One of the lawmakers leading the investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told TPM on Thursday he’s seen some “interesting things” in the latest round of subpoenaed documents, though he cautioned they “may or may not mean something.”
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) told TPM that members of the legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal were allowed to begin looking at the documents on Thursday, just a few days after the people who were subpoenaed started handing them over.
The documents are being kept in a locked room on the third floor of the State House Annex in Trenton, N.J. While many more documents are expected to be turned over soon, lawmakers on the committee have already begun combing through what they have.
“I’m not seeing anything really surprising or earth shattering — you know, interesting things that may or may not mean something,” Wisniewski said.
The committee sent subpoenas to 20 individuals and organizations, including close aides to Christie, along with the governor’s office, and his re-election campaign. Some Democrats have alleged the closures, which caused days of paralyzing traffic in the city of Fort Lee, were ordered in retaliation against the mayor there, who refused to endorse Christie’s re-election.
One thing Wisniewski said was clear from the documents he has seen so far is that the explanation officials initially gave for the closures is not plausible. Christie’s top appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the bridge, originally attributed the closures to a traffic study.
“I don’t think anybody should be actively trying to determine whether or not there was really a study about traffic,” said Wisniewski. “It’s pretty clear when you look at all the material that that was just, just not real.”
