david wildstein. he's the one who went to the bridge workers and said shut down these lanes. well, we learned three weeks ago that a christie administration official, deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly send david wildstein it was time for traffic problems in ft. lee, that bridget kelly was involved from the christie administration telling them to shut down these lanes. what we had not known so far, governor christy had said he didn't know about these lane closures, certainly didn't know that this was done to punish any may nor as it seems from the documents released three weeks ago. what david is saying now is the lawyer is saying governor christie knew about these lane closures at the time it was happening and was lying when he said in a two-hour press conference that he did not know about this. >> and the bottom line being, if this former close associate, a political ally, if you will, of the governor is undermining what he said in the press conference, that could open up a can of worms for governor christie? >> absolutely. i think people have been waiting what david wildstei

knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever mr. wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. for the full statement, you can go to our website at ed.msnbc.com. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. a chris christie investigation bombshell. the port authority official who carried out the september lane closings to the washington bridge claims governor christie knew of the closings, knew of the lane closings as they were happening. the claim directly contradicts governor christie's own story. it comes from david wildstein, the man who replied "got it" after receiving that now infamous e-mail time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. wildstein resigned in december. but in a letter released late today, his lawyer states a person within the christie administration communicated the christie administration's order that certain lanes of the george washington bridge were to be closed and evidence exists as well tying mr.

export authority official david wildste wildste wildstein. he says he has proof that governor chris christie knew about the plans to close those lanes while they were happening. the lawyer for wildstein says the closures were the christie administration's order and claims they have evidence of governor christie, quote, having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed. we're reaching out to the governor's office and we have not independently confirmed this. joining us for the latest. if it is confirmed, a stunning development in the chris christie saga. do you have any updates you can give us at the moment? >> clearly so. we have reached out to all the parties involved here and can't confirm it at this point. but if it is as reported by "the new york times," it is a huge development in this. i just got a copy of a letter that was sent to the legislature saying they're not -- from the campaign manager. his lawyer says they're not going to comply with the subpoena to turn over documents and other records. they are invoking their fifth amendment rights

christie bridgegate scandal. according to "the new york times," david wildstein is saying governor christie knew about the lane closures. the ex port authority appointee released a letter through his lawyer today describing the closures as the christie administration's order. the letter says evidence exists tying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference. the letter says mr. wildstein contests the accuracy of various statement it is governor made about him and can prove the inaccuracy of some. christie denied any knowledge of the lane closure. >> i'll say one last thing, just so we're really clear. i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution, and i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. i had no knowledge of this, of the planning, the execution, or anything about it. i first found out about it after it was over. >> the very next day, january 10th, david wildstein, the appointee took the fifth in

disappeared swiftly but ever saw it. and now you have wildstein making these allegations through a lawyer. he is a very important to chris christie. they went to school together. high school together. in that news conference chris christie referenced that he had only had a handledful of conversations with david wildstein and then the photograph came out and now wildstein is saying that the governor knew about the lane closures and he has evidence. now, as with the story throughout we now must see what the evidence is. but, if you have somebody that you went to school with, who is a political appointee, who you have distanced yourself from saying the exact opposite, the excuses are running out, i think for the administration in new jersey. >> so john, i want you to stay with me here because -- we need to get to this, but stay here and believe me, there will be plenty of opportunities. did you want to add something? >> to reminded our viewers that it is important because governor christie until this moment was the front-runner in the gop race in 2016, potentially i against hillary clinton. >> p

one of governor christie's top appointees. it was written by david wildstein. the same chris christie appointee, he is the same chris christie political appointee who gave the order to close those lanes on the bridge. he's the man who gave specific instructions to bridge officials to not warrant local police, and not warrant town of fort lee about what was about to hit them. other e-mails that have been made public show that the port authority knew they were advised explicitly that shutting down those lanes on the bridge would cause the whole town of fort lee to be gridlocked in a backlog of hundreds of stuck cars. they did it anyway. that is explicitly why they did it. that wasn't a bug, that was a feature, that's what they were going for. we now know that because partially redacted e-mails and text message transcripts were published today. those transcripts and e-mails show that governor christie's appointee to the port authority didn't come up with that idea on his own, it came from governor christie's office directly. boom! look, this is an e-mail from governor christie's office,

