Wisniewski: Wildstein claims not in subpoena
By HADAS GOLD |
2/2/14 11:34 AM EST
Evidence of the claims made by the former Port Authority official last week that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge closure were not in more than the 900 pages he submitted in response to a subpoena, the New Jersey Democrat leading the state legislature's investigation said on Sunday.
"We don't really know what the evidence is," John Wisniewski said on NBC's "Meet the Press" of David Wildstein's claims. "He submitted over 900 pages of documents in response to the subpoena. Apparently what he's talking about must be something other than what he submitted."
A letter from David Wildstein’s lawyer obtained by the New York Times on Friday asserted that “evidence exists … tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference.”
Wisniewski said it was a "great question" as to why Wildstein didn't submit that evidence at first and that the choice of words in the letter are "curious."
"Well, the question is it's-- the use of the words 'evidence exists,' as opposed to saying, 'I have documents,' or, 'I have an e-mail,' it's a curious choice of words," he said. "Which maybe he knows somebody else that has information. Maybe this is a conversation he had. Maybe this is something else that is not within the scope of the subpoena the committee issued. So it raises questions about what does he have and why doesn't the committee have it?"
Wisniewski said they are expecting more responses to subpoenas as early as Monday and that nothing they have seen thus far implicates the governor. But, Wisniewski said targeting Christie is not their ultimate goal.
"We're trying to change the way the Port Authority operates. Our endgame here is not any law enforcement action. Our endgame here is to change the culture of the Port Authority to make this agency more accountable, more transparent, which it's not right now," he said.
Wisniewski: 'Premature' to talk Christie resignation, impeachment
By JENNIFER EPSTEIN |
2/2/14 11:15 AM EST
The New Jersey Democrat leading the state legislature's investigation of Gov. Chris Christie's role in lane closures at the George Washington Bridge says it's "premature" to be talking about the governor's impeachment or resignation.
"There's a lot of talk about that. People are asking the hypotheticals," Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation." "We don't have enough facts to even get to that conversation. We need to get all the facts on the table, we need to make decisions who knew what when. And when that's done, maybe it might be appropriate to have that conversation but clearly we're way ahead of that right now."
Appearing on "Face the Nation" just before Wisniewski, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused the assemblyman of having already "prejudged" that Christie has lied about his involvement in the lane closures. "He's prejudged everything that's been said," Wisniewski said of Giuliani.
"What I've said is I have skepticism about the governor's statement. I haven't said that the governor has responsibility for this. I haven't said that the governor knew when this was happening, that's something [former Port Authority official David] Wildstein said," the assemblyman argued. "What I've said is the governor made a statement about what he knew and I said I have my doubts about that timeline. He could have known at any time but I have my doubts about what he said."