Christie “knew this was bull****” and “obviously there’s been a coverup,” N.J. ex-gov tells Salon

[kpete]

Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey blasted Gov. Chris Christie Thursday, telling Salon “obviously there’s been a coverup” in the scandal over lane closures allegedly orchestrated to punish a mayor who didn’t endorse him. “There’s a lot of crimes committed here,” charged Codey, saying that while he didn’t believe Christie personally ordered the alleged retribution, “the governor should just be totally destroyed” over the “arrogance” apparent in appointees’ emails released on Wednesday. Codey, now a state senator, urged Christie to “take responsibility” for a “reign of terror” that led his allies to take vengeance on the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.

While Christie said in a two-hour press conference Thursday that “there still may have been a traffic study that now has political overtones to it as well,” Codey called that “phony,” and said, “Come on, you knew this was bullshit.” While Christie told reporters “This is the exception, not the rule,” Codey pointed to past episodes of alleged vengeance, including the governor’s refusal to fund a postpartum depression program championed by Codey’s wife. “This has been an ongoing part of the administration,” charged Codey, “the way they attack anybody who doesn’t agree with them, on policy or anything else.” A spokesperson for Christie did not respond to a Thursday afternoon request for comment.

A condensed version of our conversation with Codey follows.
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/10/christie_knew_this_was_bull_and_obviously_there%E2%80%99s_been_a_coverup_n_j_ex_gov_tells_salon/

[livetohike]

1. The dripping begins. Might as well do this and make ourselves comfortable.

[yeoman6987]

2. Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey

I never heard of him. Is his words going to carry some weight to this story? I hope so.

[BeyondGeography]

3. He's very popular/well-known in NJ

The answer is yes.

[monmouth3]

8. Back in the day my grandmother and her sisters all Irish immigrants and the aunts were "in service"

all knew the Cody name. He was the funeral director and would take weekly or monthly payments ahead of time for my aunts to bury them when the time came. I can still see my Aunt Delia walking to the Cody funeral home to make a payment. I think the grandfather would tell them they were "paid up" long before they were but that was the type of reputation he had. The Codey name was revered in the Montclair area for years and buried all of the family..

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There were rolling Democratic "actings" when Shrub tapped Whitman.

I don't even think Jerseys could keep track...

[Laxman]

7. Codey actually served a substantial part of

McGreevy's unexpired term when he resigned.

[Laxman]

5. Codey is the greatest!

He should have run against Christie. He is on the outs with all of the democrats who backed Christie in the last election. They tried to take him and his allies down, but they couldn't do it.

[smokey nj]

9. Richard Codey is the anti-Christie.

He's a good and decent man and I wish he'd run for governor in 2005 instead of Corzine.

[Laxman]

11. And he would have won!

He even had substantial popularity with Republicans.

[smokey nj]

12. Indeed.

[ProSense]

6. "And who do you believe was involved in a 'coverup'?"

And who do you believe was involved in a “coverup”?

A lot more people than just Ms. Kelly, Mr. Weinstein and Mr. Baroni, who obviously lied. There’s malfeasance here. Anybody who knew about it and didn’t try to stop it is obviously guilty of malfeasance.

So you have interference with interstate commerce. There’s a lot of crimes committed here. And the arrogance of those emails goes beyond the pale. The governor should just be totally destroyed over that kind of arrogance, directed to the citizens of the state where he is the leading figure — the governor. It’s just sad — sad and pathetic — that people thought, obviously, that this is what the governor would want.

This is Christie's biggest problem. While no one wants to directly accuse him of being involved, it's ridiculous to believe that Kelly acted on her own. No one buys that.

I mean, Christie said Kelly lied to him, and he fired her. He also said that he has no idea who initiated the action. Who is (are) the invisible member(s) of the "family"with enough authority to get the Port Authority to act?

Christie: 'I Don't Know' Who Initiated Bridge Lane Closures

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Thursday that he didn't know who initiated the George Washington Bridge lane closures, though it has been revealed that members of his staff were likely involved.

"I don't know," Christie said when asked point-blank. "I guess time will tell, but clearly there was knowledge of this action, whatever it was, prior to the beginning of it with Bridget Kelly."

"I was lied to. For that, she's been terminated."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-who-initiated

If Christie didn’t know, why was his reelection staff involved in damage control?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024307011#post6

[stevenleser]

10. Absolutely. IM-FRIGGIN-POSSIBLE that Christie didn't check into why this happened before now.

Even if he didn't order it, which I think he did, he has known about what happened for a while and participated in a cover-up.

[Aerows]

13. There's no way he didn't know about this

and while I believe he ordered it, even if he didn't, he sure as hell knew about it.