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Chris Christie's Bad Week

By Jeralyn, Section Old Categories
Posted on Fri Oct 21, 2016 at 08:11:04 PM EST
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Donald Trump isn't the only one having a bad week. Chris Christie's aide today testified he knew of the lane closure plan a month ahead of time.

Talking Points Memo has the details of Bridget Kelly's testimony.

In bombshell testimony Friday, Bridget Anne Kelly said that she told New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that access lanes to the George Washington Bridge would be closed for a traffic study a month before the plan actually was carried out in September 2013.

The former deputy chief of staff testified that the governor approved the study, which prosecutors allege actually was cover-up for a revenge plot against a local Democratic mayor.

Christie picked the wrong horse to ride with Trump. When Trump doesn't get elected, he'll be left in the dust.

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    Chris Christie's Bad Week | 14 comments (14 topical)

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    Christie would have a mess (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Oct 21, 2016 at 08:26:10 PM EST
    to deal with regardless of whether he hitched his wagon to Trump or not.

    personally, my sense (none / 0) (#1)
    by linea on Fri Oct 21, 2016 at 08:18:31 PM EST
    is that Bridget Kelly is no different than the Wells Fargo employees who capitulated^ to doing an illegal act to keep their jobs (for family and for survival). they are the victims of powerful corporations and powerful men.

    ^ capitulate: cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender.

    Whaa -- did he keep her chained in the basement? (none / 0) (#3)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Oct 21, 2016 at 09:23:56 PM EST
    First of all, Bridget Anne Kelly was hardly a low-level bank clerk with little leverage, so the comparison is inappropriate. When you've risen to become the deputy chief of staff to a governor of a large state like New Jersey, the logical and given assumption is that you're an experienced and consummate professional who knows what you're doing.

    Yes, if one believes her testimony, Ms. Kelly was likely bullied occasionally by her boss. But if she took exception to the way Gov. Christie addressed and treated her, then why didn't she just quietly serve him notice and leave? It's not like she wouldn't have had any other opportunities if she departed on good terms. When I left the Speaker's office at the state legislature, I had plenty of very good to great job prospects thrown my way -- and we're one-seventh New Jersey's size.

    More likely, Kelly got duped -- or perhaps, duped herself -- into believing that she could trust a man who subsequently hung her out to dry in order to protect himself. He established an aggressive and intimidating tone in his office which encouraged her and others to emulate it and do his bidding, while he carved out enough space between himself and his staff to create plausible deniability, and then invoked that claim when everything went south and the bridge scheme unraveled.

    Bridget Anne Kelly is a fool, and Chris Christie is a coward.

    Parent

    well, i have a sense (none / 0) (#4)
    by linea on Fri Oct 21, 2016 at 09:53:01 PM EST
    from the npr report on this issue that she was intimidated. i feel pressured all the time and chained in a basement shoudnt be the criteria for empathy. you your self say:

    "He established an aggressive and intimidating tone in his office which [caused others to capitulate] and do his bidding."

    Parent

    Then Kelly should have quit ... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Oct 22, 2016 at 11:23:31 AM EST
    ... the day he allegedly threw that water bottle at her. That Christie established an aggressive tone in his office is not a "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the politically-motivated crap that she and his other immediate subordinates inflicted on Ft. Lee and elsewhere.

    So, I'm sorry, but I don't buy this "I was a weak and helpless woman" crap that Kelly's peddling on the stand in her own defense. Yeah, Christie is a bad actor. So what? She had choices. She chose badly. That she may have been deceived by her boss and David Wildman at some point, it merely means that her behavior may not rise to the level of criminality. But it doesn't excuse what she admittedly did.

    Aloha.

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    people dont feel they have choices (none / 0) (#10)
    by linea on Sun Oct 23, 2016 at 03:05:33 AM EST
    when they are emeshed in a situation. the coal miners should have quit when the forman ordered them down a clearly risky mine shaft? you know..  ive done things i wasnt comfortable with. capitulation is a good english word. so is empathy (smile).

