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.