Why the fuck is this a scandal? The Hoboken Mayor says Chris Christie intentionally withheld Hurricane Sandy relief funds from districts who didn't back him. Isn't that a little more scandalous - not to mention tittillating for the media - then the bridgegate?

Christie has animal rights activists up in arms because he vetoed a bill that would require farmers to treat pigs humanely. Still more interesting than a bridge closure nobody can prove he was involved in. I'm just saying if you want to nail a guy, pick charges you can actually stick to him.

@Barrett,

I think the Bergen Record broke the story and it took off from there.Broke nationally so there has to be investigations, indictments and fall guys.

Christie is an effective leader, but in many ways he's a bully and doesn't care if he burns any.....bridges. The last governor's race...they threw a tackling dummy candidate at him and unless I'm mistaken NOT one prominent Democrat in the state publicly endorsed the Democratic candidate running against him....which gives an indication of the fear that some elected officials have here.

The other allegations about Christie just haven't generated as much interest in the press. I also think that Christie is only one person removed from whoever gets blamed/convicted for bridge gate and he can hide behind several layers of bureaucracy to explain possible Sandy issues or controversies.

@Foot,

The word is that Christie did, or would have turned down Romney's offer to run as VP because it was a lost cause and 2016 was "wide open"

That lane appears to be closed now.

Ben Carson is the new Alan Keyes, not a serious candidate but just running to make a few points.

Huckabee just announced he is running

He was way better in 2008. Back when he jammed on campaigns during his midlife crisis.



I don't want anybody to win in 2016. I might just be one of those wiseass kids who paper ballots a vote or Mickey Mouse. All you candidates suck.

for me there is nobody to vote for, they are all owned, so why bother.

Amen. I'll vote for you before I vote for any of these clowns.

Or I could vote for the Prohibition party cuz its' hilarious they're still a thing.

Honestly I think, minus bridgegate and the other scandals, Christie would have had the BEST chance of winning. It's crazy how fast his star fell.

Binnie I know your a democrate so you can not vote in the republican primary can you

All you can vote for is Hillary or the republican that wins the primary. Since I am pretty sure you will vote for Hill. Then by all means don't vote.

I am also a democrate so I have to wait to the presidential election to vote. I will vote for any republican that is nominated.

Christie has been cleared of any wrong doing in Bridge gate.

He did not have a chance of being nominated.

For a while, they were reporting- even FOX news - that Hillery was far ahead of any challenger, but this week they have said that new poling shows there are now 4 Republicans ahead of her. I will be so glad when this is over. Oh and I don't really think Chris Christie has much of a chance.

They can make a poll go any way they want by the way they pose the question.

They can also ask what party you vote most of the time. Then by your answer just go on with the party they want to answer the question.

A lot of the polls had Romney ahead in states that he lost.

They is a tv show I watch from time to time. Main character was running for office in a democratic primary.

The person who lost wanted a recount. Then they found a device in the voting booth that can change your vote to the other opponent.

So they would get a recount. The person running who won agreeded to tge recount because they did not cheat.

Instead the party want the person to withdraw. Not because he did anything wrong.

Because a recount might effect another election. The part put the device so their man can win his election. Win the election the party has a super majority.

UPDATE 5/12/16


http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/05/12/judge-orders-release-of-secret-bridgegate-names.htm


