TRENTON — The attorney for Bridget Anne Kelly on Friday attacked the internal report that singled her as the lone conspirator in the Christie administration in the George Washington Bridge scandal, saying it contained "venomous, gratuitous and inappropriate sexist remarks" that intended to discredit her.
Attorney Michael Critchley also disparaged the report by a law firm handpicked by Gov. Chris Christie and released Thursday, saying "the only credible investigation into the lane closings is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office."
"Ms. Kelly’s evidence could be critical to verifying either of the two competing versions of events," he said. "A pre-emptive strike to isolate Ms. Kelly and impugn her credibility is not surprising."
"Ms. Kelly is not a liar," according to Critchley’s statement. If given the "appropriate" legal protections by the U.S. attorney, "she will be fully cooperative" with his investigation.
When asked about the report’s observations of Kelly and the suggestions that they may have been sexist, Christie offered a brief response during an hourlong press conference Friday.
"I think the report laid out the facts as the investigators found them," Christie said. "However anybody wants to interpret them is up to their interpretation."
The report by Randy Mastro and his firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, concluded the governor and other members of his staff had no role in the politically motivated toll lane closures that caused massive gridlock on the world’s busiest bridge from Sept. 9-13.
Kelly, Christie’s then-deputy chief of staff and David Wildstein of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, cooked up the scheme as a form of retaliation against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich, the report said. Kelly was fired by Christie on Jan 9 after the release of an email she wrote that said: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Wildstein and Kelly declined to cooperate in Mastro’s investigation.
The report depicted Kelly, the 42-year-old, mother of four, as a duplicitous schemer who ordered a staffer to delete an email to "cover her tracks," and a jilted lover whose actions may have been affected by the recent breakup with Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien. It also makes various references to Kelly appearing "as if she had been crying" and "looking upset" after questioned about her involvement in the matter.
"Like the others involved in the lane realignment, events in Kelly’s personal life may have had some bearing on her subjective motivations and state of mind," according to the report. "Her first known communication to Wildstein about the lane realignment in mid-August 2013, for example, occurred around the time that her personal relationship with Stepien had cooled, apparently at Stepien’s behest and Stepien and Kelly had largely stopped speaking. Indeed, that fact may have affected how Kelly and Stepien conducted themselves and whether they communicated about the lane realignment."
State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the co-chair for the legislative committee investigating the bridge matter, described the report’s depiction of Kelly as "gratuitously sexist, inappropriate and disgusting. Anybody who put their name on that report should be ashamed of themselves."
Montclair University political science professor Brigid Harrison agreed with Critchley’s assertion that the report’s assessment of Kelly was meant to undermine her.
"There is no doubt the language describing Bridget Kelly played into sexually based stereotypes and traditional characterization of women as being dependent on men, needing a man’s approval, and so distraught about Bill Stepien breaking up with her it was the sole priority of her life," Harrison said.
However, Harrison doesn’t think Mastro’s depiction of Kelly will do any damage to Christie politically. "In the long haul, is a female voter in Iowa going to care about how Randy Mastro characterized Bridget Kelly? Probably not," she said.
Weinberg disagreed. "People are going to remember this, absolutely," she said, noting she has heard gripes from many women on how Kelly was depicted. "If people don’t remember it, there will be people to remind them. That is what life in the national spotlight is about."
Star-Ledger staff writer Jason Grant contributed to this report.
RELATED COVERAGE
• Christie defends internal review of bridge scandal, floats idea of splitting up Port Authority
• Bridge scandal internal report says Bridget Kelly was only Christie staffer to close lanes
• Timeline of Port Authority's George Washington Bridge controversy
• Complete coverage of bridge scandal
Attorney Michael Critchley also disparaged the report by a law firm handpicked by Gov. Chris Christie and released Thursday, saying "the only credible investigation into the lane closings is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office."
"Ms. Kelly’s evidence could be critical to verifying either of the two competing versions of events," he said. "A pre-emptive strike to isolate Ms. Kelly and impugn her credibility is not surprising."
"Ms. Kelly is not a liar," according to Critchley’s statement. If given the "appropriate" legal protections by the U.S. attorney, "she will be fully cooperative" with his investigation.
When asked about the report’s observations of Kelly and the suggestions that they may have been sexist, Christie offered a brief response during an hourlong press conference Friday.
"I think the report laid out the facts as the investigators found them," Christie said. "However anybody wants to interpret them is up to their interpretation."
The report by Randy Mastro and his firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, concluded the governor and other members of his staff had no role in the politically motivated toll lane closures that caused massive gridlock on the world’s busiest bridge from Sept. 9-13.
Kelly, Christie’s then-deputy chief of staff and David Wildstein of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, cooked up the scheme as a form of retaliation against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich, the report said. Kelly was fired by Christie on Jan 9 after the release of an email she wrote that said: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Wildstein and Kelly declined to cooperate in Mastro’s investigation.
The report depicted Kelly, the 42-year-old, mother of four, as a duplicitous schemer who ordered a staffer to delete an email to "cover her tracks," and a jilted lover whose actions may have been affected by the recent breakup with Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien. It also makes various references to Kelly appearing "as if she had been crying" and "looking upset" after questioned about her involvement in the matter.
"Like the others involved in the lane realignment, events in Kelly’s personal life may have had some bearing on her subjective motivations and state of mind," according to the report. "Her first known communication to Wildstein about the lane realignment in mid-August 2013, for example, occurred around the time that her personal relationship with Stepien had cooled, apparently at Stepien’s behest and Stepien and Kelly had largely stopped speaking. Indeed, that fact may have affected how Kelly and Stepien conducted themselves and whether they communicated about the lane realignment."
State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the co-chair for the legislative committee investigating the bridge matter, described the report’s depiction of Kelly as "gratuitously sexist, inappropriate and disgusting. Anybody who put their name on that report should be ashamed of themselves."
Montclair University political science professor Brigid Harrison agreed with Critchley’s assertion that the report’s assessment of Kelly was meant to undermine her.
"There is no doubt the language describing Bridget Kelly played into sexually based stereotypes and traditional characterization of women as being dependent on men, needing a man’s approval, and so distraught about Bill Stepien breaking up with her it was the sole priority of her life," Harrison said.
However, Harrison doesn’t think Mastro’s depiction of Kelly will do any damage to Christie politically. "In the long haul, is a female voter in Iowa going to care about how Randy Mastro characterized Bridget Kelly? Probably not," she said.
Weinberg disagreed. "People are going to remember this, absolutely," she said, noting she has heard gripes from many women on how Kelly was depicted. "If people don’t remember it, there will be people to remind them. That is what life in the national spotlight is about."
Star-Ledger staff writer Jason Grant contributed to this report.
RELATED COVERAGE
• Christie defends internal review of bridge scandal, floats idea of splitting up Port Authority
• Bridge scandal internal report says Bridget Kelly was only Christie staffer to close lanes
• Timeline of Port Authority's George Washington Bridge controversy
• Complete coverage of bridge scandal
via Smart Health Shop Forum http://ift.tt/1fxxw5U
No comments:
Post a Comment