Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich on Wednesday said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) should reimburse his borough for the havoc caused by lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, a matter where Christie’s culpability is in question.
“It’s gotten closer and closer as time transpires,” the Democrat said of Christie’s involvement in the scandal on MSNBC. “The credibility level is getting reduced and reduced and reduced as this story goes on.”
Emails and text messages obtained by TPM show that top Christie aides may have ordered the lanes closed as political retribution for Sokolich, who did not endorse Christie in 2013.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Christie said he was “outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.”
Sokolich took particular issue with David Wildstein, one of Christie’s appointees to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, who is implicated in the emails.
“David Wilstein deserves an ass-kicking,” Sokolich told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “Sorry. There, I said it.”
“We are arguably the most progressive city in the state of New Jersey–run by this idiot,” he said, alluding to a Sept. 18 email by Christie’s campaign manager.
“It’s fine. The mayor is an idiot, though,” Bill Stepien wrote.
Correction: This post initially quoted Sokolich as referring to Christie as an “idiot.” It appears Sokolich was sarcastically referring to an email by Christie’s campaign manager that called the Fort Lee mayor by the same name.
