New accusations re-kindle “Bridgegate” crisis for Christie
Gov. Chris Christie’s assertions that he had “no knowledge” of the George Washington Bridge closings until after the incident was over were enough to sate much of the public, but, as we discussed on a recent edition of Rich Klein’s “The Crisis Show”, we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop in this scandal.
Well, Friday afternoon we heard a major *THUNK*, as David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who was in charge of the lane closing, released a statement disputing Christie’s claims. The New York Times broke the story, and reporter Kate Zerinke shared some juicy details:
In a letter released by his lawyer, the former official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well 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” three weeks ago.
If your crisis management plan involves letting heads roll, then you’d better be damn sure the people who lose their livelihoods are actually those responsible. Should Wildstein’s claims prove to be true, it would mean that Christie stood up and lied for two hours in front of members of his constituency about absolutely inexcusable actions, something his opponents, and the media in general, won’t be letting anyone forget.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com