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    We're not talking about someone who ... (none / 0) (#12)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 24, 2016 at 12:54:06 AM EST
    ... had few other job options available to her. Bridget Anne Kelly was the Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Chris Christie, which means that she occupied the No. 3 position in New Jersey's executive branch of government. She wasn't some low level office clerk. She was in a position of considerable authority, so your comparison to West Virginia coal miners is inappropriate.

    Kelly wasn't trapped. She enjoyed the power, and she willingly did Christie's bidding. You know, she's presently on trial in federal court for a reason.

    And as someone who also worked in state government and similarly attained a comparable position of authority, albeit in the legislative branch, I have very little empathy for Kelly, who abused her power for purely political purposes. She and her cohorts in the Christie administration are the sort of public officials who give our profession a rather dubious reputation with constituents.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    i dont understand you (none / 0) (#14)
    by linea on Mon Oct 24, 2016 at 03:10:06 AM EST
    not at all.

    she's the victim here of a horrible abusive person. she didnt have any options, i dont feel,

    that a woman needs to to a "low level office clerk" to feel pressured and to feel that you must capitulare is contrary to my life experiences. bridget kelly, a woman with children, was paid $114K-usd year in NJ which hardly places her in some posh income range. i make 45-hr at my contract job and i feel pressured and put on and i put up with many things that are inappropriate. but i feel im hanging on for dear life and i dont feel i have many options.

     i just dont understand your attitude.

    Parent

    Jeralyn, Peter, other attnys (none / 0) (#5)
    by smott on Sat Oct 22, 2016 at 08:18:04 AM EST
    Is there a realistic chance that Christie goes to jail over this ?

    Absolutely none (none / 0) (#7)
    by Peter G on Sat Oct 22, 2016 at 04:54:16 PM EST
    unless he is charged with a crime, and then convicted.

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    Kelly isn't saying the bridge study (none / 0) (#8)
    by Green26 on Sat Oct 22, 2016 at 08:06:16 PM EST
    was to get at the mayor. In fact, that may be the position of both defendants. The governor appears to have lied several times, including in a speech 3 days after the bridge thing started, saying he knew nothing about it.

    I thought, right away, that some of these people would get charged.

    I'm not following the trial closely, but my impression is that Kelly's dumb email (it's time to clog some traffic or whatever she said) that  caught people's attention originally and I think may sink her in this trial. I don't know if there is other hard evidence on the study to get the mayor link, or not. The guy who already pled may be saying that, either because it's true or he is trying to get a reduced sentence.

    I think the Gov won't get indicted if these 2 don't get convicted, either now or in a later trail after a hung jury, and probably will if these 2 get convicted.

    I am not a white collar or criminal lawyer, but have been around a decent amount of white collar stuff.

    Gov. Christie has been subpoenaed ... (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Oct 22, 2016 at 11:09:03 PM EST
    ... as a witness in this trial. If he's on the stand and under oath, he better tell the truth, even if that truth contradicts his earlier public statements on this sorry affair. It's not a crime to lie to the media or even the state legislature. Committing perjury is another matter entirely. That's all I have to say at this point.

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    I could not figure out why Christie (none / 0) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Oct 23, 2016 at 01:02:41 PM EST
    Completely immersed himself in Trump. He's not the most competent governance, but he embraced Obama during hurricane Sandy.....and then I would discover later not release funds to the damaged families. I still could not get my mind to accept he was 100% scumbag though. Must have been the photos of Christie and Obama side by side. I'm too visual.

    I get it now though. Christie knew his political career on any other playing field but Trump's is OVER!

    And I'm treated to the photo of a politician who has not one scintilla of principled public service in his marrow.

    Parent

    Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News ... (none / 0) (#13)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 24, 2016 at 12:59:37 AM EST
    ... says much the same thing, and wonders aloud why the New Jersey legislature isn't acting to remove him from office.

    Parent
    Chris Christie's Bad Week | 14 comments (14 topical)

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