wildstein, who's the man who responded to that e-mail, got it, and then personally orchestrated the shutdown of the bridge lanes. mr. wildstein has since resigned from the port authority. also, david wildstein's boss at the port authority, a chris christie appointee, a former new jersey state senator, he has also resigned from the port authority because of the scandal, bill baroni is his name. and everybody's boss at the port authority, the chairman, who is also a chris christie appointee, he is a former attorney general, his name is david sampson. also mr. sampson's top aide at the port authority, phillippe danielles. also the top community affairs person who we know was told in advance about the shutdown. she was told about it the friday before the shutdown happened. and she fielded calls and messages about what a disaster the shutdown was, once it was underway. and also interestingly, i'm not sure anybody saw this coming, but paul nunzado is a police official. he had told the official that they had nothing to give them when they subpoenaed him the first time around, but he did tell the pr

himself at that agency in the era have chris christie as governor of new jersey was david wildstein. he is famous as the man who arranged the shutdown of those access lanes onto the george washington bridge and who gridlocked ft. lee, new jersey. when david wildstein got hired in 2010, a few weeks after chris christie got sworn in, he was just another guy who the christie people wanted to have a job at the port authority. interestingly, though, they invented the job they hired him for. there had never been a director of interstate capital projects before they created that job and gave it to david wildstein. the newark star ledger said no job description was ever produced for that job that they created for david wildstein. and it doesn't seem like he had to work particularly hard or fight off a lot of competition in order to get that sweet gig. when his personnel records were requested under new jersey open government laws, unlike other people who did, you know, like have to interview or otherwise prove they were qualified for the job against competitors who might also be qualified for t

obviously a mystery. we do know that david wildstein is a key figure in that and had those communications with bridget kelly back in august. but it's the months that after that that the weeks and months after that that really is what is so politically perilous for governor christie here because -- >> what do you mean? what would be perilous about that time frame? >> well, because there is extensive e-mails and text messages showing that as these traffic jams created this political uproar, state lawmakers, local officials were demanding answers as to why these lane closures took place, what was going on, and the pushback from the christie appointees on the port authority, and then the governor's office was it was a traffic study. well, we now know from the senate commerce committee yesterday there is zero evidence that such a traffic study was taking place. so why did they maintain the cover story of the traffic study? what did people close to the governor know about that? and did they ask questions as to what was really going on? and why did they maintain the story? governo

yesterday that david wildstein who took the fifth amendment rather than testify, has got some bombshells to unload. at the very end of that testimony, this got overlooked yesterday. the democratic chairman was outlining all the unanswered questions that the committee still has about what christie knew and when his people knew it. wildstein's lawyer said, well, if my client gets immunity from authorities you'll get the answers to your questions. that's a very subtle hint we have a story to tell here but we need immunity to tell it first. is wildstein the john dean of this affair? one other clue that got overlooked yesterday. those documents that have been turned over, the e-mails, incredibly damaging e-mails, they have all those deletions because the subpoena only called for documents responsive to the traffic closures, to the issue in question. one of the things he did include is references to a meeting proposed between christie and david sampson's, his appointee as chairman of the port authority. it said time for traffic problems in ft. lee. why did he include those? that's the question

white shirt and the red tie is david wildstein. the chris christie administration political appointee to the port authority who personally organized the shutdown of the bridge lanes. when the governor's deputy chief of staff ordered, quote, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee, it was david wildstein who responded, got it, and it was then david wildstein at the port authority secretly organized the traffic engineers, maintenance department and bridge general manager and everybody else who had to be in on it to get those lanes shut down. then he swore them all to secrecy in terms of not letting anybody in ft. lee know what was about to hit them. david wildstein was calling the ft. lee may wror that little serbian. it was david wildstein who said don't feel bad for the children stuck in the traffic jams, the first day, the first week of school in ft. lee because, quote, those are the children of buono voters, being the democratic candidate who was running against chris christie. that was david wildstein who ordered radio silence as a response to complaints from the mayor and other

