The 360-page report > was released on March 27, and Gov. Christie held a press conference the next day. 
cover letter | summary PDFs  ...plus reactions and pre-actions, below.

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
Press Conference
Trenton, NJ
Friday, March 28, 2014

Governor Christie: Good afternoon everybody.

On Wednesday I received the report from the review team at Gibson Dunn on Wednesday, and on Thursday—Wednesday and Thursday I reviewed the report, both its findings and its recommendations.

It's an exhaustive report that follows the mandate that I set out when we commissioned the review. One thing was clear from the beginning. I told them to find the truth no matter where it led and to turn over every rock that they were able to get to in order to get to the bottom of what happened and to let me know what the truth was.

They conducted over 70 interviews, reviewed over 250,000 documents, and had access to both the personal and business devices, e-mails and texts of my current and former senior staffers, of the Lieutenant Governor, and of me, and consistent with the call that I made in January, we made the report public as soon as we received it.

I want to thank Randy Mastro and his team of former federal prosecutors and other members of Gibson Dunn for the extraordinary amount of work that they did in a relatively short period of time.

As for the recommendations I'm fully embracing the reforms as it pertains to my office. It has been my resolve from the beginning to learn from this and to do whatever we can to be better, to be a better governor, to be a better staff, and to be a better administration. We owe that to the people of New Jersey and that's what I will attempt to deliver. There will be further announcements in the coming weeks as we work to effectively implement these recommendations and their structure and to find the best possible people to fill these roles.

As to the Port Authority, I agree with the main thrust of the report and the need for fundamental structural change at the Port Authority. I'm particularly intrigued by the idea of dismantling the Port Authority operations from under one roof to two. I think the report is replete with examples of the New York-New Jersey rivalries which have allowed this place not to work as one but to ineffectively work as two. I intend to work with Governor Cuomo to further explore these recommendations and other ideas to bring a new day to the Port Authority.

Lastly I received a call from David Samson who informed me that after reviewing the Mastro report that he completely supports the recommendations laid out for the Port Authority and that he believes that the best way to start a new era at the Port Authority is with new leadership. In line with that belief, David tendered his resignation to me this afternoon effective immediately. I want to thank him for his service and his friendship. I look forward to discussing with Governor Cuomo ushering in a new era at the Port Authority in light of the recent events, past history, and the recommendations laid out in the Mastro report.

Questions...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZx8pD_iPQM

---

REACTIONS
from American Bridge
March 27, 2014

Gwen Rocco, Ccmmunications Director:

The press conference today and accompanying report supposedly exonerating Chris Christie of any wrongdoing in the Bridgegate scandal make quite a few leaps of faith when it comes to accepting Christie's self defense at face value, and leaves even more questions unanswered. Given that no original documents were released along with the report, and despite the $1 million price tag for New Jersey taxpayers of this investigation, we're left with few answers and only more questions about Chris Christie's involvement in this scandal. Here are our top five:

5) When will the Christie administration publicly release all of the documentation they handed over to their attorneys for this sham investigation? Will the evidence provided for this investigation be turned over to the legislative committee investigating Bridegate?

---

Statement from Democratic National Committee
March 27, 2014

DNC response to Christie’s Bridgegate report

From Mo Elleithee, DNC Communications Director:

“Chris Christie spent a million taxpayer dollars in an effort to clear himself of wrongdoing. But what did we actually learn today? Not much.

“For a million taxpayer dollars, we heard a lot of things that we already knew – that there was a troubling culture in Christie’s office that led to the lane closures. That there was a months-long cover-up by close Christie aides and allies. That Christie’s office broke the public trust. That  Christie denied involvement, despite claims from David Wildstein to the contrary. That the Christie practice of bullying and attacking  those who challenge him and scrutinize his administration continues.

“What we didn’t get for that hefty price tag to New Jersey taxpayers were any interviews with the key figures who executed the plan or any insight into why this happened.  There was  no real evidence, no real findings, no real answers, and definitely no exoneration.

“This report was nothing more than an expensive sham.”

