Step Aside : The Honorable Thing for Chris Christie and the GOP

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's early standing in the 2016 GOP presidential contest is in trouble. A late February Quinnipiac University poll of three battleground states - Colorado, Iowa and Virginia - shows that while several of Christie’s GOP rivals - including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee - perform well against Democrat Hillary Clinton in poll matchups in at least one of those states, Christie is beaten by the former Secretary of State in all three states. This is admittedly an early look at possible 2016 presidential matchups and it predates Hillary's latest Clinton Foundation contribution revelations that suggest possible influence peddling while she was Secretary of State. Nevertheless, the in-your-face Christie is the poorest performing Republican in the Quinnipiac poll, trailing Hillary Clinton by margins of 5% to 10%, while the other Republicans run a competitive race in at least one of the states. Christie trails Clinton in Colorado by 43% to 34%, in Iowa by 44% to 34%, and in Virginia by 44% to 39%. Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement : “The one GOP [candidate] for whom these numbers are a total drag is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.” The Washington Post’ s political column, “The Fix,” recently lowered his prospects, saying : “Increasingly, it’s looking as if Christie missed his window for running for President [in 2016]. A recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows that his favorable rating in New Jersey has dropped to 37%, falling from a high of nearly 70%." The Fix also noted that polls of likely GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire show Christie is the most “unliked” potential GOP candidate after Donald Trump. ~~~~~ Christie seemed on a fast track to the GOP presidential nomination after a strong re-election victory and favorable national publicity. But Christie has been badly tarnished by the revelations that began more than a year ago alleging that some of his aides arranged to close Fort Lee, NJ, access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as political retaliation. Recently, two reports commissioned by the state legislature and Christie’s office failed to turn up any evidence that Christie participated in the scheme or knew about it as it happened. ~~~~~ However, the US attorney’s office conducted a criminal investigation that led last Friday to US Attorney Paul Fishman accepting a guilty plea from David Wildstein, a childhood friend of Christie whom the Governor appointed to the Port Authority. Wildstein pleaded guilty to arranging the shut-down of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as political payback against a New Jersey Democratic mayor who refused to endorse Christie for Governor in 2012. Specifically, Wildstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy against civil rights for ordering the closure of two out of three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, NJ, over the course of four days in September, 2013. The shutdown caused massive traffic delays, tied up school buses and emergency vehicles, and stressed thousands of commuters. Wildstein and others in the administration then attempted to convince the New Jersey legislature and other officials that the shut down had been part of a traffic study. Wildstein’s court appearance and guilty plea came on the same day that US Attorney Fishman announced the indictment of Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And on Friday, Wildstein renewed his claim that Governor Christie knew about the lane closures as they were happening and said again that “evidence exists” that can prove it. Wildstein's attorney Alan Zegas made the claim after his client entered his plea but said that because an investigation is ongoing, he could not share more details. ~~~~~ The Bridgegate scandal that threatens to wipe out Governor Christie’s political future looks like this : on September 9, 2013, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials shut down two of the three access lanes that allow motorists coming through the town of Fort Lee, NJ, to get on to the George Washington Bridge leading to Manhattan. It caused massive traffic back-ups that clogged the streets of Fort Lee for four days. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich tried to contact the Christie administration, but his requests for assistance were ignored. The order to close the lanes was given by Wildstein, a high school classmate of Christie’s, who was appointed to the Port Authority by the Christie administration. Wildstein was allegedly told to order the closing by Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Christie. In an email to Wildstein, she wrote, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Christie later fired Kelly, publicly calling her “stupid and deceitful.” Christie also fired Bill Stepien, who had run his successful reelection campaign and whom Christie was about to name head of the New Jersey Republican Party. Christie said that he had lost confidence in Stepien, although whether Stepien had a role in Bridgegate is unclear. Before Bridgegate hit the news, David Samson, a longtime Christie supporter and New Jersey political power broker, resigned as chairman of the Port Authority board - a position to which Christie had appointed him. Whether he was involved is also an open question. When Port Authority officials were questioned about the lane closures, they insisted on the traffiic study explanation. The agency’s deputy executive director, Bill Baroni, testified before the New Jersey legislature to that effect two months after the closures. However, Baroni’s boss, Patrick Foye, would later testify to the same legislative committee that there had never been a traffic study, and that Port Authority employees had been told not to discuss the order to close the lanes. Wildstein has maintained that Christie knew about the lane closures, but others involved, including Kelly and Stepien, have been silent. Christie has always said he was “blindsided” by the involvement of his staff and appointees in the act of apparent political retribution. Late last year, a state legislative committee, headed by Democrats, released a report on its investigation, which found no conclusive proof that Christie was involved. But, Fishman also made it clear on Friday that there may be more to come from his investigation. While he said there will likely be no more charges - meaning that Christie is unlikely to face prosecution himself - he also said more information will be revealed at trial, and in the Wildstein indictment, Fishman listed "unindicted co-conspirators." ~~~~~ So, while Friday’s announcement was far from the worst outcome for Christie, it was still very bad news for a man considering a run for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination. At the least, it shows that prosecutors believe he ran an administration where a stunt that affected thousands and endangered people in need of emergency medical care was considered acceptable as political payback. There are also the allegations still being advanced by Wildstein that Christie knew about the lane closures. What helped Christie survive the initial onslaught that followed the first reports of the scandal was his forthrightness in addressing it. In addition to firing aides implicated in the lane closing, Christie appeared at a nearly two-hour press conference and abandoned his typically combative persona in favor of contrition. He accepted full responsibility, apologized, but said that he had known nothing about the lane closures until after it was all over. His performance was widely praised and saved his viability as a 2016 candidate. If Wildstein's attorney Zegas is correct that Christie was aware of the closures -- and Zegas is risking his professional reputation if he’s not -- it would be a powerful blow to Christie’s credibility. That, combined with the existence of unidentified co-conspirators, give Christie's political opponents ample ammunition to attack his suitabiliry to be the GOP nominee in 2016. ~~~~~ Dear readers, often guilt and innocence don't tell the whole story. There is also propriety. Christie knows he has a mountain to climb to get the nomination. A Monmouth University poll of 500 New Jersey residents conducted this weekend and released today found that 50% believe Christie was personally involved in the decision to close the toll lanes; 69% don't believe he has been completely honest about what he knew; and, less than 10% believe the three individuals who've been charged in the scheme were the only ones involved. The honorable thing for Chris Christie to do -- if he loves the Republican Party and its principles as he should in asking to lead it -- would be to step aside and remove any hint that the GOP banner is being carried by a tarnished standard bearer.