Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelley: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” According to The Record, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of three deputies on Christie’s senior staff, wrote to David Wildstein, a top Christie executive at the Port Authority, on Aug. 13, about three weeks before the closures. Wildstein, the official who ordered the closures and who resigned last month amid the escalating scandal, wrote back: “Got it.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Wildstein: “Radio silence.” According to The Record, “On Sept. 9, the first morning of the lane closures, Kelly asked in an e-mail if Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s numerous calls to Port Authority officials had been returned. ‘Radio silence,’ Wildstein replied. ‘His name comes right after mayor Fulop,’ an apparent reference to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who also said this week that the Christie administration had retaliated against him last year because he didn’t endorse the governor for re-election.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Wildstein: “They are the children of Buono voters.” According to The Record, “In one exchange of text messages on the second day of the lane closures, Wildstein alludes to messages the Fort Lee mayor had left complaining that school buses were having trouble getting through the traffic. ‘Is it wrong that I’m smiling,’ the recipient of the text message responded to Wildstein. The person’s identity is not clear because the documents are partially redacted for unknown reasons. ‘No,’ Wildstein wrote in response. ‘I feel badly about the kids,’ the person replied to Wildstein. ‘I guess.’ ‘They are the children of Buono voters,’ Wildstein wrote, making a reference to Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for governor, who lost to Christie in a landslide in November.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien: “The mayor [of Fort Lee] is an idiot.” According to The Record, “Christie’s campaign manager exchanged messages with Wildstein the next day, and he blamed the Fort Lee mayor. ‘The mayor is an idiot,’ Bill Stepien, Christie’s campaign manager, wrote to Wildstein on Sept. 18, in reaction to the Wall Street Journal story about local officials’ complaints. ‘When (sic) some, lose some,’ Stepien wrote.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Wildstein: “It will be a tough November for this little Serbian.” According to The Record, “Wildstein responded to Stepien: ‘It will be a tough November for this little Serbian,’ an apparent reference to the Fort Lee mayor, who Baroni also referred to as ‘Serbia’ in text messages. Stepien was promoted earlier this week to chairman of the state Republican Party and is an advisor to the Republican Governors Association, which Christie now leads.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Wildstein: “I feel terrible that I’m causing you so much stress this close to November.” According to The Record,
“When a media report appeared in early October revealing that Foye, the New York appointee, had privately called the lane closures ‘abusive’ and possibly illegal in an internal e-mail, Wildstein wrote to Stepien again. It was five weeks before the election. ‘I feel terrible that I’m causing you so much stress this close to November,’ Wildstein wrote.” [The Record, 1/8/14]
Wildstein: “You did great.” According to The Record, “The bridge scandal did not pick up steam until after the election. Baroni testified in late November, before the same legislative panel leading the investigation, that the lane closures were part of a traffic study. He was not under oath. Baroni, the records show, was concerned about whether the governor’s office thought he performed well during his testimony on Nov. 25. ‘You did great,’ Wildstein wrote to Baroni. ‘Trenton feedback?’ Baroni asked in response. ‘Good,’ Wildstein responded. ‘Just good? Shit.’ Baroni replied. Wildstein later clarified that three people in Trenton, who he referred to only by their first names, thought he did ‘great.’” [The Record, 1/8/14]