Have you noticed recently that . . .

.  .  .  .  New Jersey newspapers, notably The Star-Ledger, have moved away from the daily reporting and endless editorials which slammed Governor Chris Christie about the so-called ‘Bridgegate’ affair?

On June 13, Fallon and Christie dance away the 'Bridgegate' incident.

Ever wonder why?  Nobody cares anymore!  It’s over – done with.  There is no there, there.

The reason is that despite the millions in cash and the thousands of man-hours expended up to this point investigating Christie and what role he may have played in this incident, not a single person or entity has identified a scintilla of evidence to prove that the governor ordered the closing of two access lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey that lead to the George Washington Bridge, and across the Hudson River into New York City.

Nor has anyone been able to show that Christie either ordered the closures, knew of them in advance, or that he subsequently blessed their implementation for the ostensible political purpose of punishing a Democrat mayor who, it was alleged, refused to endorse Christie’s second term, landslide re-election to the governor’s office in The Garden State.

Even the New Jersey Legislature’s Select Investigation Committee co-chaired by Assemblyman John Wisniewski and State Senator Loretta Weinberg, has not been able to come up with any credible evidence of direct or indirect involvement by Christie in the closing of those two lanes (the third remained open) which led to massive traffic backups. 

 

Wisniewski, the most publicly vocal person on the select committee and a hardened Christie opponent, admitted to Steve Strunsky, a reporter for The Star-Ledger, that he had once entertained aspirations to run for governor, but that the timing had not been in his favor.

 

In ongoing commentary printed in the Ledger, Wisniewski has been consistently adamant that he could not believe that Christie did not know what was going on with ‘Bridgegate.’

Well, believe.

 

Because New Jersey’s governor has been just as adamant in his public denials of involvement, and with his quick dismissal of those who were shown to have initiated and implemented the four-day, two-lane closing.

One more thing:  If Christie has not been truthful about his oft-repeated, nationally publicized claims of denial of participation in those lane closures, his political credibility will come screeching to an end.

There are fools in politics, but Christie is no fool – not by a longshot.  He knows what the consequences of such a strategy would be.  Also, on a personal level, he is a family man, and he also understands how the stain of lying would spread to his close friends and loved ones.

In the op-ed section of yesterday’s print edition of The Star-Ledger, Carl Golden writes that the “Bridgegate probe needs an exit strategy.”

 

That is a clear signal to Wisniewski and Weinberg that this is now prime time for them to move out of the corner into which they have inadvertently painted themselves.

Golden writes that 'Bridgegate' is “a fading political drama,” and that “there are already signs of weariness with the investigation and its cost.”  Polling results support Golden’s conclusions.

Even Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat and Senate President said during what now seems like a long-ago meeting with the editorial board of The Star-Ledger, that the select committee should have ended its investigation.  For that, Sweeney was promptly excoriated in print by the Ledger’s editorial board, as well as by his Democrat colleagues.  He was forced to recant.

For those who may not know Sweeney’s record, he is a tough leader who has been very independent in his political dealings with Christie.  Yet he’s worked closely with the governor in getting legislation passed when he concurred with him, and he has opposed him when he did not agree.  Sweeney is no one’s lap dog, not even the Ledger’s.

 

Perhaps the only wild card left that could seriously damage Christie is the investigation into ‘Bridgegate’ by United States Attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman.  Acting professionally, his office has not revealed any information about its work into ‘Bridgegate,’ citing that it does not comment on ongoing investigations.

 

Previously, Fishman’s office had requested that the New Jersey Legislature’s select committee do nothing to interfere with its investigation.

However, that request does not seem to have had much effect on the stream of public commentary taken up and printed by The Star-Ledger of John Wisniewski’s endless months of speculative talk.  On the other hand, Loretta Weinberg, not particularly an admirer of Christie, has demonstrated far more restraint.

Thanks for reading.  (Click on the image for an enhanced view.)