s sokolich tells baroni many members of the public indicated to me that the port authority police officers are advising commuteers in response to their complaints that this recent traffic debacle is the result of a decision i, as mayor, recently made. were port authority police officers actually saying that to commuters? what kind of contact, if any, did chip michaels have with his brother jeff during all this, not just the lane closures but the weeks and months after as the mystery percolated, the story exploded into a full-fledged national scandal that threatens christie s political future? jeff michaels is known in trenton as a longtime friend and ally of the governor. no reason to suspect jeff michaels had anything to do with the lane closures. there s no evidence that chip michaels discussed the closure with the governor or his brother, but it does make you wonder. in all that time did jeff michaels and chris christie ever talk about this? about how jeff s brother was the guy who
lieutenant was with david wildstein on september 9. there s no evidence to suggest that lieutenant michaels was involved in the planning of the operation. the but the evidence suggests that chip michaels was present on the bridge at the hour the lanes were first closed, both driving david wildstein around that first morning and texting with him throughout the first two days of the closures. he seemed to have an inkling it was coming, too. in an e-mail to his superiors, michaels inquires if, quote, a new traffic pattern is going into effect the next morning. the text to wildstein on the first day of the closures offering to, quote, make this better, could be read any number of ways. is he an innocent bystander shocked by the mess and looking to help improve it, or is he telling wildstein he has an idea to make things even worse for ft. lee or is it something else altogether? we don t know. a letter from ft. lee mayor sokolich. this was at the height of the lane closure mess.