Governor Christie says he is "doing a lot of soul-searching," over the "callous indifference" displayed by his former campaign manager Bill Stepien (since asked to leave) and Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly (since fired). He was "disturbed by the tone and behavior and attitude" of the emails he saw (following his workout). The "heartbroken", "not a bully", Governor accepted responsibility for his staff's actions and is embarrased and humiliated... but "it's crazy man" to think he would resign...
Via The Hill... [2]the problem...
...emails obtained by The Hill and other publications on Wednesday raised significant questions about that explanation. They showed a top Christie aide, deputy chief of staff Bridget Ann Kelly, appearing to collude with David Wildstein, a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, to create traffic in the town.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Kelly emailed to Wildstein after the mayor failed to back Christie.
“Got it,” Wildstein emailed back.
Press Briefing Post Mortem
Status and Apologies...
- *GOV CHRISTIE APOLOGIZES TO NJ, FT. LEE, LEGISLATURE
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE'S EMBARRASSED, HUMILIATED
- *CHRISTIE SAYS DOING A LOT OF SOUL-SEARCHING OVER INCIDENT
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE WAS 'BLIND SIDED' YESTERDAY MORNING
- *CHRISTIE SAYS SURPRISED AT "STUPIDITY'' OF THOSE INVOLVED
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE WAS TOLD LANE CLOSURES WERE FOR TRAFFIC STUDY
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE ASKED STAFF FOR INFORMATION ON LANE CLOSURES
- *CHRISTIE SAYS SENIOR STAFF SAID THEY HAD NO INFORMATION
- *CHRISTIE SAYS SAW EMAILS FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY MORNING (after his workout)
- *CHRISTIE SAYS THERE WERE POLITICAL OVERTONES IN EMAILS
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE AND WILDSTEIN WEREN'T FRIENDS OR ACQUAINTANCES
- *CHRISTIE SAYS THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR BEHAVIOR
- *CHRISTIE WILL HOLD PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH SENIOR STAFF
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE HASN'T COMPLETED STAFF INTERVIEWS YET
- *"I AM HEARTBROKEN'' CHRISTIE SAYS, THAT TRUST BETRAYED
- *CHRISTIE SAYS HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED
- *CHRISTIE SAYS STAFF "FELL SHORT''
Actions:
- *CHRISTIE SAYS ACTION TAKEN AGAINST STEPIEN BY 7 PM YESTERDAY
- *CHRISTIE SAYS STEPIEN WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR PARTY CHAIR
- *CHRISTIE SAYS STEPIEN WON'T BE CONSIDERED FOR NJ GOP CHAIRMAN
- *CHRISTIE SAYS STEPIEN WITHDRAWS CONSULTANCY JOB
- *CHRISTIE SAYS BEHAVIOR OF AIDES UNACCEPTABLE
- *CHRISTIE SAYS BRIDGET KELLY FIRED, SAYS SHE LIED TO HIM
- *CHRISTIE SAYS NOT INTERESTED IN BRIDGET KELLY'S EXPLANATION
- *CHRISTIE SAYS BRIDGET KELLY FIRED BY 9 A.M. YESTERDAY
Kelly and Christie in a better mood...
Next Steps:
- *U.S. ATTORNEY IN NEW JERSEY PROBING CHRISTIE TRAFFIC SCANDAL
- *CHRISTIE TRAVELING TO FT. LEE TODAY TO SEEK MEETING W/ MAYOR
- *CHRISTIE WILL SEEK TO APOLOGIZE TO FT. LEE MAYOR, RESIDENTS
- *CHRISTIE:NOT BEGINNING PROCESS OF CONSIDERING PRESIDENTIAL RUN
And summing it all up...
"Oh, God, no. That's a crazy question, man," says Christie to reporter asking if he ever considered resignation.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 9, 2014 [3]