The documents released by David Wildstein, Governor Chris Christie's appointee to the Port Authority and the same guy who implemented Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly's order "Time for traffic problems in Fort Lee" reveal that Wildstein executed the traffic jam plan following that order. The series of e-mails do not directly implicate Bill Stepien.
The e-mails themselves reveal only that Bill Stepien called the Mayor of Fort Lee an idiot.
So, why was Bill Stepien, a likely critical player in Christie's projected run for president, fired by Christie even before he fired Bridget Kelly, the deputy chief of staff who ordered the shut-down?
Stepien, in addition to being a key player in Christie's re-election campaign, had previously been in Bridget Kelly's deputy chief of staff position, with Kelly as his assistant. Kelly moved up to his post when Stepien left the governor's office to head-up Christie's re-election campaign.
One can infer that Bridget Kelly was accustomed to taking orders from Stepien. It likely was Stepien, as head of the re-election campaign, who gave Kelly the command to "order up" trouble for Fort Lee via the Port Authority's Wildstein.
Christie himself publicly called people "idiots" all the time, so it is unlikely that Stepien's comment in an e-mail would have offended Christie to the point of firing such a key player in his past and future election campaigns.
Isn't it more likely that Stepien was fired for his poor judgment in ordering up the traffic jams in Fort Lee, a mis-judgment that could have ended Christie's chances for the presidency?
I expect that the documents that Stepien and Kelly are refusing to turn over to the NJ's legislative investigation will reveal that Stepien was the originator of the traffic jam scheme, likely Kelly merely followed his orders.
But, if that mis-judgment is the reason Christie fired Stepien, that would indicate that Christie knew much more about the traffic jam scandal on January 8th, the day the e-mails were revealed then he then revealed. Christie denied any knowledge of the events other than the contents of the e-mails at his self-pitying press conference announcing the firings of Stepien and Kelly.
Here is, in part, Wikipedia's entry on Bill Stepien:
"Bill Stepien (born 1978) was the campaign manager for Chris Christie's successful campaign for Governor of New Jersey.[1] He also served as Christie's Deputy Chief of Staff.[2] In 2008, he was a Regional Campaign Manager for Senator John S. McCain's presidential campaign[3] before serving as National Field Director,[4] a role in which he also served for Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign in 2007-08.
Stepien began his political career working on Anthony Bucco's 1997 State Senate campaign, and on Bob Franks' 2000 U.S. Senate race. He worked for Public Opinion Strategies and DuHaime Communications before managing Bill Baroni's 2003 bid for New Jersey State Assembly—the only Republican to oust a Democratic incumbent that year, and one of PolitickerNJ.com's Best Campaigns of the Year.[5] Stepien served as Political Director of the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign in New Hampshire, and as Director of the Republican National Committee's 72-Hour Campaign in 2005 and 2006.[5]...
He ran Chris Christie's campaign for Governor of New Jersey in 2009 and 2013, and was in line to become chair of the New Jersey Republican Party.[6] After evaluating Stepien's role on the Fort Lee lane closure scandal, Christie told Stepien not to enter consideration for the role.[7]
Stepien received a subpoena to submit documents to the New Jersey Legislature panel investigating in the lane closures. In a 19-page letter sent to Reid Schar, special counsel to the joint Senate and Assembly committee, Stepian's lawyer cited Stepien’s Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination, noting that in addition to the legislative probe, a federal criminal inquiry into the lane closures was also underway.[8][9]"...,
Ah, what a tangled web Christie weaves in trying to avoid the taint of the Bridge shut-down.
It is quite possible that Christie may not have known about the traffic jam before hand, but he knew who was responsible for it -- Bill Stepien. Christie likely has been covering up his own knowledge of who did it and why.
As with Nixon, it is cover-up, not the nasty act itself, which may do Christie in and defeat his presidential aspirations.
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