New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has come back into the media spotlight on Friday after more than two months of avoiding news conferences and interviews on the same day his report, which he commissioned, cleared him of any involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closures, according to The Washington Post.
With investigations by federal prosecutors and state lawmakers looming, Christie also submitted to an interview Thursday with Diane Sawyer on ABC and another set to air Friday night on Fox News, the Post reported.
During the interviews, Christie defended the integrity of the taxpayer-funded report clearing him and said it was produced by lawyers chosen by his office, according to the Post.
"I think the report will stand the test of time, and it will be tested by the other investigations that are going on," Christie said, the Post reported.
Former Christie chief deputy of staff Bridget Kelly's attorney cast doubt on the credibility of the report, which states the governor had no knowledge of the lane closures and it was solely the plan of Kelly and a "co-conspirator," according to the Post.
"The only credible investigation into the lane closings is being conducted by the U.S. attorney's office," Michael Critchley, Kelly's lawyer said, according the Post.
On Friday, Critchley said the attempt to impugn Kelly's credibility is unsurprising because she may have evidence that contradicts the report's conclusion that no one else in Christie's office knew of the plot in advance, the Post reported.
Christie fired Kelly in January after learning she set the traffic scheme in motion with the message, "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," according to the Post.
Christie announced the resignation of David Samson as chairman of the Port Authority on Friday, the Post reported. Samson said in a statement that he had planned to step down from the chairman job anyway.
Samson is a former New Jersey attorney general and was a Christie appointee who has not been accused of involvement in the lane closings but whose business dealings have come under scrutiny as the scandal unfolded, according to the Post.
Samson's law firm was representing a business that was undertaking a redevelopment project in Hoboken, the Post reported. The city's Democratic mayor, Dawn Zimmer, has said that members of Christie's cabinet threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy aid unless she backed the plan. Christie's administration denies that.