---

---

PREACTIONS
Backgrounder from American Bridge
March 27, 2014

What You Need to Know Before Chris Christie "Clears" Himself

Background

Christie Wasted $1M In Taxpayer Dollars On His Internal Investigation

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Earned At Least $1 Million In Legal Fees For Conducting Internal Investigation, Paid With Taxpayer Funds. According to the New York Times, “With his office suddenly engulfed in scandal over lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey two months ago summoned a pair of top defense lawyers from an elite law firm to the State House and asked them to undertake an extensive review of what had gone wrong. Now, after 70 interviews and at least $1 million in legal fees to be paid by state taxpayers, that review is set to be released, and according to people with firsthand knowledge of the inquiry, it has uncovered no evidence that the governor was involved in the plotting or directing of the lane closings. The review is the first of multiple inquiries into a scandal that has jeopardized Mr. Christie’s political future. It will be viewed with intense skepticism, not only because it was commissioned by the governor but also because the firm conducting it, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, has close ties to the Christie administration and the firm’s lawyers were unable to interview three principal players in the shutdowns, including Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff.” [New York Times, 3/23/14]

 

Star-Ledger Editorial: New Jersey Paid $1 Million For Christie To Declare He Knew Nothing. According to an editorial in the Star-Ledger, “It cost New Jersey taxpayers at least a million bucks, but here’s what we finally know for a fact: Gov. Chris Christie’s lawyers think he’s innocent. He knew nothing — nothing! — about those controversial lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in September. That’s the official conclusion of their internal investigation, the actual content of which we have yet to see” [Editorial- Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

 

Star-Ledger Editorial: Investigation Was Christie’s “Overpriced Artificial Knockoff” Investigation. According to an editorial in the Star-Ledger, “And thanks to that diligence, taxpayers are now paying for the same thing three times: Once for a real investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office, again for the Legislature’s probe on behalf of New Jerseyans, and now for the governor’s overpriced, artificial knockoff.” [Editorial-Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

 

Christie’s Investigation Failed To Speak With Key Players

 

Christie’s Investigation Failed To Interview The Three Key Players In Bridgegate – Bridget anne Kelly, Bill Stepien, And David Wildstein. According to the Star-Ledger, “But Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) insisted that without speaking to three crucial sources — Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff; Bill Stepien, a two-time campaign manager for Christie; and David Wildstein, a high-ranking official of the Port of New York and New Jersey — the report, which reportedly cost more than $1 million at the taxpayers' expense, was flawed and inconsequential. ‘It does not include information from Ms. Kelly,’ he said. ‘It can’t be a complete investigation.’ Wisniewski said the investigation, which was conducted by a team of lawyers headed by Randy Mastro, a litigation partner at Gibson Dunn and a former assistant U.S. Attorney, must be questioned. ‘If we don’t hear from the person who put the lane closures into motion, Bridget Kelly, who we know sent the email ‘Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee’ ... if we don’t know why she sent that email, if we don’t know who gave her the authority to send that email, if we don’t know what she thought she may be accomplishing by sending that email, then we can’t have a complete picture of what happened here,’ he said.” [Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

 

Star-Ledger Editorial: Us Attorney Chris Christie Would Not Have Taken This Internal Investigation Seriously. According to an editorial in the Star-Ledger, “Imagine what U.S. Attorney Chris Christie would have said. We’re guessing nothing — he would have laughed. Can you imagine him deciding not to indict somebody because an internal probe had found the person innocent? Surely he’d be skeptical about a lawyer like Randy Mastro, leading an investigation into a governor he’s politically tied to. Mastro’s firm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, has long served as Christie’s private counsel. And Mastro himself represented the Port Authority, the agency that created those traffic problems in Fort Lee. That’s a huge conflict of interest.” [Editorial-Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

 

Christie Administration Gave Their Lawyers Private Documents tO Construct Their Report, But Refused To Give Those Same Documents To Official Investigators In Response To Subpoenas

 

Christie’s Administration Failed To Comply With The State Legislative Subpoena For Documents On Bridgegate –Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Attorneys Used That Same Secret Information To Construct Their Report. According to the Star-Ledger, “Wisniewski also complained that his special committee had apparently received very little, if any, of the information relied upon by Mastro’s team, as described in The Times’ article. Wisniewski said his bi-partisan committee had issued a broad subpoena to Christie’s office, but had largely received summaries of media reports possessed by the governor’s office. ‘It certainly sounds like he (Mastro) has had more thorough access and complete access to the records than the records that he himself has turned over to the legislature,’ Wisniewski said, adding ‘A vast majority of the pages consists of press summaries.’ Wisniewski continued, ‘I hope that he (Mastro) has more information than he has provided us ... If he has more information, than why hasn’t he responded and shared the information per the subpoena issued to the office of the governor.’” [Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

