New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has scheduled a news conference today after the release of emails and text messages suggesting his administration may have closed highway lanes to exact political revenge.
The governor will speak to reporters gathered at the statehouse in Trenton at 11 a.m. ET.
Traffic moves across the George Washington Bridge, in Fort Lee, N.J., in this Sept. 2013 photo. (Mel Evans/Associated Press)
Christie issued a statement Wednesday saying he was "outraged and deeply saddened" by the revelations of discussions between two aides to create "traffic problems" and has denied involvement.
The revelations thrust a regional transportation issue into the national political spotlight. They raise new questions about the prospective Republican presidential candidate's leadership on the eve of his a second term designed to jumpstart his road to the White House.
The emails and text messages show Christie's top aides may have closed highway lanes, leading to traffic jams lasting from Sept. 9 to Sept. 13 on roads between the George Washington Bridge and Fort Lee, N.J.
There are allegations the gridlock was orchestrated to frustrate Fort Lee's mayor, Mark Sokolich.
The messages were obtained by news organizations on Wednesday amid a statehouse investigation into whether the lane closings that led to the tie-ups were retribution against the mayor, a Democrat, for for not endorsing Christie for re-election last fall.
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly wrote in August in a message to David Wildstein, a top Christie appointee on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
"Got it," Wildstein replied. A few weeks later, Wildstein closed two of three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the heavily travelled George Washington Bridge, which runs between New Jersey and New York City.
The messages do not directly implicate Christie in the shutdown. But they appear to contradict his assertions that the closings were not punitive and that his staff was not involved.
Sokolich called it "appalling" that the traffic jams appear to have been deliberately created.
"When it's man-made and when it was done with venom and when it was done intentionally, it is, in my mind, the prime example of political pettiness," he said. He said the gridlock put people in danger by holding up emergency vehicles, and he added that those responsible should resign.
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