The Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge said that he had informed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey about it at a Sept. 11 memorial while the closings were occurring, according to results from an internal investigation released on Thursday by lawyers for the governor. The official, David Wildstein, told Mr. Christie's press secretary, Michael Drewniak, of the Sept. 11 conversation at a dinner in December just before his resignation from the Port Authority, according to the report.
To begin with, it seems incredible that, in a public setting leading up to a 9/11 Memorial event, surrounded by other government officials and scores of constituents seeking photographs and handshakes, anything substantive or inculpatory would have been discussed. Moreover, the context of Wildstein's counsel's claim that "evidence exists" of the Governor's alleged knowledge of the lane realignment is critically important. First, it is a tacit admission that the Governor did not know of the lane realignment decision beforehand, and Wildstein apparently claims no such evidence. Second, Wildstein's counsel made that claim in a letter to the Port Authority seeking indemnification for counsel's legal fees, and only after he publicly requested immunity for his client. In other words, Wildstein's counsel's letter was a not-too-subtle attempt to press the Port Authority into granting Wildstein indemnification while, at the same time, to induce federal authorities to grant Wildstein immunity in exchange for Wildstein's information here. Either way, such an account by Wildstein would not prove the Governor had any substantive knowledge, awareness and involvement in the lane realignment at the time. In any event, even if credited, any passing reference by Wildstein -- made in a social, public setting at the time of a public 9/11 Memorial event -- to a traffic issue in Fort Lee would not have been meaningful or memorable to the Governor. Indeed, it seems highly unlikely such a brief mention, even if made by Wildstein to the Governor, would have registered with the Governor at all. Only a more substantive conversation about the ulterior motive behind the Port Authority's traffic study would have registered, and in that public setting, any claim that such a conversation occurred would lack credibility. In any event, the Governor recalls no such exchange.