·       Co-Chairman Of State Legislative Investigation Said That “A Vast Majority” Of The Christie Administration’s Submissions To The State Legislature “Consists Of Press Summaries.” According to the Star-Ledger, “Wisniewski said his bi-partisan committee had issued a broad subpoena to Christie’s office, but had largely received summaries of media reports possessed by the governor’s office. ‘It certainly sounds like he (Mastro) has had more thorough access and complete access to the records than the records that he himself has turned over to the legislature,’ Wisniewski said, adding ‘A vast majority of the pages consists of press summaries.’” [Star-Ledger, 3/24/14]

Law Firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Had Close Ties To Christie

 

Christie Administration Retained Law Firm Of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher To Conduct Internal Investigation Into Fort Lee Lane Closure Scandal. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Christie administration and the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, have each retained prominent legal counsel in the wake of the controversy surrounding the lane closures leading up to the George Washington Bridge. Gov. Chris Christie’s administration is retaining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a firm with 18 offices internationally, to help with an internal review into the lane closures and outside investigations that have been opened into the matter, a spokesman said. ‘Governor Christie made clear last week that he will conduct an internal review to uncover the facts surrounding the lane closures in Fort Lee,’ the administration said in a statement released Thursday, referring to the New Jersey borough that sits on the western end of the bridge. The firm will ‘review best practices for office operations and information flow, and assist with document retention and production,’ the statement read.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/16/14]

 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher “Has Long Served As Mr. Christie’s Private Counsel.” According to the New York Times, “Mr. Mastro, whom the statement characterized as an “outside, third-party perspective,” was an assistant United States attorney under Mr. Giuliani in New York, and later served as a deputy mayor. He now works for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, which has long served as Mr. Christie’s private counsel.” [New York Times, 1/16/14]

 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Possessed “Close Ties To The Christie Administration.” According to the New York Times, “The review is the first of multiple inquiries into a scandal that has jeopardized Mr. Christie’s political future. It will be viewed with intense skepticism, not only because it was commissioned by the governor but also because the firm conducting it, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, has close ties to the Christie administration and the firm’s lawyers were unable to interview three principal players in the shutdowns, including Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff.” [New York Times, 3/23/14]

 

Debra Wong Yang

 

Christie Was “Friendly” With Debra Wong Yang, A Top Partner At Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher And Another Former U.S. Attorney. According to the New York Times, “Gibson Dunn has worked for the administration in the past, and Mr. Christie is friendly with a top partner there, Debra Wong Yang, who like him was appointed United States attorney by President George W. Bush in the early 2000s. In mid-January, after emails emerged showing that Mr. Christie’s aides had carried out the lane closings, the governor requested a meeting with Ms. Yang, and Mr. Mastro, a high-profile litigator who had served as a deputy mayor in the administration of Rudolph W. Giuliani and had never before met Mr. Christie.” [New York Times, 3/23/14]

 

·       Yang Was Co-Chair Of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s White-Collar Defense And Investigations Practice Group, And Personally Worked On The Firm’s Christie Administration Team. According to the New Republic, “And now Christie has hired her firm, where she is co-chair of the white-collar defense and investigations practice group, to lead the taxpayer-funded inquiry into his administration. In fact, Yang is part of the team working on the case, according to Randy Mastro, the former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani who is leading the team for Gibson Dunn.” [New Republic, 3/24/14]

 

Yang Was “A Loyal Republican With Close Ties To Alberto Gonzalez.” According to the New Republic, “Her selection as a corporate monitor by Christie had raised fewer questions than the others, beyond the fact that she was a loyal Republican with close ties to Alberto Gonzales, who succeeded Ashcroft as attorney general.” [New Republic, 3/24/14]

Yang Introduced Christie At An Event In 2011 As A “Very Dear Friend” And “Truly The Real Deal.” According to the New Republic, “But as the Star-Ledger of Newark recently noted, Yang had in 2011 introduced Christie at a 2011 event in New York in glowing terms that suggested their association went beyond being merely fellow former prosecutors, describing him as her ‘very dear friend’ and ‘truly the real deal.’” [New Republic, 3/24/14]

