Gov. Christie announces 11 a.m. ET press conference following bridge controversy

[IDemo]

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has rocketed to the top of the 2016 GOP presidential field, fueled by his straight-talking persona, his tell-it-like-it-is approach to policy and his willingness to reach across the aisle. But that carefully-crafted position could be in trouble, thanks to burgeoning allegations that his office bullied an uncooperative Democratic mayor.

Christie will hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning to address the growing number of questions about the affair. Emails released Wednesday suggest a top aide to Christie pressed for the creation of “traffic problems” in the city of Fort Lee, N.J., where the mayor had declined to back Christie’s re-election. The closure of access lanes from Fort Lee to the busy George Washington Bridge created massive gridlock and sparked a state investigation.
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In a statement issued Wednesday, Christie denied knowing about the involvement of people in his office in the controversy until the new reports came to light, saying he was misled by an aide whose actions were "unacceptable."

"One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better," the governor said. "This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions."

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/09/22231170-chris-christies-rising-2016-star-in-peril-as-bridge-controversy-grows?lite

[hatrack]

1. Let the bus-throwing begin!

Schadelicious!

[bigdarryl]

3. And watch the press and media support this thug

After the news conference saying some shit like he addressed the scandal head on and got rid of it

[hatrack]

6. Oh, I agree - faux contrition followed by the expected ass-kissing

With an outside chance of something Rob Ford-esque (as noted below) happening.

[diabeticman]

2. Could we hope that he actaully does the right thing and step down.

[bigdarryl]

5. OH PLEASE!!! will never happen

[a kennedy]

7. got that right, and it'll be forgotten by the time November 2016 rolls around.

such short attention spans you know.

[beachbum bob]

9. not a chance, christie will most likely be gone by then

but the tarnish will cover the GOP

[a kennedy]

12. I really hope you're right......

[justiceischeap]

13. The democratic ads will write themselves on this

if he's still in the running come 2016.

[66 dmhlt]

30. If it's forgotten, it'll only be because Christie is out of the picture ...

Otherwise BRIDGHHHAAAZZZIII will still be biting him in the butt!

[a kennedy]

34. love it....

[madokie]

19. The right thing to you and I and Christy

are two different things. To us stepping down would be right, to him fighting this will be the right thing to do

[Brickbat]

4. I'm hoping for a Rob-Ford style slow-motion unravelling.

[riversedge]

10. Would be nice. I imagine we will hear of more firings or

folks resigning to spend more time with the family.

[JoePhilly]

15. I like it.

[beachbum bob]

8. brings back memories of Nixon

I am not a crook....a liar, a scoundrel, a cheat and bully, but not a crook


christie will go full bully mode...make it sounds like its the press doing a witch hunt on behalf of mean nasty political opponents. I guarantee we wont hear the "buck stops here" and takes full responsibility for it and issues full apologies to the Mayor, his constituents, the people of New Jersey and the american people.

I could be wrong, there is always the first time

[riversedge]

11. Christie has sloughed it off --mocked reporters, not taken it seriously before...

Handled it poorly. He has an opportunity to redeem himself but the bullying will continue. It is MO.

[hatrack]

14. He could blow up and scream at a reporter with the whole country watching . . .

But that's about as much as I can hope for.

[riversedge]

24. It would be lovely to see. He bullies teachers in public and it fits his MO

[workinclasszero]

16. So when Christie puts all the blame on his staff

and leaves them hanging in the wind facing serious criminal charges....

Who will be the first to cop a immunity deal and and drop a dime on the "godfathers" ass?

[giftedgirl77]

26. The Chief of Staff

She is the one who would have been taking orders directly from him & disseminating them.

[workinclasszero]

29. Okay

Can't wait for that presser at 11 EST...

[giftedgirl77]

36. I just turned on MSNBC...

[alsame]

17. Please proceed, Governor. nt

[djean111]

18. I doubt very very much that Christie honestly thinks what happened was really wrong.

And yeah, the most to hope for is that he loses his temper, but I would think he has prepared himself for dealing with his innate tendency to browbeat and bully. On camera, at least. Would be amazed if those who he is likely to throw under the bus are not privately praised, admonished a bit to be more fucking careful with emails, and taken care of handsomely.
I am sure that, in his eyes, closing those lanes was the correct spiteful thing to do, using and getting caught with those emails was the only wrong thing. Would not be surprised if he had not checked to see how the one dead person (I read about, have not checked) was registered. I bet the private meetings are always festering with spiteful ill-will.

Pretty damned sad to read here and there that Christie was embraced by some Dems as a "centrist" - and that being a centrist is a good thing. To me, being Centrist means you stand for no one, you have no moral ground. As if King Solomon would have actually had that contested baby cleaved into two and said hey! Bipartisan and Centrist! Too bad about the actual baby, you purist whining mom.

[lpbk2713]

20. Guaranteed to be a finger pointing extravaganza.

This weasel just doesn't have it in him to be accountable and accept responsibility for anything.

[spanone]

21. hey chris, where does the buck stop?

[Shankapotomus]

22. If Christie is a man of his word,

this is the kind of thing that he would resign over according to his own publicly professed principles of good governorship.

If he doesn't resign all we need to do is roll back the tape and replay what he said about tolerating incompetence in government.

[global1]

23. I'm Thinking He Can Do Himself More Harm Than Good By This Press Conference....

I know he'd probably like to get out ahead of this story and has probably been advised of that - BUT - I don't think all the facts are out yet and if he tries to wiggle out of it and an unfortunate e-mail or memo turns up that refutes what he says at this conference - he's toast.

It will be an interesting watch. I'll settle in front of my TV with a bag of popcorn and watch him squirm or twist in the wind.

[Iggo]

25. The time to get ahead of this story was a month ago.

[Oilwellian]

27. Oh, but he did...

http://videos.nj.com/nj/2014/01/chris_christies_denials_in_geo.html

[Paladin]

28. If he were a Democrat, the bridge thing would bury his career.

But seeing as how he's a Republican, he may survive all this. There's a definite double standard at work these days.....

[WinkyDink]

31. IKR? Hannity, Limbaugh, et al. would be ALL-BRIDGE, ALL-THE-TIME!!

[BobUp]

33. It's up to liberal media

to make sure this doesn't go away. They need to step up just like fux noose did on Benghazi, and just keep repeating every tidbit they can find. I believe MSNBC will, we'll just have to hope ABC and CBS help roll the ball too.

[BobUp]

32. Oh, we see,

it's going to be one of those "IN BEFORE" things. In before his staffer is supposed to testify after receiving the subpeona?

In internet forums, some people use the "IN BEFORE" to retort to a post before a thread is locked.

Christie's "IN BEFORE" will probably be something like Sgt. Schultz saying "I See Nothing" "I Know Nothing"
and if you're lucky enough to see the press conference, I'll bet everyone here on the forum that something to the effect of "shut the fuck up" will fall from his lips when being asked a really tough question like, if you knew about it, why have you not taken any action to discipline your staff?

anyone?

[Orangepeel]

35. Prediction: he'll pretend to take responsibility and promise a full investigation

He's had a day to practice so his temper will be in check. He will continue to deny knowledge but will say something like, "the buck stops here and I take responsibility." Of course, that won't mean anything except that the deputy will resign. He'll promise a full investigation, which won't mean anything except that the deputy will resign.

Then, the press will praise him for how he handled it. We won't hear about it much, except for claims that it is "old news" in 2016.