EXCLUSIVE: Gov. Christie Reacts After Feds Subpoena New Jersey Governor's Campaign, GOP
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) —Federal prosecutors have escalated their criminal investigation into allegations that Gov. Chris Christie's aides created traffic jams as political payback, subpoenaing his re-election campaign and the state Republican leadership.
The subpoenas seek documents related to the closure of traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge, according to Mark Sheridan, a lawyer representing Christie for Governor and the Republican State Committee.
CBS 3's Cleve Bryan got exclusive reaction from the governor.
Making a public appearance in Camden, Christie had no interest in talking about new developments in the George Washington Bridge scandal.
The subpoenas were disclosed Thursday, the same day the Republican governor's campaign announced it had hired the Washington, D.C., law firm Patton Boggs in the case. Sheridan works for the firm and is general counsel for the state Republican committee.
A state legislative committee investigating the traffic jams has also issued a subpoena to the Christie campaign.
"The campaign and the state party intend to cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office and the state legislative committee and will respond to the subpoenas accordingly," Sheridan told The Associated Press.
Christie took questions from children rather than reporters at Dudley Elementary School in Camden. Christie has been a familiar face in Camden as the state works to overhaul the low-achieving district.
Thursday's visit is intended to draw attention to After School Dinner Program. The program is run is run in partnership with ARAMARK and is being offered to all students at six participating schools in the district.
"We know that studies have shown that missing a meal or experiencing hunger can really greatly impact a student's academic performance and their behavior in school as well," Christie said.
The federal subpoenas are due Feb. 5. The state committee subpoenas must be returned Feb. 3.
Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said only that his office was reviewing the matter "to determine whether a federal law was implicated."
Christie, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, was New Jersey's U.S. attorney before stepping down in late 2008 to run for governor.
Federal officials refused to comment. The governor's office did not return an email request for comment.
The traffic lanes were closed for four days in September, creating traffic gridlock in Fort Lee, the town at the base of the bridge on the New Jersey side. Some of Christie's aides initially said the closures were part of a traffic study, but emails and text messages turned over to legislators suggest it may have been a message to the town's Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie.
Four people close to Christie have been fired or resigned as the scandal has unfolded, including Christie's two-time campaign manager, Bill Stepien.
Emails subpoenaed in the state investigation and released publicly this month showed Stepien appearing to gloat over the traffic chaos the lane closures caused. Emergency vehicles, school buses and commuters were delayed, some for hours.
After learning of the correspondence, Christie asked Stepien to withdraw a bid to become the next state GOP chairman, saying he was disturbed by Stepien's "callous indifference." Stepien has widely been seen as a potential campaign manager in a Christie presidential run.
The emails, mostly sent from private accounts, also showed the involvement of Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, whom he fired. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," she emailed to a Christie loyalist at the agency that runs the bridge, about three weeks before the lanes were abruptly blocked to local traffic.
"Got it," replied the recipient, David Wildstein, Christie's No. 2 man at the agency.
Wildstein and Christie's top deputy at the agency, Bill Baroni, have resigned.
Legal experts have told the AP that possible charges arising out of the political payback scandal could range from conspiracy and official misconduct to perjury or obstruction.
They said the easiest charge to bring might be conspiracy, given that documents have already shown a number of people working together to shut down road for apparently illegal purposes.
If it turns out the purported traffic study was produced in an attempt to conceal political retribution, the experts said, obstruction charges could be brought.
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