Chris Christie update: More subpoenas and more worried donors

The New Jersey state committee investigating Bridgegate demands more answers from the embattled GOP governor

Published February 11, 2014 1:55PM (EST)

You'd think New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could not possibly have a worse month than he did in January. Yet February, too, is off to a rocky start. And with the state committee investigating Bridgegate seeking further answers while Christie continues his fundraising tour for the Republican Governors Association, there's every indication that the worst may be yet to come.

Here's what you need to know:

  • The state committee charged with investigating Bridgegate authorized 18 more subpoenas on Monday. Recipients include Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director at the Port Authority; Bridget Anne Kelly, the former Christie aide who ordered the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge; and the New Jersey State Police aviation unit, which controls Christie's helicopters. Investigators want to see Christie's helicopter flight records in order to determine whether he flew over the traffic snarl in Fort Lee while it was happening last September.
  • According to the Bergen Record, lawyers representing the Christie administration have asked Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer to hand over documents relating to Zimmer's charge that Christie threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy relief funds unless she agreed to approve a private development deal. Christie's lawyers want to see the documents Zimmer has already given to federal investigators, and have asked to have an interview with Zimmer, too. Mayor Zimmer declined their invitation.
  • Meanwhile, on the political front, the RGA has announced that, under Christie's stewardship, it hit a monthly fundraising record in January. Politico calls the release "unusual," however, and claims that the RGA usually doesn't release fundraising announcements very often. The RGA claims it raised $6 million during the month of January; so maybe Joe Scarborough will stop urging his friend to step down as RGA chair?
  • It's not all good news for Christie when it comes to raising money, though: A report from the Associated Press says that "key donors" in "key states" are starting to think twice about whether Christie is a good bet for 2016.
  • A former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer will be writing a biography of Christie, set to be released in 2015.
  • You know those Facebook year-in-review videos everyone's sharing as of late? Well, the Democratic National Committee made one of their own, except theirs focuses on just one month, and the subject is Christie. You can see the video below.


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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