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Bridgegate scandal in full swing

by HALEY MILLAN Editor-in-chief

New Jersey governor Chris Christie continues to stand in hot water as the investigation of the ‘bridgegate’ scandal carries on.

Former Port Authority official David Wildstein, who oversaw the lane closings, says “evidence exists” that the governor had some knowledge about the closing of the lanes on the George Washington Bridge on September 9, 2013, though the evidence has not be specified.

On the same day that the lawyer of Wildstein released the previous statement, a member of Christie’s administration, Christina Genovese Renna, announced that she will resigned through a statement to the Associated Press. Renna is among the 17 people who are being subpoenaed by the legislative panel.

Christie’s former top aid, Bridget Anne Kelly, and her boss, Bill Stepien, were both fired by Christie himself. Both have claimed their Fifth Amendment rights and will not hand over any documents in response to the subpoena. Kelly is the official who sent the email to Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

Overall, there are 20 people and organizations that have to comply to with subpoenas. A subpoena is a document that requires its recipient to appear in court as a witness.

Adding some more controversy to the pot, Christie’s campaign is asking permission to exceed their spending cap to pay the lawyers handling the subpoenas. The campaign has said that if they cannot pay the lawyers, the subpoenas will not be answered.

In a consulting firm of one of Christie’s advisers, an attorney was hired to sort through the growing issues. Mercury Public Affairs hired a lawyer because the subpoenas have been given to a widespread number of people, including members of Christie’s reelection campaign from last fall.

Senior Melissa Pontoriero says, “I cannot believe all of this is happening to Christie and his administration. People are losing their jobs and have the reputation ruined because of one spiteful event. They really didn’t think this fully through.”

Christie continues to deny any allegations that he had prior knowledge to the lane closings; he claimed during a news conference that he found out about the closings through the media and was under the impression that it was a traffic study. His team has also said that Wildstein “will do and say anything to save David Wildstein.”

“I really hope that Christie is not found to be a part of this mess. I do not want our governor to be involved with such shady business. It is also going to really hurt his campaign for the 2016 presidential election, if he even ends up running after all of this,” says senior Evan Kane.

With all of this drama, many people are concerned that Christie will not have a successful presidential campaign if he decides to run in 2016. It seems that the longer this scandal goes on, the worse it looks for Christie. However, others have full trust and faith in Christie, and believe he will be fully prepared to take on the presidential election of 2016.

Do you think Christie is telling the truth?

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