Steve Kornacki of MSNBC, and a local 'expert' on New Jersey politics, calls out one particular email, out of hundreds in the latest GW Bridge Document Dump, as one of the most significant of the bunch. As I recall, Kornacki expressed it effectively like this: that it would "strain credibility" "be very hard to believe" that a chief Christie aide Regina Egea, would NOT inform her boss of the "legal ramifications" described in an email, sent with High Urgency, which was sent directly to her, as the Governor's designated Transportation Trustee.
But that is what is required, if Christie is to maintain his "cover story" of only learning about his office's involvement in the GW Bridge "traffic study" only a couple days ago.
First a little about the sender author of that email. This person was outraged about what was happening at the George Washington Bridge. This person was determined to see this abuse of power end. This person was NOT under Chris Cristie's direct control. This person is the executive director of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority.
Documents: Christie appointees stonewalled queries into lane closures
by Doris Taylor, CNN; wtkr.com -- Jan 10, 2014
(CNN) — [...]
In a terse e-mail, the executive director of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority expressed anger for not being told about the lane closures in New Jersey that led into the George Washington Bridge. He used his authority to override the decision four days after traffic logjams crippled commutes.
[...]
“Reversing over 25 years of PA (Port Authority) GWB (George Washington Bridge) operations, the three lanes in Fort Lee eastbound to the GWB were reduced to one lane on Monday of this week without notifying Fort Lee, the commuting public we serve,” wrote Patrick Foye, the executive director, on September 13 to other Port Authority officials. “I am appalled by the lack of process, failure to inform our customers and Fort Lee and most of all by the dangers created to the public interest.”
[...]
The documents also include e-mail messages between top officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that reveal that another senior Christie aide, Regina Egea, director of the authorities unit and a member of his senior staff, was aware of concerns the lane closures were not part of an ongoing traffic study.
Foye, the transportation agency’s executive director, wrote a scathing e-mail that expressed concerns the lane closures did not follow protocol and created “dangers to the public interest.”
[...]
And guess who was a recipient of this "scathing e-mail" that informed the Governor's office that
their illegal traffic obstruction project, was coming to an abrupt end?
Regina Egea, director of the authorities unit and a member of his senior staff, that's who.
It took some digging, but here it is: that scathing email that puts the Christie Administration back "in the know" ... back in the public outrage "hot seat."
Link to larger image. [Photobucket may not display the full-sized image, here. Sorry.]
Link to actual email: document page 915. Note: the raw text is also available there, but it has several scanning typos. (Click the Text Tab, to see them.)
Link to the entire set of Investigation Documents.
So who is Regina Egea, "director of the authorities unit and a member of his senior staff"?
Well here's a bit of her Political Resume:
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Board of Trustees
Regina M. Egea -- Director, Governor's Authorities Unit
Regina Egea, who joined the NJPTA Board of Trustees in 2012, currently serves as the Director of the Authorities Unit under Governor Chris Christie. Prior to this assignment, Egea was Chief of Staff to the State Treasurer. Her responsibilities included general management of all Treasury operations and she also played a leading role in developing and implementing the historic pension and benefit reforms that Governor Christie signed into law in 2011.
[...]
If you had responsibilities like that, and you got a troubling email like that --
would you tell your boss?
Well maybe not, if your boss was Chris Christie -- because no doubt the guy already knows all about it ...
Afterall, the executive buck has to stop somewhere. Nevermind all the very sad, Christie crocodile tears.