. well, today, david wildstein raised his hand and said, me, i want to talk. if, that is, he's granted immunity. and if there's a single person who knows where the proverbial bodies are buried, it's wildstein. >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> wildstein is a legendary jersey political operative, who for years ran an anonymous political blog, called politickernj, where he wrote under the pseudonym, wally edge. so how did a political blogger make it into a job at the port authority? according to a former staffer, they were told to "find a place for wildstein at the executive level," and, oh, that the order was coming from christie's office. then, like magic, a position was created specifically for wildstein. he was introduced to people as a good friend of the governor. one report from 2012 called wildstein the governor's eyes and ears inside the port authority. christie's spokesperson said that same year that wildstein was there because he is well suited to the task of playing a role in

that david wildstein, the guy in the bridgeport shut down scandal the guy who said got it and who apparently set the whole traffic jam in motion back in september in new jersey when he was a high level hire at the port authority, on friday we learned that the port authority had cut off david wildstein. they notified him on friday he would have to be paying for his own defense in the chris christie bridgegate scandal in new jersey. doesn't matter that mr. wildstein was employed by the port authority. they say their bylaws prohibit them from paying david wildstein's legal bills while this matter is sorted out. that may mean that david wildstein may find himself on the hook for a ton of money in terms of his legal defense. but we learned that about him on friday. also on friday the port authority said they were still deciding whether they were going to do that same thing to bill baroni. the former republican state senator bill baroni, who is new jersey governor chris christie's top appointee to the port authority. he was david's boss there. they say there's no answer yet on if bill b

. >> david wildstein deserves an ass kicking okay? >> it's politics new jersey style. >> e-mails suggest that state officials actually shut down traffic. >> creating a huge traffic jam. >> in his office. >> newly obtained e-mails sent from governor christie's deputy chief of staff. >> it reads time for some traffic problems in fort lee. >> wildstein applied got it. >> it's criminal investigation. >> four days of gridlock. >> we have families looking for emergency services, to respond to calls. thousands of kids that were late for the first day of school. >> governor christie says his staff had nothing to do with those lane closings. >> this governor has a lot of explaining to do. >> governor christie put out this statement, misled by a member of my staff. made without my knowledge. >> that becomes an indictment of his administration in a different way. >> he has national ambitions. >> if you don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee and we'll lose. >> it doesn't bode well for the governor. >> christie is off my list. >>> the "bergen record" released newly obtained e-mails and

david wildstein, he replies, got it. now these committees will go after bridget kelly. >> right. a couple things are key there. first of all, the fact that this scandal worked its way into the governor's office, officially through the david wildstein e-mails and text message, tells you that david wildstein is not on the back channels on the christie team. there is an article bridget kelly remaining loyal a week later. >> throw that headline up there. i like this, aide fired by christie is called loyal team player, not rogue operative. >> the key here to me is one thing wildstein is not behind the scenes on team christie. they were totally blindsided by the fact that he had e-mails linked to their office. the second thing is he's putting little clues in documents that were released and are raising all sorts of questions. so, you know, for instance, the biggest one at least is he suggests there was a meeting between the governor and between david samson, who is the chairman of the port authority. a meeting took place between the two of them. he suggests a week before the famous time

on him. and wildstein and the other guy over at the bridge authority. and of course he fired his campaign manager too. they're all doing it all around. he is the only one that doesn't know what is going on. did you buy the passive, meek sort of don knotts character? all around me these people were so political. >> i don't think that was his approach at all. i have no clue what is going on, woe is me. look, there is within those executive wings that space of deniability that the staff often provides the chief executive. i think that's part of what happened here to some degree. and there is probably stuff that he did not know that was revealed to him. >> in the actual facts, none of which he gave us, the bergen record gave us all the fax. he didn't give us one new fact. >> right. and i don't know if that should be his place. >> as being the person who could be his enforcer. when she sends the little e-mail time for traffic problems in ft. lee, answered in seconds practically. so everybody in the port authority said she is the one talking for governor. today in his extraordinary pre