 

Yang Received One Of Several “Highly Lucrative Contracts” From U.S. Attorney’s Office Under Christie As Part Of “Deferred Prosecution Agreement” To Monitor Medical Device Makers Settlement. According to the New Republic, “What the article does not note is that Debra Wong Yang was one of six lawyers who received highly lucrative contracts from then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in 2007 to monitor a half-dozen medical device makers as part of a ‘deferred prosecution agreement’ he reached with the companies after an inquiry into allegedly fraudulent billing practices. […] And another, the amount of which has never been disclosed, went to Yang, who had in 2002 become the first ever Asian-American woman to be named U.S. Attorney.” [New Republic, 3/24/14]

 

Christie Was "Widely Criticized" As US Attorney For "Giving Political Allies Highly Lucrative Appointments As Federal Monitors" In Deferred Prosecution Agreements. According to the New York Times, "One area in which Mr. Fishman sharply broke with Mr. Christie was on deferred prosecution agreements, which let companies avoid indictment by agreeing to oversight by a federal monitor. Mr. Christie was widely criticized for giving political allies highly lucrative appointments as federal monitors in the hip-and-knee surgical implant industry, among others. Those he named included David Samson, the current chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who is a crucial figure in the bridge scandal; John Ashcroft, the former attorney general; and David N. Kelley, a former United States attorney in Manhattan who, in a controversial move, had opted not to indict Mr. Christie’s brother, Todd, in 2005, in an illegal trading scheme." [New York Times, 2/9/14] 

 

• U.S. Department Of Justice Later Tightened Rules Regarding Deferred Prosecution Agreements To Prohibit U.S. Attorneys From Possessing Sole Discretion Over The Selection Of Monitors. According to the New York Times, "The Department of Justice later tightened rules so that monitors would not be chosen solely by a United States attorney." [New York Times, 2/9/14]

 

Randy Mastro

 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Investigatory Team Was Led By Rando Mastro, Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Under Rudy Giuliani. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Randy Mastro, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, will lead the team. Mr. Mastro previously served as chief of staff and deputy mayor for operations for Rudy Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York City and a close ally to Mr. Christie. Several of Mr. Christie’s advisors have ties to Mr. Guiliani. Mr. Mastro didn’t immediately return a request for comment.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/16/14]

 

Mastro Formerly Represented The NY/NJ Port Authority On A Lawsuit Challenging Toll Increases. According to the New Republic, “Mastro, the lead Gibson Dunn lawyer representing Christie, had until recently been representing the Port Authority on a case challenging its toll increases.” [New Republic, 3/24/14] 

---

from Democratic National Committee
March 27, 2014

Press Secretary Mike Czin:

things to keep in mind before reading Christie’s report…

Before Chris Christie’s office makes public their report that will apparently clear Christie and his current staff of wrongdoing, here are a few things to keep in mind about this internal inquiry:
 
With ongoing investigations by the Port Authority, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the New Jersey Legislature, Christie spent a million dollars in taxpayer resources to conduct his own inherently flawed investigation with one goal: to exonerate Chris Christie.
 
Here’s why Christie’s investigation was flawed from the start:
 
·         Christie’s office hand-picked the investigator who is now claiming Christie should be exonerated of any wrongdoing;
·         Christie’s office chose an investigator with numerous conflicts of interest – professional, political and personal; and
·         Christie’s investigation did not have access to the central figures who we know were involved in Bridgegate, including Bridget Kelly, David Wildstein and Bill Stepien.
 
The report released today is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded PR blitz to give Christie a crisis management talking point before all the facts are even known.
 
While numerous questions remain about Bridgegate, we do know that Christie created a culture in his office that led to the lane closures. Following the closures, Christie’s government office, campaign staff and Port Authority officials conspired in a months-long effort to cover up the damage that was done by their petty actions.
 
Despite Christie’s wishes, this scandal won’t go away until all the investigations are complete and the public knows what actually happened.
 

Christie Administration Takes Steps To Conduct Internal Review And Further Cooperate With U.S. Attorney Inquiry

Press Contact: Michael Drewniak Colin Reed