Presidential races

Dems: Christie should resign from Trump team

by Harper Neidig

Democrats on Friday called for Chris Christie to step down as the head of Donald Trump’s transition team in the wake of the New Jersey governor’s allies being convicted for their role in the “Bridgegate” scandal.

Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told reporters that Trump should be worried about “draining his own swamp,” a reference to a phrase the GOP presidential nominee has used on the campaign trail recently.
 
{mosads}“His two top aides today were just convicted of corruption for political intimidation, so rather than just crisscrossing the country and hopscotching and talking about cleaning up the swamp, he might start by draining his own swamp and asking Mr. Christie to resign as the head of his transition,” Podesta said, according to reporters who were present.

“How can Trump trust Christie’s judgment to hire the key staff for his administration if four of his top aides have been found guilty of federal crimes?” Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesman Mark Paustenbach said in a statement.

“Governor Christie needs to immediately step down as Trump’s transition chair and cancel his remaining appearances on behalf of the Trump Campaign,” he added.
 
Three former officials have been convicted for their roles in the 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. A fourth, former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official David Samson, pleaded guilty in July to using his influence to persuade an airline to maintain nonstop service from New Jersey to South Carolina, where he had a summer home.
 
Bill Baroni, a former official at the Port Authority; and Bridget Anne Kelly, who was Christie’s deputy chief of staff, were convicted of conspiracy and fraud charges on Friday for their role in the closing lanes in 2013 to exact retribution on one of Christie’s political foes.

In a statement, Christie said the verdict validated his decision to fire the two allies and maintained that he was not involved in the scheme.

“Let me be clear once again, I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments and had no role in authorizing them,” he said. “No believable evidence was presented to contradict that fact. Anything said to the contrary over the past six weeks in court is simply untrue.” 

Kelly and David Wildstein, another Christie ally who previously pleaded guilty for his role in the scandal, both testified that the governor knew about lane closure scheme.

“The fact that Christie’s name is frequently floated as a potential Attorney General in a Trump administration should tell you all you need to know about Trump’s tolerance for unethical behavior,” Paustenbach said. “By continuing to employ and stand by Governor Christie, Donald Trump’s promises to ‘drain the swamp’ ring hollow.”

The DNC also needled Christie by pointing to a video of Trump claiming that Christie “totally knew about” the lane closures from when the two were competing the for the presidential nomination.

Updated at 4:50 p.m.

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