better know who the characters are. first, the main actor. david wildstein. he's been pretty quiet lately. >> i respectfully assert my right to remain silent. >> wildstein is the christie appointee who responded, got it, when asked to start a ft. lee traffic jam. yes, wildstein and christie are old high school chums. now the governor wants a little distance. >> i was the class president and athlete. i don't know what david was doing during that period of time. >> wildstein was elected to his local school board at 16 and served a term as mayor of livingston, new jersey, before he was 30. then wildstein went underground. founding an anonymous political blog called "politicker nj," the super secret byline was wally edge. he once said the worst part of politics is the policies. in 2010, christie gave wildstein a job at the port authority. job paid $150,000 but had no job description. wildstein was christie's eyes and ears in the port authority. he's the author of the two most infamous e-mails. with the they are the children of buono voters" and "it will be a tough november for this little ser

." david wildstein, chris christie appointee at the port authority which controls the george washington bridge, the busiest bridge in the world, responded to that apparent order by saying "got it." that was the most important thing that we knew before today. for color, before today, we also had mr. wildstein and somebody else unknown texting back and forth about their glee, their delight, that ft. lee, new jersey, had been turned into traffic hell for a week. that school buses were trapped in the gridlock and kids could not get to school on the first day of classes. they are the children of barbara buono voters. don't feel bad. they're the children of democrats. it is not wrong that you are smiling at the suffering that we have caused them. we had that before today. today, with release of more than 2,000 pages of documents, which the legislature obtained under subpoena in their investigation of the bridge shutdown, today we learned quite a bit more. after that mid-august instruction from governor christie's office that it was time to cook up something terrible for ft. lee in the form of

today from david wildstein. he is the at the center of the bridge scandal. he was called to testify in front of a new jersey legislative committee, but said nothing. >> on the advice of my council, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> and at the same time, this amazing scene was playing out, another amazing scene was finishing up in trenton, new jersey. governor christie broke his silence in an extraordinary press conference. he spoke for 1:48 minutes, apologizing to new jersey residents and taking the blame. he announced he fired his deputy chief of staff, the woman who e-mailed mr. wildstein. time for some traffic problems in ft. lee is what her e-mail said. and he announced his former campaign manager won't be taking over as the head of the new jersey republican party as planned. but the governor's bottom line, he had nothing to do with the scandal. >> i am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue. in its planning or its execution, an

wildstein who resigned from the port authority, the new jersey times ledger saying this, star ledger, i should say, wildstein claims there is documentary proof that the governor has been lying. if this proves to be true, then the governor must resign or be impeached because it will show that everything he said at his famous two-hour press conference was a lie. bureau chief is here. what do you think of all this? >> if you're in the middle of the scandal and you can't answer the question in two or three word, i didn't do it, no, you get into these long explanations where you're giving dates and times, you're in trouble. if you look at past scandals of anthony weiner and others they have these drawn-out processes where they give detailed answers and they have to come back and give a whole other set of answers. this is at least politically problematic for him. whether he's done anything wrong, is beside the point. >> no smoking gun by any means but politically you think he's in trouble? >> yeah, it's really creating this picture that a lot of people have always had about new jersey whic

don't know what the evidence that david wildstein is. the "new york times" puts on its web site a story that governor christie knew about the lane closures while they were taking place last year. and the evidence comes from a letter that was sent from the lawyers representing david wildstein who is a friend of governor christie, they went to high school together. he is the guy who ordered the lane closures on the world's busiest bridge, the george washington. and the lawyers are asking the port authority of new jersey to pay for some of his legal expenses. he has testified before a new jersey state committee and he is probably going to have to testify more in the future. now the telling paragraph comes right at the end where the lawyer acting for david wildstein says the following words: evidence exists as well tying this to christie to having knowledge of lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed. so what what we have here is a letter from wildstein's lawyers to the port authority in which they are claiming that evidence exists. earlier the phrase on the "new yor

wildstein. they notified him on friday he would have to be paying for his own defense in the chris christie bridgegate scandal in new jersey. doesn't matter that mr. wildstein was employed by the port authority. they say their bylaws prohibit them from paying david wildstein's legal bills while this matter is sorted out. that may mean that david wildstein may find himself on the hook for a ton of money in terms of his legal defense. but we learned that about him on friday. also on friday the port authority said they were still deciding whether they were going to do that same thing to bill baroni. the former republican state senator bill baroni, who is new jersey governor chris christie's top staff appointee to the port authority. he was david's boss there. they say there's no answer yet on if bill baroni is also on the hook for paying for his own legal defense. that question of whether or not bill baroni is going to be cast aside by the port authority the way the port authority has cast aside david wildstein turns out to be a super interesting question and a super interesting probl

