More than 24 hours after documents tied one of his closest aides to lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last year, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will finally go on camera to address the scandal.
Christie has a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday and he will almost certainly discuss the matter.
The governor went into hiding Wednesday after documents obtained by TPM revealed that a top aide was closely involved in the lane closures that caused a massive traffic jam on the bridge last year. It was ostensibly motivated by revenge against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J. who did not endorse Christie for re-election in 2013.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” wrote Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, Bridget Anne Kelly, in an August email.
The paralysis on the bridge, the most heavily trafficked in the world, reportedly delayed the response of at least four medical emergencies, including one involving a 91-year-old woman who eventually died of cardiac arrest.
Christie finally acknowledged the development in the scandal with a late-afternoon statement in which he claimed to have been “misled” by a member of his staff.
But even Republican strategists pointed out that the statement alone wouldn’t suffice and that Christie – who’s never been accused of being camera shy — would have to go on television to address the scandal.
