and chip michaels and david wildstein had more in common than an interest in traffic. they both hail from livingston, new jersey, where they attended high school with none other than chris christie. in more recent years, michaels coached christie s kids hockey team. in a 2010 profile for the star-ledger michaels joked about seeing his childhood friend ascend to governor of his state. we break his chops a little bit just saying, you re the governor? looking at him laughing. the connection involves more than chip. chip s brother, jeff michaels is a big-time republican in the state. he advised christie s campaign in 2009. i ve known him for a long time. we went to high school with our families knew each other from livingston. and just stayed in close contact with him over the years. and was very pleased to help his campaign out with policy. once christie was elected, jeff michaels went on to form a lobbying shop, optimist partners.