developments and biggest revelations came from david wildstein, the former christie appointee who refused to testify at a hearing yesterday. the leading investigator says documents from wildstein refer to a meeting between governor christie and david sampson, the chairman of the port authority, the agency in charge of the bridge. the meeting took place just one week, just one week before christie's deputy chief of staff e-mailed, quote, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. the investigator says, quote, by submitting these documents, mr. wildstein is telling us they are related to their -- to the lane closures in some way. the question that demands answering is how. that's a very provocative question. was the christie meeting somehow related to the lane closures? we're going to speak to the assemblyman, asking that question in a moment. >>> also in these documents, we catch a glimpse of a fevered effort behind the scenes to keep this story quiet. when the lanes of traffic were reopened, a top christie appointee, who has since resigned said, quote, there can be no public discourse. and o

, the guy in the dark shirt and white shirt and red tie is david wildstein, the chris christie appointee to the authority who personally ork fiezed the shutdown of the bridge lanes when the government's chief of staff ordered time for traffic problems in ft. lee, it was david wildstein who said got it and he at the port authority secretly organized the traffic engineers and maintenance department and everybody else who had to be in on it to get those lanes shut down then he swore them all to secrecy in terms of not letting anybody in ft. lee what to know what hit him. it was david wildstein calling the mayor that little serbian, david wildstein said don't feel bad for those children stuck in the traffic jams in the first day and the first week of school in ft. lee, because those are the voters, the democratic candidate running against chris christie. david wildstein ordered radio silence as the response of complaints from the mayor and ft. lee officials even when they were complaining about delayed ambulances trying to get to injured people and people who were having heart atta

to retaliate. >> i'm convinced he had absolutely no knowledge of this. >> why would wildstein be lying about samson's involvement in a private e-mail he never thought would see the light of day? and why are so many people on your staff lying to you? >> what did i do wrong to have these folks think it was okay to lie to me? >> that's a good question. and finally, perhaps most importantly, if the people around you did this, what else have they been up to? >> how confident are you that this bullying tactic, this revenge, retribution tactic, did not go off -- >> i won't go out there and certify this unequivically. >> joining me, steve kornacki. one-time employee of david wildstein. i should say that for disclosure's sake. okay. there are so many questions from the governor's performance today. here's the first one i want to start with. that e-mail, that first e-mail that gets the ball rolling, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. let's say you believe the governor. he has no idea. wouldn't you be curious, like, how did that happen? how did that e-mail lead to this? what was the

e-mail was sent august 13 from the account of bridget anne kelly to david wildstein. one of the governor's top appointees at the agency that controls the bridge. got it, he replied. when the mayor of fort lee called about the xwrid lock, kelly then e-mailed wildstein to find out if anyone called him back. radio silence was the response. christie's critics questioning whether he was truly ignore an of the communications of his staff. they wanted an investigation. >> his statements and actions thus far have proven that he is not the straight shoot their he has claimed to be. and the questions -- require answers. he needs to step up and face the music and answer those questions. >> the other headache for dpof christie is he says he didn't know what was going on in his opponent office and that while he says he was misled by a member of his staff, the e-mails seem to suggest that others, including people at the port authority, may have had knowledge of what was going on. >> joe johns reporting live from washington. it tests some of the image issues facing christie. a tough-talking bu

between an unknown person and wildstein. is it wrong that i'm smiling? was texted to wildstein. no, he responded. the unknown person wrote, i feel badly about the kids, i guess. they are the children of beuono voters. last night, mark spoke about the incident and was asked about some of those e-mails. >> he has not reached out for me, but like i said don't reach out for me and don't do me any favors. you need to reach out to the families who were waiting for ambulances taking three times longer to get there. you need to reach out to the thousands of families that couldn't get their kids to school. >> i have to read this to you and get your response to it. we have david wildstein who since resigned saying a tough november for this little servant. do you have a response to that? >> david wildstein deserves an ass kicking. sorry. there i said it. >> yes he did. chris christie issued a statement saying, in part, what i've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. i'm outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropr

commemoration in new york. that official seen in the red tie is david wildstein, a central figure, the official who replied "got it" after an e-mail said "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." last week, here is what christie said about wildstein. >> i have had no contact with david wildstein in a long time. a long time, well before the election. you know, i could probably count on one hand the number of conversations i've had with david since he worked at the port authority. i did not interact with david. >> really? no interaction? because this certainly looks like interaction. "the journal" also reports two other bridge officials were there, bill baroni and david samson. keep in mind governor christie said he had no knowledge of any bridge problems until at least three weeks later. if we are to believe christie, it means none of these officials said something to him, despite complaints from residents. e-mails reveal half a dozen angry calls on the first day of the closings, including one who accused the agency in charge of the bridge of playing god with people's jobs. a day lat

the questions in the immediate feature. next up we have david wildstein. this is the guy who used to be my boss, gave me my start in journalism. he's one of those people whose records were subpoenaed. now david wildstein we signed from the port authority a month ago. if you've heard about him or read about him, you've heard him described as christi's long-time friend or high school buddy. here is what christie had to say about that on thursday. >> david open i were not friends in high school. were not even acquaintances in high school. we didn't travel in the same circles in high school. i was the class president and athlete. i don't know what david was doing during that period of time. >> here's what i can say about that. i can pretty much vouch for that. because no one who knew christie and wildstein in their high school days describes them as friends from back then. i can tell you that when i worked with wildstein, tl was never any reason for me to suspect that he had any kind of a relationship with chris christie. we were tough on chris christie plenty of time. more to the point,

he has to worry about are some really strong clues that emerged yesterday that david wildstein, his appointee to the port authority who took the fifth amendment rather than testify has got some bombshells to unload. at the very end of that testimony, this got overlooked yesterday. the democratic chairman was outlining all the unanswered questions that the committee still has about what christie and his people knew and when they knew it. and then wildstein's lawyer says well, if my client gets immunity from the u.s. attorney, from the new york authorities and new jersey authority, you'll get the answers to your questions. that's a very subtle hint. we've got a story to tell here, but we need immunity to tell it first. in short, is david wildstein the john dean of this affair? >> yeah. >> one other clue that got overlooked yesterday, those documents that have been turned over by wildstein, those e-mails, those incredibly damaging e-mails, they have all those deletions because the subpoena only called for documents responsive to the traffic closures, to the issue at question. well, whi

overstated. then you have baroni and wildstein retire right after this thing originally happens. why did they both retire at that time? why weren't any questions asked then? so responsibility and accountability is going to be a continuing situation for the governor to deal with. >> yeah. jake tapper wants to weigh in on that specific point. >> two points, in terms of durability first of all we should say cnn has researched this and there are other legendary long press conferences when politicians were in something of a pickle and felt the best thing to do was to get out there and give it all. john mccain when he was in the keating five scandal. that was a 90-minute press conference. geraldine ferraro, 90 minutes. this was 108 minutes. this was longer than those two press conferences. so in terms of duration there's historical reference. one thing i wanted to say about these e-mails just to touch on a point chris made which is all of these e-mails are sent on private e-mail accounts or on text messages presumably from phones. so obviously the governor said they didn't do a thorough invest

christie's former appointee, david wildstein. now, quote, mr. wildstein made it clear that he would control the communication about the toll lanes closures. mr. wildstein failed to inform or brief the executive director. so they're pointing fingers at wildstein. what do you make of this, mr. johnson? >> well, when we get the subpoenaed information, these texts that were out there and e-mails, as you know, when we began this process early on, we thought it originated in the port authority. after getting the information that was subpoenaed at the prior meeting, during the prior year, e-mails led us to the office of the governor's office. the office of the governor. so it's this -- it's going to be an interesting investigation, and it's going to be a church investigation that we put forth here. so who knows where we're going to find up. and i stated before, this is just the beginning of this process, these 20 subpoenas for informational subpoenas. >> even though we're now at the very beginning of the subpoenas going out, do you feel that this rests, a lot of it, in the hands of david w