excerpt

Judge Orders Release of Secret 'Bridgegate' Names
By NICK RUMMELL
Tweet


TRENTON, N.J. (CN) — A secret list of unindicted co-conspirators involved in the state's "Bridgegate" scandal could be released as soon as Friday, following a ruling by a federal judge.
The list, which has been kept under lock and key, is thought to include additional elected officials who had knowledge of the 2013 lane shutdowns leading to the George Washington Bridge that led to a massive traffic jam.
The judge hearing the case found arguments that the list is essentially already public knowledge persuasive. Further, the names on the list are likely elected or appointed officials, the judge ruled, which makes the list in the public interest.
"The underlying events that gave rise to the indictment have been extensively covered by the media, such that even persons tangentially involved have already been identified and exposed in the press," Judge Susan Wigenton wrote in her May 11 ruling. "There is very little that is private about the lane closures or the lives of the people allegedly connected to them."
The so-called Bridgegate scandal stems from a five-day shutdown of several lanes leading onto the George Washington Bridge that snarled traffic for hours. Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni Jr. were charged with conspiracy and fraud for their alleged roles in shutting down the lanes as political payback to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who had declined to endorse Gov. Chris Christie in his re-election bid for governor.
When asked if he thought his name would be on the list of unindicted co-conspirators, Christie told reporters Wednesday "I don't believe so, but I guess no one knows until they actually put the list out." Christie, who is now both New Jersey's governor and the transition team leader for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, has repeatedly denied knowledge of the lane shutdowns.
At the time of the shutdown, Kelly served as deputy chief of staff for Gov. Chris Christie and Baroni was deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Another Port Authority official, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty for his role in the shutdow

I'm sorry, but to me this is a total non-story. A traffic jam was created as political retribution to a mayor who didn't support Christie. It's a big "so what." Where I live in Southern California we deal with massive traffic jams everyday. When Obama flies over here for a fundraiser it's even worse. It happens and people get over it. The fact is if Christie was a Democrat this story would be long forgotten. Compare that to Jerry Brown, who is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a train that no one will use, fails to invest in water purification technology that we need, and increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour despite admitting that it doesn't make sense economically and was told it would kill jobs. Yet Brown enjoys high favorability while Christie gets low marks. It's all because Brown has a (D) after his name and Christie has an (R).

F1,

Had somebody from Christie's camp just stepped up and took the hit, there would have never been a story.
The story grew and grew and derailed Christie's huge momentum and popularity.
For such an abrasive guy, Christie had a lot of charm and wit and media was really warming up to him in his bid for 2016.
Somebody was supposed to fall on their sword, leave the public eye and then resurface when Christie was getting inaugurated and get some cushy patronage job.

Instead Christie is revealed as the petty bully that he is....or for having people around him that weren't ready for prime time. You can get away with this stuff in some backwoods NJ township that nobody has ever heard of, but not in town which connects to Manhattan.


You are right that officials have directly done more egregious things and gotten away with no scrutiny...but Christie was surrounded by losers.

Only in NJ...will a person in high office write in an email "it's time for problems for the little Serb"....referring to Mayor Sokolich...and then get THAT wrong....cause Sokolich is Croatian.

Gets,

I don't think Christie should have ever run for Prez. Like it or not, people have biases against obese politicians. Back in the days before television it was a different story because being overweight meant wealth and therefore something to aspire to, but today people are more concerned about looks. His "tell it like it is" style was somewhat attractive and different, and certainly not abrasive when compared to Trump, who is in a league of all his own.

As for him being a petty bully, I see a lot of politicians who are bullies. Even the Clintons and Obama are bullies and have used the power of government to go after their political enemies. The media narrative is that only Republicans are bullies, Nixon being the primary example. Yet Johnson and even Kennedy did more and got away with it, such as using the IRS to go after people they didn't like. So again, I see it as more of a media creation than anything, at least with all the publicity that it's receiving.

To your point that the individual directly responsible was supposed to have fallen on his sword, you may be correct on that, but it's hard to say. Who knows if the local newspapers or VOX or Salon would continue to stoke the flames? I could see it happening.

F1,

I cannot argue against anything you wrote. About candidates having to be telegenic..interesting that you mention Nixon later in your post. The first televised Pres. debate(I think) was between young handsome JFK...and Nixon who looked haggard by comparison. I remember decades later that John Kerry had plastic surgery after his looks becoming an issue on the Pres. campaign trail.
Dissing overweight people is the LAST acceptable form of discrimination in this country, so it would have been an uphill battle for Christie, you're right about that. But he expertly made himself part of the joke and laughed at himself and diffused a lot of the negative comments.
There's a clip of him on Letterman, where he surprises Dave by pulling a donut out of his pocket mid interview and biting it. What I found even more hilarious than the donut bit, was that Letterman.....who weighs maybe 160....was lecturing CC about health and weight loss, after he (Letterman) had double bypass surgery years ago.

