Bridget Kelly, fired Thursday morning by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, isn’t the only member of the governor’s circle whom he has fired for allegedly misleading him amid controversy.
In August 2010, Christie fired state education commissioner Bret Schundler after accusing Schundler of misleading during a controversy surrounding $400 million in federal funds for schools, the North Jersey Record reported at the time.
“I was extremely disappointed to learn that the videotape of the Race to the Top presentation was not consistent with the information provided to me,” Christie said in a statement at the time. His office had added that Schundler “misled” the governor, according to the Record.
Schundler went on to emphatically dispute Christie’s contention that he lied or misled the governor, accusing Christie of character assassination. He said he would accept being fired over an error in New Jersey’s application that needlessly cost the state the federal funds, but insisted he didn’t misrepresent any facts to the governor or his staff.
On Thursday, amid a swirl of scandal, Christie announced he had fired Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, “because she lied to me” about the governor’s office’s involvement in the politically charged closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge.