. obviously she will take the fifth amendment. >> i would offer her immunity. she or wildstein would be the plump person to offer immunity to. and she's the person who's zeroed in on as the scapegoat. chris christie very carefully and very lawyerly fashion said she terminated him because she lied to me. knew nothing about an advance saying she lied to him. during this come to gee zest meeting, if anybody has the information don't tell me, tell my lawyer. tell my council or tell my chief of staff within an hour. >> he told two different versions of that in the press conference. that's the first version. that was the prepared version. then an hour later in the press conference he said tell me or those two. he included himself in that possibility. we don't know which one is the true version. or if either one of him is true. they could both be false. but the really tuning -- stunning thing is where would we be tonight if chris christie upon reading her e-mail the way he says he did that morning said to her, called her, got her in the office, said to her, explain this. where would we be? >> and

are close to christie. wildstein is a high school friend and both men were forced to resign after the story became public. this morning the bergen record published emails between bridgett ann kelly and mr. wildstein who ordered the lanes closed. the campaign manager were copied on other emails after the lanes was re-opened. back in august a month before the bridge closure, christie's deputy chief of staff emailed mr. wildstein quote, time for some traffic problems in fort lee. he wrote back. got it. today new jersey democrats said the case might call for criminal charges or federal investigation. but the assemblyman investigating said the documents do make one thing clear. >> they call into serious question the honesty of this governor and his staff. as a result of what has been revealed today this governor has a lot of explaining to do. so many questions remain unanswered. >> governor christie cancelled an event scheduled for this morning and late this afternoon put out this statement. quote, what i've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. i am outraged and deeply sadden

left that urgent message? david wildstein responded that the mayor of ft. lee would not be getting his calls returned. "radio silence." his name comes right after mayor fulop. mayor steven fulop from jersey city. we now know what became of mayor fulop. you live in jersey city, you're worried about your town's recovery from sandy there, maybe the effect of it on your business and family. well, your town was going to get some personalized attention to help with those matters, but now, no. screw you, jersey city. fend for yourself. your mayor didn't kiss the ring. now the town will pay. and it goes to pattern, right? as the investigations into the bridge scandal continue, the jersey city saga that had been alleged in the past but that was proven today by the release of these e-mails, it shows at work governor chris christie's patented technique for governing his state. at the very least, it shows that political retribution is part in parcel of how governor christie rules. which means do not believe his spin on these issues. >> this is not the tone that i've set over the last four year

what was going on with that bridge david wildstein. here's a clip of him testifying today before the new jersey assembly. that document. refers to a meeting with port authority chairman david samson as a not. on the advice of counsel i assert my right to remain silent. and that also refers to a meeting with the governor of the same day. mr chairman the advice of counsel i assert my right to remain silent now here's a clip of bobby kennedy questioning lewis fronto during the mcclellan hearings check the. very. very hard. and the audio that for some reason has really screwed up but is new jersey politics is starting to really resemble you know the old mafia. style and that's what happened i. i think what you're what you're seeing here is is a character that his background is one of a u.s. attorney and he was always the one pushing people around and all of a sudden he understands you don't push people around without there being some ramifications listen here if you really honestly look at this story his position is i didn't know now this was this this wildstein fellow this david wil

. here he is last june. the other two in the picture are david wildstein, who orchestrated the shutdown of the bridge. also bill baroni who lied to the state assembly about it and told them it was for a traffic study. both of those men have already resigned because of the scandal. david samson has not and says he will not. he's head of the port authority, chairman. he is christie's top political appointee. we've reported on this show about how some of david sampson's behavior surrounding the shutdown remains unexplained and odd. the most odd is his public behavior concerning this traffic disaster, which we now know was man-made and engineered for political purposes, the contrast between his behavior surrounding that shutdown and a similar traffic disaster that happened on another bridge back in 2011 on easter sunday. that traffic jam was also caused by the port authority by a shortage of toll takers in that case. but there's no indication that one was done on purpose. when that traffic disaster happened on easter sunday 2011, david sampson, as port authority chairman was publicly furiou