The internal investigators hired by the Christie administration officially exonerated New Jersey’s Republican governor yesterday after reviewing some 250,000 documents and interviewing 70 witnesses. Today Gov. Christie delivered a brief statement to the press about the report, professing his innocence and thanking investigators for their diligence and hard work. He also announced that one key suspect involved in the lane closings, David Samson, had resigned.
Chris Christie on Friday announced that Port Authority Chairman David Samson has resigned in the wake of the traffic scandal that has engulfed the New Jersey governor’s administration.
His comments came at the first news conference Christie has held since fielding questions in the immediate wake of January’s explosive revelations about “Bridgegate.”
“David tendered his resignation to me this afternoon, effective immediately,” he said.
Christie said that Samson has been weighing leaving for a while, but that following the release of the internal probe’s results, Samson saw an opportunity for “new leadership.”
“As for the recommendations,” he also added, “I’m fully embracing the recommendations as they pertain to my office.”
Then, after finishing his prepared remarks, he opened the floor up to questions. Of course, he made it abundantly clear to the media he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“The fact of the matter is that I had nothing to do with this, as I said from the beginning, and this report has supported exactly what I said,” he intoned. “And in the long sweep of things, any voters, if they consider this issue at all, in considering my candidacy -- if there ever is one at all -- I’ve got a feeling it’ll be a small element of it, if any element at all.”
Christie later said he thinks the report will “stand the test of time,” and that he doesn’t have “any second thoughts” about the report itself -- or the way in which it was conducted.