It may be time for Plan C for Governor Christie, whatever that might be.
The public did not buy his Plan A for clearing his name: "I thought it was a Traffic Study" defense.
And now public is not buying his Plan B: "My Internal Review Report says I'm innocent" defense.
I suspect Plan C is to simply hope that the Public moves on and forgets; and the GOP picks up his "liberals are persecuting me" mantra.
Good luck with that, Governor. The NY-NJ Editoral Boards are not so inclined to forget.
A Whitewash for Gov. Christie
by The Editorial Board, NYTimes.com -- March 27, 2014
Lawyers hired by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at public expense issued their findings Thursday on the traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge in September, apparently engineered as a bizarre form of political revenge. To no one’s surprise, Mr. Christie’s lawyers have found his hands to be clean. He was without fault, they declared. This glossy political absolution cost the taxpayers of New Jersey more than $1 million in legal fees.
[...] Without her side of the story [Mayor Dawn Zimmer], the report nevertheless concludes that her allegations are “demonstrably false” and “do not match objective reality.”
The [Randy] Mastro report reveals that Mr. Wildstein told Mr. Christie’s press secretary that he did inform Mr. Christie about the traffic tie-ups as they were happening. The report said Mr. Christie did not remember any such conversation, and simply leaves it at that.
[...]
Mr. Christie has a long way to go to regain public trust and clear his name in this scandal. That will happen only if the real investigators -- the state legislative committee and the United States attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman -- can interview all those possibly involved under oath and examine the emails and all documents that can shed more light on the way Mr. Christie operates.
Some new CC character issues raised by that NYTimes Editorial:
1) CC will spend the public's money to benefit himself.
2) CC has a faulty memory of recent events, or at least is willing to fake the same.
3) CC has lost the public trust, and this latest stunt [Plan B] does little to restore it.
But wait those local Editorial Boards are not done yet, having their say about this Christie-knows-nothing fiasco ...
Now for some of the New Jersey Editorial Boards to make their updated CC views clear.
If the Governor thought he was 'going to skate' after this Mastro Report was released, well he has another 'think' coming ...
The Christie whitewash: Public billed $1 million for report that clears N.J. governor (editorial)
by Staten Island Advance Editorial, SIlive.com -- March 29, 2014
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has just taken the public for a ride, so to speak. This isn’t reassuring based on his official ties to the so-called Bridgegate scandal.
[...]
None of the interviews with Mr. Christie and other officials in his administration were conducted under oath.
[...]
“Whatever motivated Wildstein and Kelly to act as they did, it was not at the behest of Governor Christie, who knew nothing about it,” the report said.
[...]
Last month, he admitted he may have heard about it as it happened, but it didn’t strike him as important until an Oct. 1 news article on the traffic jams.
[...]
Some new CC character issues raised by that Staten Island Editorial:
1) CC will take the public "for a ride" in order to benefit himself.
2) CC has little respect for "Oaths," and due process under law.
3) CC latest Denial, will rely on his "let's get to the bottom of it" faulty memory.
4) CC had little interest in public safety on a major state landmark on 9/11 [Plan A], and is clueless of what happens in his own state, until weeks after the fact.
... Even though weighty Official Correspondence, about which CC was CC'ed on, makes a mockery his claimed timeline "ignorance." Ooops.
Next ...
Christie's Bridgegate defense is hardly presidential: Editorial
by Star-Ledger Editorial Board, nj.com -- March 29, 2014
Then there’s that phantom traffic study -- a cover-up hatched by a political operative, not a traffic expert. It was hidden from Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority, as well as Fort Lee officials, local police and emergency responders. The Port Authority has yet to produce a paper trail to prove it ever existed.
[...]
Yet what did Christie repeat once again Friday? "It appears that there was a traffic study."
[...]
His blindness on this is willful. The fact that Christie has embraced this cover-up shows he was never interested in getting to the truth.
Some new CC character issues raised by that Star-Ledger Editorial:
1) CC is no longer Presidential material. (Check the title line.)
2) CC will spend the public's time and money on a false Cover Story [Plan A] to benefit himself.
3) CC's "willful blindness" keeps him from learning from his past mistakes, and he is perfectly willing to re-use his past discredited excuses.
4) CC has lost the public trust, by working more on his career ambitions [Plan B] and his Cover Story [Plan A] -- than actually showing any interest at getting at the truth of "what really happened?" (ie. who gave his staff-soldiers their marching orders?)
Because, as it is becoming more evident everyday, any such REAL pursuit of the truth, will ultimately lead to the NJ Governor's office door. (First we must 'suspend Mastro disbelief'; I know, it's such aaaaah streeetcch!)
Chris Christie is going to have to hire a different Team of high-priced Lawyers, when that day arrives. Ones that can help him concoct his Plan D ... that of staying out of an orange jumpsuit, for Obstruction of Justice, among other similar charges.
I suspect if there's a way for CC to "Pardon himself, retro-actively", the publicly bankrolled Presidential-want-a-be will find it. Perhaps "the General" now that he has some "free time" on his hands (thanks to the Mastro Report), can give CC some free legal advice on that one, eh?
Only time, and NY-NJ Editorial Boards, will tell ... where the REAL truth actually lies.