David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official and Chris Christie appointee who was ordered by Christie's former deputy chief of staff to create "traffic problems in Fort Lee," says he'll talk — but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution. As the AP
points out, Wildstein has already played a central role in exposing the scandal:
David Wildstein, whom Christie appointed to a position in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has already supplied a legislative committee with the most damning documents in the case so far, including an email from a Christie aide saying it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," a sign that the lane-closing plot was hatched by Christie's aides as a political vendetta.
Wildstein's lawyer Alan Zegas told The Associated Press on Friday that there has not been any offer of immunity from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is reviewing the matter. "If he has immunity from the relevant entities, he'll talk," Zegas said.
In related news,
subpoenas were issued to 20 individuals and groups by New Jersey legislators investigating the scandal and the Christie administration hired a high-priced legal team to guide its investigation response. Despite announcing the hiring, the Christie administration was quite opaque about exactly what the hiring will mean — and who will pay for it.
The firm will "review best practices for office operations and information flow, and assist with document retention and production," the administration said in a three-paragraph statement.
Christie spokesman Colin Reed would not say who is paying for the special counsel or whether the retention of the law firm means Christie plans to conduct a more vigorous internal investigation than first announced.
Between Christie's weak
prior efforts at investigating what happened and the refusal of his administration to say what it plans to do now, it's probably fair to assume these new lawyers see their job as protecting Christie, not helping the public get to the bottom of what actually happened and why. Those remain the big questions, and it's hard to believe Christie's cooperation wouldn't help answer them.
12:20 PM PT: The full list of subpoena targets isn't yet known, but we do now know that Christie's office as a whole is one of them.