New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) pushed back again Monday night against allegations that he knew about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September as they were happening.
“The most important issue is: Did I know anything about a plan to close these lanes?” he said during WKXW’s “Ask The Governor” monthly radio show. “Did I authorize it? Did I know about it? Did I approve it? Did I have any knowledge of it beforehand? And the answer is still the same, it’s unequivocally no. And in fact, no one’s ever accused me of that.”
The former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive who directed the closures on the bridge, David Wildstein, alleged Friday through his lawyer that “evidence exists” tying Christie to having knowledge of the closures while they were happening, contrary to what the governor said in a marathon press conference last month.
Christie’s office first addressed those allegations in an email leaked Saturday that attacked Wildstein’s credibility and the New York Times’ portrayal of his accusations. The governor did not mention Wildstein during the radio program, however, according to ABC News.
“I’m so disappointed this has happened but I’m also determined to get to the bottom of it to fix it once and for all,” Christie said, as quoted by ABC News. “I’ll be dammed if I’m going to let anything get in the way of me doing my job.”
Christie also acknowledged during the program that his office had been subpoenaed in the U.S. attorney’s investigation into the lane closures. He said his office would cooperate, although he is unsure when the subpoena is due.
A Christie aide that was involved in directing the lane closures, Bridget Anne Kelly, said through her lawyer Monday night that she would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights to refuse to testify before and turn over subpoenaed documents to a legislative panel.
