• State body seeks documents from 17 people and three groups
• Governor uses appearance to focus on Sandy recovery
• Governor uses appearance to focus on Sandy recovery
A special legislative panel investigating an apparent political payback scheme involving New Jersey governor Chris Christie's aides issued 20 new subpoenas on Thursday, the day the Republican star made his first trip since the scandal broke, to pledge that he will not be distracted from the job of rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.
Christie also announced the hiring of a legal team to help his administration deal with multiple investigations into a scandal that will not be put to rest quickly.
The governor's legal team, to be led by former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro, will "review best practices for office operations and information flow, and assist with document retention and production", the administration said in a brief written statement. A spokeswoman would not say who was paying for the team or how much it cost.
Two state legislative committees, including one also using a former federal prosecutor; the US attorney's office in New Jersey, which Christie headed before running for governor; and the chairman of a US Senate committee are conducting inquiries into what happened in September, when lanes to the George Washington bridge from the town of Fort Lee were shut for four days, causing massive traffic gridlock.
The plot was apparently hatched by Christie's aides as a political vendetta, possibly because Fort Lee's Democratic mayor would not endorse the Republican governor's November re-election campaign.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is leading the primary legislative probe, said the new subpoenas sought documents from 17 people and three organisations. The recipients of the subpoenas will not be named until the documents are served, presumably by Friday. The likely targets are people who worked for Christie or who are or were part of his inner circle, such as Bridget Anne Kelly, the fired aide who suggested in an email to another Christie confidante that it was "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”. Another likely target is Bill Stepien, Christie's two-time campaign manager who appeared to gloat over the traffic chaos.
At a news conference last week, Christie said he would continue interviewing his senior staff to determine if there is any other information he needs to know and if he needs to take any further action, but he did not indicate his review would go further than that.
Christie did not address the scandal directly on Thursday, when he made his first public appearance outside the State House in the eight days since the lane scandal broke wide open. He went to friendly territory – heavily Republican Ocean County – for an event initially scheduled for 8 January that was postponed after the revelation of emails that appear to show Kelly, formerly a top aide, ordering the lane closures for political retribution.
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New Jersey's Christie hires law firm to fight bridge scandal
NEW YORK
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks during his annual State of the State address in Trenton, New Jersey January 14, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson
(Reuters) - The administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has hired a high-powered legal firm to help his office as federal prosecutors investigate whether any laws were broken when a top aide ordered seemingly politically motivated traffic jams.
Christie, a likely 2016 Republican White House contender, turned to a former deputy of ex New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, another Republican with presidential aspirations, after revelations that a former aide called for "traffic problems" at the George Washington Bridge in apparent retribution against a local Democratic mayor.
About 20 subpoenas were issued in the case on Thursday, according to Democratic state Assembly member John Wisniewski. They included some 17 people and three organizations, he said, but no names would be disclosed until subpoenas are served.
He said Christie was not among those subpoenaed.
The governor's office said it retained the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP to help with an internal review and to cooperate with an investigation announced last week by U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman.
Randy Mastro who in the 1990s served as chief of staff and deputy mayor for operations to Giuliani will lead the team.
The outside attorneys will bring a "third-party perspective to the situation, and they will be a valuable asset as we move forward," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in the statement announcing the law firm's hiring.
Working for the Giuliani administration, Mastro led efforts to clean up Times Square and rid organized crime from the city's Fulton Fish Market, private carting industry and popular San Gennaro Festival.
In private practice since then, he frequently took on the administration of Giuliani's successor, Michael Bloomberg.
Gibson Dunn's partners charge $980 an hour on average, according to a survey published by the National Law Journal.
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