving George Washington Bridge traffic has rocked Christie's administration
David Wildstein resigned
his position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in
December amid allegations that Christie appointees had ordered access
lanes to the nation's biggest river crossing in Fort Lee closed last
year to punish that town's mayor politically for not endorsing Christie
for reelection.
Wildstein's attorney,
Alan Zegas, wrote on Friday that "evidence exists" contradicting
Christie's recollection about the lane closures at a news conference
earlier this month.
"Evidence exists ...
tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the
period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated
publicly in a two-hour press conference (on January 9)," Zegas said in a
letter to the general counsel of the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, which operates the bridge and where Wildstein had worked for
the governor.
Days of lane closures
The letter references the
closures over a work week in September, but does not suggest that
"evidence" contradicts anything Christie has said so far about his
advisers at the time or any role they might have played in alleged
political shenanigans.
The letter also does not
suggest that Christie had any advance knowledge of the closings. Zegas
also didn't disclose the evidence.
CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Zegas' letter is just that. "It's not sworn testimony. It's not proof," he said.
Christie said at the
January news conference in Trenton about the traffic mess that he "had
no knowledge of this -- of the planning, the execution or anything about
it -- and that I first found out about it after it was over."
He also said he had
fired a close aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, who e-mails suggest was linked
to the closures. In addition to Wildstein, two other top Christie
advisers left their jobs, including the man who ran his two
gubernatorial campaigns.
All have been subpoenaed
by a state legislative committee investigating the matter that has
called into question Christie's swaggering governing style, which has
resonated with Garden State voters and has him as a leading potential
candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
The U.S. Attorney's
Office in New Jersey is also investigating the bridge scandal as well as
allegations from the mayor of Hoboken that Christie administration
officials last year conditioned Superstorm Sandy relief funds on her
support for a redevelopment project backed by the governor. The
officials, including Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, deny the assertion.
Governor's office statement
A statement released by
the Christie administration said the letter written by Zegas "confirms
what the governor has said all along - he had absolutely no prior
knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr.
Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with."
But the statement
doesn't say whether or not he knew during the week of the lane closures
from September 9-13 that they had been shut down.
And a source in
Christie's office told CNN's Jake Tapper that his advisers hadn't yet
pinpointed when exactly he learned about the closures -- but stressed
that it was after press reports surfaced and it was not before they
occurred.
For his part, Christie
has given different accounts of when he first learned specifically about
the traffic jams, but consistently has said that it was after the lanes
were reopened and only after media reports appeared.
"I think that was the
first I heard of it," Christie said at a December news conference about
an October 1 Wall Street Journal article. "But it was certainly well
after the whole thing was over before I heard about it."
The Christie
administration initially said the lane closures were part of a traffic
study, which has since been called into question by e-mails suggesting
key advisers carried them out.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark
Sokolich told CNN he would love to know "what they mean" specifically
about the lane closures, which ended when Port Authority's Executive
Director Patrick Foye fired off an e-mail on September 13 ordered the
lanes reopened.
"If it's Monday, that's one thing. If it's Friday late morning, that's another," Sokolich told CNN on Friday.
Panel chair not seen documents
New Jersey Assemblyman
John Wisniewski, who chairs the legislative panel leading the
investigation of the bridge scandal, told CNN that it has not yet
received any documents supporting Wildstein's claim about the timing of
when the governor knew about the lane closures.
"I am concerned as
committee co-chair that Mr. [Alan] Zegas is now identifying documents
that he has not provided to us," Wisniewski said. "I'd like an
explanation as to why they weren't provided before he wrote this letter
(that first appeared in) the New York Times," Wisniewski said.
Wildstein invoked his Constitutional right to not testify before the state legislators on the matter earlier this month.
Wisniewski, a Democrat,
said what he read in the Wildstein letter "validates the skepticism that
many people have had about the governor's statements on (January 9th).
A source with knowledge
of the investigation said Zegas is a well-respected attorney in New
Jersey who would not likely risk his own credibility on a client like
Wildstein if he didn't have documents to back up his carefully worded
suggestion.
Zegas' letter also
challenged the Port Authority's decision to not pay Wildstein's legal
expenses related to the legislative investigation.
"I would request that you kindly reconsider the Port Authority's decision," he asked.
CNN's Ashley Killough, Chris Frates and Dana B
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