(The cartoon image above is by Bill Day at cagle.com.)The first of several inquiries into whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered or knew of the George Washington Bridge closing as a political retaliation for a mayor refusing to support the governor. And the verdict is innocent -- Christie did not order, or even know about the bridge closing.
But don't get too excited (or angry) about this verdict, because no one believed this inquiry would find anything different. That's because this is the inquiry arranged by the governor himself, and done by a law firm known to be friendly to the governor. The lawyers conducting the inquiry said they had full access to all information, but that is questionable. They had access to what the governor gave them, and were not able to question those aides at the center of the scandal (including Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly).
In other words, the governor's own inquiry (with only partial access to all the facts) found him innocent of any involvement. No surprise there. It would have been shocking if they had found otherwise. This is nothing more than a rather feeble attempt at a political white-washing (which cost the taxpayers in New Jersey over a million dollars).
Fortunately, there are other much more serious inquiries looking in to the bridge scandal -- and they will be looking at all the facts.
