N.J. State Senate Majority Leader Calls For Impeachment Hearing For Christie
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Bridgegate scandal is far from over for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) now wants an impeachment proceeding.
Weinberg claimed that Christie knew about politically-motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in 2013. A representative of the governor did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
In a news release, Weinberg called on Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) to consider the impeachment.
Prieto responded in a statement that the Assembly is "weighing all potential legislative activity.'' He said it was disappointing Weinberg made her request in a press release.
Christie was not charged in the case. But last week, two of Christie's former aides were convicted of creating the major traffic jams at the Fort Lee entrance to the bridge for political retaliation.
Bridget Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty of all counts against them.
Kelly and Baroni were convicted of scheming with former Christie ally David Wildstein to punish Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie when he ran for re-election in 2013. Wildstein pleaded guilty.
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Christie has repeatedly said he knew nothing of the plot, and maintained after the trial that he had no recollection of any of his aides telling him about it.
"My first reaction was that the jury confirmed what I thought on January 9, 2014, nearly three years ago," Christie told "CBS This Morning" co-anchor Charlie Rose last week. "I had 24 hours to make decisions back then. And I felt there were three people responsible: David Wildstein, Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly. And now here we are, three investigations later, federal grand jury investigation, an investigation by a Democratic-led legislature, and what's the conclusion? The conclusion is that there were three people responsible."
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