What happened: On Monday afternoon, The New York Times reported that Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had subpoenaed records of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of an investigation into possible conflicts of interest of the agency’s chairman, David Samson.
Samson, who was appointed to the position by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was in charge of the Port Authority in September, when several access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, which connects northern New Jersey to Manhattan, were suddenly shut down for four days, causing massive traffic jams in the town of Fort Lee, and impeding emergency services vehicles.
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Emails were later disclosed indicating that the shutdown was ordered by a top aide to Christie, then considered a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Why it Matters: The announcement that Samson is being investigated for conflict of interest matters because he is a close political associate of Christie, who owes his position to the governor.
Whether the investigation is directly related to the bridge closing is unclear, as prosecutors have declined comment on the case. In fact, multiple news stories in the past month have suggested that clients of Samson’s law firm, Wolff and Samson, have been awarded Port Authority contracts during his chairmanship, an issue that appears to be well removed from the bridge closing.
However, just as the bridge scandal raised questions about Christie’s judgment in hiring aides who considered paralyzing an entire town was a legitimate form of political payback, any scandal surrounding Samson will reflect back on his political patron as well.
Related: Chris Christie – A Bridge Too Far?
What it Means: Before he was elected governor, Chris Christie built his reputation on an anti-corruption crusade as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. After rumors of a conflict of interest problem at the Port Authority began circulating, though, he said on his “Ask the Governor” radio show on February 27, that he “strongly, firmly” supported Samson.
There is no evidence in the reports released Monday that Christie himself had conflicts of interest related to Samson’s work at the Port Authority, but that may not matter. Christie’s status as a Republican front-runner suffered a heavy blow from the bridge closing scandal, and ongoing investigations by both prosecutors and the New Jersey State Legislature threaten to revive the issue sometime in the future.
Appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Christie placed fourth in the far-right gathering’s presidential straw poll. Though he only received 8 percent of the vote, it suggested his political future among Republicans, at least, might not have been completely undermined by Bridgegate.
Even if Christie did dodge that first bullet – and it remains to be seen whether he truly did -- another investigation of a top Christie appointee for misuse of office won’t help the candidacy of a governor who came into office as the man dedicated to eliminating just that sort of behavior.
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