Previously Redacted Texts Made Public In GWB Lane Closure Probe
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Newly unredacted documents clear up some of the minor mysteries in the political payback scandal surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The Republican governor has come under scrutiny after redacted documents revealed that his aides engineered traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge last year, apparently as political retribution.
The unredacted documents show that the person who joked about feeling "badly about the kids'' stuck in the traffic jam was Bridget Kelly, a Christie aide who has since been fired.
And the person who joked that "they are the children of Buono voters,'' referring to Christie's challenger in last year's gubernatorial election, was David Wildstein. He has since resigned from a key post at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the bridge.
As WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, recently unredacted information reveal texts exchanged between Wildstein and Kelly.
They made comments about Port Authority Police Chaplain Rabbi Mendy Carlebach, including jibes about causing traffic jams on his street and delaying flights to Israel, Miller reported.
Bridget Kelly, then an aide to Christie, was apparently joking when she sent an Aug. 19 text saying: "We cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we?"
David Wildstein, who was Christie's No. 2 man at the Port Authority, responded: "Flights to Tel Aviv all mysteriously delayed." He appeared to be joking, although the Port Authority does run the major New York City-area airports, as well.
Carlebach issued a statement Thursday saying, in part, "My work has always been apolitical, and I have no knowledge nor understanding of why my name was mentioned in these exchanges."
"These are two people who are arrogant and disrespectful and immature," Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein said.
She is on the panel investigating the lane closures and said the new information shows a pattern.
"We now see continued talk about causing traffic problems, that little sense they get about the power in their hands to help cause problems," said Greenstein.
The lanes were closed for days back in September, causing massive gridlock in Fort Lee.
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