| Some people, including the Christie campaign, are saying Chris Christie got a speeding ticket, and so what? Ok, even if you take that tack, what's the explanation for the shifting stories?
Contradiction # 1:
On how it was discovered that Chris Christie was US Attorney, this was the original explanation: His campaign acknowledged Aug. 26 that Christie's job as U.S. Attorney came up at the stop as Christie handed over his license and identification to the police officer. After his campaign acknowledged the topic came up, the Chief of Police said this:Lambertville Police Director Bruce Cocuzza: "He identified himself as a U.S. Attorney but I don't think the officer on duty knew what that was," he said. So the Chief says Christie identified himself and the campaign says it was at the time of showing identification. But now, Christie says it wasn't him, it was the one armed man... err tow truck driver:Christie said that he had not identified himself as the U.S. attorney, but that a tow truck driver had recognized him. No offense, but Christie's name ID in 2005 probably registered just above mine. That's like me saying that I got a flat on the highway and the tow truck driver fixed it all for free because he recognized me as a writer for Blue Jersey. This latest iteration of the story came four days after the initial campaign response. If it's such a simple situation, what's with the delay in between this latest update? That wasn't the only change in the story made.
Contradiction # 2:
Originally we got this on how Christie reacted to the situation: "He was agitated at the prospect of his vehicle being towed away," said Cocuzza, a Democrat who ran for Hunterdon County Sheriff in 2007, told PolitickerNJ.com's Max Pizarro in a phone interview. "He was worried about his family being left on the side of the road with no vehicle."
[snip]
Cocuzza said that Christie did tell the officer about his law enforcement position.
"He was a little loud at the prospect of being towed and then calmed down." But Christie disputed that report:Lambertville Police Director Bruce Cocuzza reported that Christie got loud during the stop, but Christie described his demeanor only as "affirmative." "I don't think I got loud or abusive, but I certainly was saying 'let me drive my car home and I will take care of the oversight on the registration on my wife's car when the DMV opens up on Monday,' which we did," Christie said. What a perfectly scripted talking point in response to this situation, well done by whoever wrote it for him. And Christie wasn't done correcting the record.
Contradiction # 3:
On who got out of the car, when and why: Christie also denied a report that Brown got out of the car during the stop and flashed her badge. She resigned as first assistant U.S. attorney on Tuesday after it was revealed that Christie had loaned her $46,000. Christie said only he got out of the vehicle, at the officer's request. I always thought you were supposed to stay in the car. And we weren't done yet.
Contradiction # 4:
On whether the car was insured, first we got this: New Jersey 101.5 FM reported this afternoon that Christie, now the Republican gubernatorial nominee, was stopped for speeding in what turned out to be an unregistered, uninsured vehicle, but was allowed to drive the car away. The ticket clearly says uninsured vehicle, But now we have this update from Christie:He was also ticketed for not having insurance or registration. He said the car, which belonged to his wife, was insured, but she had allowed the registration to lapse. Way to throw your wife under the bus on that one. There's also conflicting reports about whether he paid a $250 fine or $700 in fines. There may be reasonable explanations to some of these questions, but why the delay in correcting the record if it's such a simple case of someone getting a speeding ticket? It's not like people weren't giving the campaign an opportunity to tell their side of the story. If Christie's trying to make this story go away, or sell the idea that there isno story here, all the holes and differing accounts of what actually happened are in fact keeping the story alive.
Everybody's got questions. Nobody thinks it's going away. |
