President Trump on Sunday raised the possibility of launching a criminal probe into former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and his alleged involvement in the “Bridgegate” scandal of 2013.
Trump threatened an investigation against his former ally-turned-foe in a post on the Truth Social platform on Sunday, after watching Christie’s Sunday morning appearance on ABC News’s “This Week.”
“Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says? Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him, including a young mother, who spent years trying to fight off the vicious charges against her,” Trump wrote in a post.
“Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts,” the president continued. “For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
Christie was never implicated in the 2013 scandal, which saw two of Christie’s allies convicted and sentenced to prison for their role in a scheme to punish a local Democratic mayor who refused to back Christie’s reelection bid.
The aides were accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to create traffic problems for the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J. They faced charges including conspiracy, fraud and deprivation of civil rights.
Prosecutors never sought criminal charges against Christie, saying they could not prove criminal misconduct “beyond a reasonable doubt” and could not prove Christie knew about the lane closures. Christie consistently maintained his innocence.
The Supreme Court in 2020 ultimately threw out the convictions against both of the former aides, ruling in a unanimous decision that, while the scheme involved deception and corruption, it did not violate federal law.
Trump touted the ruling at the time, declaring it “a complete and total exoneration” for Christie — his ally at the time — and others involved, while blasting what he called “grave misconduct by the Obama Justice Department.”
Christie similarly applauded the decision in 2020, saying it was a welcome rebuke to an overzealous federal prosecutor.
“This case was driven by a U.S. Attorney and Justice Department in search of a predetermined and biased outcome,” Christie said in a statement. “In recklessly pursuing that outcome, they violated the oath sworn by every member of the Department of Justice.”
Source: The Hill - News
