Bridgegate Was Child's Play Chris Christie can

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Bridgegate Was Child's Play

Chris Christie can see that now, thanks to his new boss.



The adversarial system is the foundation of our system of criminal law—two attorneys, arguing points of fact and points of law before an impartial judge and jury. (Props to the late Claire Kincaid for that last part.) So it's a rare thing when the prosecution and the defense agree on a point of fact right from the beginning of the proceedings, which is what happened in New Jersey on Monday as the trial into the circumstances surrounding the convenient lane closure at the George Washington Bridge three years ago got under way in federal court.

Counsel for both sides argued that, whatever their differences concerning the two people on trial might be, there was a Big Chicken behind the whole thing. Per CNN:

Assistant US Attorney Vikas Khanna said former Christie confidante and Port Authority executive David Wildstein will testify that he told Christie about the plan to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge while it was causing traffic problems in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where the mayor was a political rival of Christie.

Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges in connection to the lane closures, an incident that has come to be known by some as "Bridgegate."

Christie's defense against these charges always was a bit preposterous, especially for a guy who built his brand as a hard-nosed truth-teller unafraid to bully aged schoolteachers. He was in charge, but he wasn't. He knew everything, except when he didn't.

And anyone who ever watched him in public knew that this penny-ante stunt was exactly the kind of revenge someone like Christie would take against anyone who displeased him. It was alpha male stuff with real world consequences.

Of course, now, Christie has attached himself to an even more truthless goon who is uncomfortably close to bullying his way to the nuclear codes. Every day, Donald Trump gets up and says or does something that is infinitely more disqualifying than Christie did with that bridge. Big Chicken must be in awe.

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