New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was not involved in a plot to create gridlock near a major bridge in a scheme directed at a mayor, lawyers hired by the administration reported Thursday, according to Reuters.
The taxpayer-funded report released by former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro relied on interviews with Christie and other officials in his administration and 250,000 documents, many of them emails and text messages, Reuters reported.
The investigation concluded Christie had no knowledge beforehand of lane closings in September near the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York that caused four days of massive gridlock in the community of Fort Lee, according to Reuters.
The closings became a major scandal for the governor in January when he had to backtrack and acknowledge the involvement of a top aide and an associate in orchestrating the closings, though he has repeatedly denied knowing about the plot or having any involvement in the closings, Reuters reported.
"Governor Christie's account of these events rings true. It's corroborated by many witnesses, and he has conducted himself at every turn as someone who has nothing to hide," the report found, according to Reuters. "We uncovered nothing contradicting the governor's account."
The report did not find even minor missteps by Christie and his inner circle, Reuters reported.
On a radio show Wednesday night, Christie, a possible 2016 Republican presidential contender, said the events of the past several months will not affect his decisions about his political future, according to Reuters.
The report, issued at Mastro's New York law office, concluded that former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official David Wildstein and ex-Christie aide Bridget Kelly were behind the closures and that they were targeting Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, Reuters reported.
It did not determine why they wanted to hurt the Democrat yet said there was no evidence that it was because he refused to endorse Christie for re-election last year, according to Reuters.
Both Wildstein and Kelly have refused to talk to investigators, citing their right against self-incrimination, Reuters reported.
"Whatever motivated Wildstein and Kelly to act as they did, it was not at the behest of Governor Christie, who knew nothing about it," the report said, according to Reuters.