And you're right..Christie is no more of a bully than any of the examples you've used....but besides his party affiliation..he comes across as a bully when he deals with the local media and citizens at press conferences and town hall meetings(with cameras rolling), so it's an easier sell.

He was actually a pretty effective governor....in spite of being a Republican in a traditionally Blue state. He cut through a lot of stalling and bs with the state senate.

Perhaps somebody taking blame wouldn't have made it go away, but the way it's been dragged out has definitely made it worse. Vox and Salon,etc have agendas...and they would have tried to either stoke that fire or some other story.

Christie sure bullied little Marco during the debates.

Gett I saw that YouTube of letterman with Christie and the donuts he was great on that show. The posters liberal Democrates all kept making fun of his weight. They love everyone except fat republicans.

Someone posted they forget their are plenty of fat homo's and trans genders, blacks, Hispanics and even women just look at Hillary another fat bastards

bridge gate trial in full swing

current update 9/30/16

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/bridgegate_trial_wildstein_says_top_christie_aides.html

NEWARK — Before Gov. Chris Christie's top appointee to the Port Authority told lawmakers the George Washington Bridge lane closures were part of a traffic study, he was prepped by the governor's one-time pick for the state Supreme Court justice and Christie's future chief of staff.

David Wildstein -- who pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to the Bridgegate scandal and testified the traffic study claim was a bogus cover -- told jurors Thursday that Phil Kwon, a former nominee for the state Supreme Court, and Regina Egea, who would later serve as the governor's top aide, helped prepare Bill Baroni for his testimony.

Baroni, the former Port Authority deputy executive director now on trial for federal crimes related to the September 2013 lane closures, told lawmakers in a November 2013 hearing that the gridlock was result of a traffic study.



David Wildstein gave new insights into who in Christie's inner circle knew about the Bridgegate scandal.

That claim was later refuted by Wildstein and federal prosecutors, who charge the closures were an act of political revenge against the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid.

Before speaking to lawmakers, Baroni took part in a conference call between Port Authority officials and people Trenton, Wildstein testified in federal court in Newark.

On the Port Authority side, he said Baroni, Wildstein and Kwon took part in a conference call with Egea, her second in command, Nicole Crifo, and an unidentified "lawyer from Trenton."

At the time, Kwon served as deputy general counsel for the Port Authority and Egea was the head of the state's Authorities Unit.

Egea was later tapped to be Christie's chief of staff. Christie nominated Kwon to the state Supreme Court during his first term in office. However, his nomination was rejected by the state's Democratic-controlled Senate.

The testimony about the conference call came as Wildstein continued to be cross-examined by defense attorney Michael Baldassare, who represents Baroni and seemed intent on trying to show to the jury that the government's star witness had repeatedly changed his story and misrepresented his own significant role in the scandal.

The defense attorney has also tried to suggest that those who knew what really happened at the George Washington Bridge went much higher than just Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor who is also charged in the case.

They are trying to push that off on christy again.

Good luck fuck then any their mothers.

the ending...perhaps...unless Christie is next

Kelly and Baroni guilty on all counts

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/bridgegate_verdict_bill_baroni_and_bridget_kelly_g.html


NEWARK — Two former Christie administration insiders charged in a bizarre scheme of political retaliation against a mayor who refused to endorse the governor for re-election were found guilty Friday on all counts in the long-running Bridgegate saga.

In a seven-week trial that saw their own words used against them, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly were convicted of helping orchestrate massive traffic tie-ups at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. The plot was hatched to send a pointed message to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, after he stepped back from his earlier public support of Gov. Chris Christie.

.

Sorry again, SC......gonna stop link articles from nj.com.
Always stretches the board when I post from there.

At don't know what the fuss is all about. A video clearly shows that Christie fell down and blocked the whole bridge. It took them hours to move him.

No problem.

FINALLY the conclusion of Bridge-gate (or is it?)

at least 3 of the 4 major players have been convicted(Christie somehow avoided charges)...so this should be the end of the story.

Wildstein gets avoids jail time, gets probation.

So the rat did not rat on the governor Christie why was that? He is going to go into business with Anthony Weiner soon.

Don't we all love people who rat on their friends just to stay out of jail.