New Wrinkle In ‘Bridgegate’ Scandal – Closure Order From The Top?

This cannot possibly look good for the New Jersey Governor, especially given the conventional Beltway wisdom that he is the most appealing non-Teawinger possibility for a 2016 GOP presidential run. Could this mushrooming scandal bring down Chris Christie?

Traffic was backed up in September at the toll plaza on the George Washington Bridge after approach lanes were closed.
Traffic was backed up in September at the toll plaza on the George Washington Bridge after approach lanes were closed.

The George Washington Bridge lane closures that led to paralyzing gridlock in Fort Lee this past September were ordered by someone outside the Port Authority and possibly for “an improper motive,” said the state lawmaker leading the investigation into whether the closings were politically motivated.

“There are documents that we’ve received that would indicate that there was somebody else who initiated this,” said Assemblyman John Wisniewski. “There are words that are used that would imply an improper motive.”

Wisniewski, who has scheduled more hearings next week in Trenton on the controversy in his role as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, declined to say who those other officials might be or what their motives were.

But he left little doubt that he planned to take a closer look at Governor Christie and his staff of political operatives. The governor jointly steers the Port Authority with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, appointing its top executives and commissioners. …

In signaling that he plans to expand the investigation beyond the Port Authority, Wisniewski said that Wildstein did not act alone, but appears to have been following instructions from higher-ups.

“This didn’t originate with David Wildstein,” said Wisniew¬ski, a Democrat. “It came from a higher authority.”

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.