The largest newspaper in New Jersey responded to the latest revelations in the George Washington Bridge scandal with a blistering editorial of Chris Christie and his staff.
The Star-Ledger’s editorial board, which endorsed Christie for re-election last year despite “deep reservations,” argued Wednesday that the governor’s presidential pedigree should be questioned amid the latest development in the scandal.
His attempts to laugh this off now appear to be dishonest, though we can’t yet be sure that he personally knew about the correspondence of one of his top aides. Still, Christie bears responsibility either way. If it turns out he did know, he is obviously lying and unfit for office — let alone a 2016 presidential run.
And even if he did not, his officials are liars. If Christie can’t control them, how can we trust him as a potential future leader of our country?
Documents obtained by TPM and other outlets implicate some of Christie’s top aides in the scandal. The trove of emails show officials talking about the order to close lanes on the bridge.
“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.
Christie has denied that the closures were politically motivated, but Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich has speculated that it was done because he did not join other Garden State Democrats in endorsing the governor’s re-election 2013 bid.
Following the release of the emails, Sokolich said it was clear he had “been punished not for something I’ve done, but for something I didn’t do.”
