TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A New Jersey lawmaker investigating the closing of George Washington Bridge access lanes says text messages show "a juvenile attitude" about the scandal.
Uncensored messages released Thursday show former Port Authority deputy David Wildstein exchanged private messages with Bridget Anne Kelly, who was a deputy chief of staff in Gov. Chris Christie's office at the time, joking about causing traffic problems for Rabbi Mendy Carlebach, a Christie ally, the (Newark) Star-Ledger reported.
"And he has officially pissed me off," Wildstein told Kelly in a text message.
"Clearly," Kelly wrote. "We cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we?"
Wildstein replied, "Flights to Tel Aviv all mysteriously delayed."
"Perfect," Kelly wrote.
"There's no new ground been broken," state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat who co-chairs the legislative committee investigating the scandal, was quoted as saying. "But what it does show is kind of a juvenile, cavalier attitude toward their official responsibilities and joking about the power they had to create traffic or delay flights."
Wisniewski said it appears Kelly and Wildstein "really felt comfortable in talking about how they could utilize their authority to apparently get back at people, which is disturbing," he said.
Wildstein, who ordered lane closures at the Fort Lee, N.J., side of the George Washington Bridge in September 2013, was among several Christie administration figures who either were fired or resigned after emails were released indicating the lane closures may have been politically motivated.
