Controversy deepens for Christie over lane closures on bridge

New Jersey's Republican governor Chris Christie has been drawn more deeply into a growing controversy over the closure of lanes on a bridge linking New Jersey and Manhattan for four days in September.

The lane closings resulted in traffic gridlock in a New Jersey town where a political opponent of the governor, a Democrat, is mayor.

Emails and text messages obtained by the New York Times show that senior staff in Mr Christie's office sought the lane closures on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge, a major traffic artery linking Manhattan and New Jersey, as revenge against the Democratic mayor.

The NYT reported on communications showing that two weeks before the closure of local access lanes, Mr Christie's staff sought to impose traffic gridlock on Fort Lee, New Jersey, where Democrat Mark Sokolich was mayor. Mr Sokolich did not endorse Mr Christie's re-election bid.

Bipartisan credentials
Mr Christie's election team sought backing from local Democrats in New Jersey to enhance his bipartisan credentials in the governor's race with an eye on building support for the 2016 presidential election.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff in Mr Christie's office, said in an email to David Wildstein, one of his appointees on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, about two weeks before the lanes were closed, choking the town with traffic for four days.

The emails and texts, released by Port Authority officials under a subpoena from Democratic legislators investigating the closures, show Mr Christie’s staff and appointees revelling in the traffic chaos.

After Mr Sokolich texted Bill Baroni, Mr Christie's top appointee at the Port Authority, seeking help because the traffic was making children on buses late for school, Mr Wildstein texted Ms Kelly: "Is it wrong that I am smiling?" "No," she texted back.

"I feel badly about the kids," he texted. "They are the children of Buono voters," Ms Kelly responded, referring to Mr Christie's opponent in his re- election battle in November, Democrat Barbara Buono.

Mr Wildstein and Mr Baroni resigned from the Port Authority in December because of the growing scandal.

Mr Baroni, whose adopted mother is from Ennis, Co Clare, and biological mother is from Dublin, accompanied Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the top of the Freedom Tower, the skyscraper built next to the site of the World Trade Centre in New York, on Mr Kenny's St Patrick's Day visit last year.

Mr Christie said in a statement in response to the released communications that he was misled by a member of his staff. He said that he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the actions of his staff and appointees, describing their behaviour – which he said he had seen for the first time – as “unacceptable.”

“I will not tolerate it,” he said in a statement, adding that people “will be held responsible for their actions”.