"Wall Street Journal show Christie standing next to Wildstein on Sept. 11"

[ProSense]

Christie Appeared During Lane Closures With Official Who Ordered Them

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and the former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive who ordered the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September were together on the third day of the closures, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday...David Wildstein, was part of a delegation that welcomed the governor to the site of the the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 for a commemoration on the 12th anniversary of the attacks. The lane closures began on Sept. 9.

Also part of the delegation were Bill Baroni, another former executive at the Port Authority, and David Samson, the Port Authority chairman. Both Wildstein and Baroni announced their resignations from the Port Authority after Democrats in New Jersey began asking questions about possible political motives for the lane closures.

Photographs obtained by the Wall Street Journal show Christie standing next to Wildstein on Sept. 11...Christie said at a press conference last week that he had not had contact with Wildstein “in a long time.”

“I have had no contact with David Wildstein in a long time, a long time, well before the election,” Christie said. “You know, I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations I’ve had with David since he worked at the Port Authority. I did not interact with David.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/christie-wildstein-together

Oops, and more oops: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024323343

Changed the title of the OP because the closures were not "ordered" by Wildstein.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Drip drip drip.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. So he actually was out there setting the cones out. n/t

[ProSense]

3. Question:

How is it that Colonel Christie (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024320643) could be in NY on Sept. 11 and not know there was a massage two-day-old traffic jam at the GWB?

Christie Not Sure When He Learned of Bridge Lane Closures
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024321794

Follow-up on Christie’s Half-owned “Nonprofit”: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Written by Rick Cohen

“When it comes to raising tolls, the Port Authority (of New York and New Jersey) has nearly unchecked power and little obligation to listen to the public.”

That’s one of reasons why Governor Chris Christie’s explanations for “Bridgegate,” the scandal involving his top aides closing two out of three access lanes from the city of Fort Lee, New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge, come off as implausible.

The Port Authority is a bi-state public benefit corporation, or public authority, established more than 90 years ago by the states of New York and New Jersey to manage the regional infrastructure of bridges, tunnels, seaports, and airports that serve both states. It is a big operation, with a 2012 budget of $7 billion including capital expenditures of $3.66 billion.

<...>

Think of the Port Authority like a very large nonprofit. It has no power to tax and is funded entirely by the revenues it generates from its bridges, tunnels, and ports (and from tax exempt bonds), but there are few political issues in New Jersey more contentious than traffic jams on the GW Bridge (at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels), plus the $13 toll on the bridge. The board of this “nonprofit” benefit corporation is appointed by two governors and approved by their legislators. The commissioners they appoint are business and political powerhouses....Every New Jersey governor and every northern New Jersey mayor, particularly from the cities like Fort Lee that are gateways for commuters, is acutely aware of Port Authority dynamics. Perhaps Christie is such a hands-off manager that his appointment of David Samson, the counsel to his gubernatorial campaign as a Port Authority commissioner, subsequently elected chairman, meant that he could simply choose to ignore a massive tie-up on the bridge and leave it all to his appointees. That flies in the face of both Christie’s self-described hands-on management style and the constant political scrum between the two states in the bi-state agency.

The importance of the Port Authority to the New Jersey state government explains some of the revelations that have emerged since Governor Christie’s marathon apology press conference. For example, one recent revelation is that Port Authority Chairman Samson sent an email to his colleagues on the board that excoriated Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye for “stirring up trouble” with his criticism of the lane closures and ordering the opening of the bridge access from Fort Lee, while two of Cuomo’s New York commissioners defended Foye. Another Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the since-resigned David Wildstein, actually monitored the lane closings in person. Both Wildstein and another Christie appointee, Bill Baroni, were informed as early as the first day of the closures that police and paramedics were complaining vociferously. Typically, New Jersey-appointed commissioners go to bat for the interests of communities on their side of the Hudson River crossings, but not in this case, since they were actually pleased with the results of the abuse of power by Christie’s minions.

- more -

http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/23517-follow-up-on-christie-s-half-owned-nonprofit-the-port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey.html

[efhmc]

4. massive?