Chris Christie insists Bridgegate won't be the end of his political career

(Image credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

published 7 November 2016

Days after two of his former allies were found guilty on all counts in the Bridgegate trial, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) insisted the case over the George Washington Bridge lane closures wouldn't put a damper on his political future. "I can't tell you how many times my political career was over. Here I am," Christie said told CBS This Morning in his first interview since the jury passed down the guilty verdict Friday to Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The 2013 closure of bridge-access lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey, has been interpreted as an act of political retaliation after the city's Democratic mayor refused to endorse Christie in the governor's re-election race that year.

Though the case didn't consider the question of Christie's involvement, Christie insisted in the interview that the trial had "confirmed" what he thought all along: "There were three people responsible: David Wildstein, Bill Baroni, and Bridget Kelly," Christie said, naming the two who were charged Friday and former Port Authority official Wildstein, who admitted to masterminding the plot.

As for those conversations Christie allegedly had indicating that he not only knew about the lane closures, but also that he chuckled about the Fort Lee mayor's phone calls going unanswered, Christie claimed he didn't remember any of that happening. "I have absolutely no recollection of any of them saying anything like that," Christie said. He also insisted if someone had told him they were jamming the George Washington Bridge to punish the Fort Lee mayor for his non-endorsement, he "would have remembered that."