lee" deputy chief of staff bridget kelly invoked her fifth amendment rights. lawyers saying tonight she will not hand over documentation that the legislature has demanded from her in their subpoena. so that is one piece of breaking news tonight in this story. the other breaking news in this story tonight, which has just happened is that new jersey republican governor chris christie has, tonight, finally answered questions about the bridge scandal. the governor addressed the scandal directly tonight in an ask the governor radio interview. i'll play you what he said tonight in just a moment. but in terms of the context here, consider that governor christie has not been talking about this subject in public really ostentatiously. he has been, of course, the object of much discussion, but he, himself, has refused to take any questions on this scandal since his big two-hour press conference back at the beginning of last month. that two-hour press conference was january 9th. he took questions there, but that was it. on the 14th, he had to appear publicly again to giv

bridget kelly's executive assistant has been subpoenaed. the director of constituent relations in the governor's office and also the governor's office director of operations has been subpoenaed. regina agea, director of the authorities unit, now the governor's chief of staff, she's been subpoenaed again. this time there's a subpoena for her senior counsel to the authorities unit. over at the port authority, there are a whole bunch of new subpoenas as well. bill baroni, now resigned from the port authority, he's been subpoenaed again as have not one, but two of his assistants from the port authority. david wildstein's special assistant has also been subpoenaed at the port authority tonight. as has the chief of staff to the port authority executive director. the executive director was, of course, the one from the new york side who called the bridge lane closures off when he found out about them and said they were illegal and outrageous. deputy director of media relations at the port authority has been subpoenaed, a man named steve coleman who

we need to know what gave bridget kelly the idea that she could send this?ho else in the governor's office above her, alongside her, gave her the permission to do this? we know she couldn't have done it on her own. >> bridget kelly tonight invoking the fifth amendment, saying she will not comply with your subpoena. what's your reaction to that? >> well, it makes our job a little more difficult. obviously not the first time we've heard this. the third time essentially. we're going to consult with counsel for the committee and decide what course the committee should take in response to that. >> new jersey assemblyman john wisniewski, thank you for keeping us apprised. appreciate it. >> thank you, rachel. >> we'll be right back. there's a saying around here, you stand behind what you say. around here you don't make excuses. you make commitments. and when you can't live up to them, you own up, and make it right. some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where it's needed most. but

by 9:00 this morning, bridget kelly was fired.rday evening, bill stepien was asked to leave my organization. >> why did bill stepien get canned even before bridget kelly did? bridget kelly is the "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee" orderer. bill stepien went before she did? why is that? in any case, they both got canned. famously and in public. after those 22 pages of documents were leaked to the "bergen record." ultimately, though, importantly, we got more than just those 22 pages. when the committee and the legislature investigating this thing released more than 2,000 pages of what they had obtained by subpoena. in that giant pile of 2,000 documents, bill stepien turns up yet again. this time it's not after the fact. it's not after the lane closures issue was long over. it's while it is still going on. look at this message dated september 12th. september 12th. this is while the bridge shutdown is in effect. message from david wildstein to bridget kelly, who ordered the shutdown in the first place, but also to bill stepie

bridget kelly wrote "the information demanded from ms. kelly related to the reassignment of access lanes to the george washington bridge directly overlaps with the parallel federal grand jury investigation being conducted by the united states attorney's office for the district of new jersey. as such, ms. kelly asserts her rights and will not produce the information demanded by the committee." during an appearance on new jersey radio, talk radio tonight, just as that news was breaking, chris christie was asked for his reaction to his former deputy chief of staff refusing to cooperate with the legislature's investigation. >> you know, listen, it doesn't tell me anything. i know everything i needed to know from a point of employment for bridget kelly when she didn't tell me the truth. and i fired her. and what i've said as to all these people are that have lawyers now is i hope they would share information with us but i also understand that people have rights and they're going to exercise those rights as they see fit and as their lawyers advi

we can see bridget kelly laughing.ell can see wildstein laughing about all the mayhem they can cause by shutting down traffic for four days. now we have also learned they were planning to do it for four weeks for a full month. but they got stopped by this guy foye, who worked for cuomo. and i am personally dying to know when cuomo is going to tell us all about the time christie called up and said call this guy foye off. i want to keep this game going. so we'll see. your thoughts. >> actually, pat foye came out this week. christie gave a budget address, and pat foye came out earlier this week and said he didn't think david samson had the moral authority to keep leading the port authority. so we have seen some cracks from albany on this that we hadn't seen before. but getting back to your original point, it's interesting to see them joking about this. and for one reason is usually when people -- and this is just from historical perspective, when people joke about an operation that they're running or that has been run, us

bridget kelly? not subpoenaed? the person who's on the record essentially ordering the bridge closures has not been asked by the federal prosecutor to hand over any documents or any testimony? her lawyer says they haven't asked her for anything. presumably, they might still at some date in the future, but they haven't done it yet. it's interesting, right? we asked david wildstein's attorney tonight if he has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors. we did not hear back from mr. wildstein's attorney. think about what this means for a second. federal prosecutors are investigating the christie administration in new jersey. we know the governor's office, the governor's re-election campaign, republican party of the state have been subpoenaed in whatever that investigation is. but not the person who ordered up the traffic jam. not the person who ordered up some traffic problems in ft. lee while she was working in the governor's office. the only other subpoena we know about from federal prosecutors is of the city of hoboke

to get to the bottom of this, bridget kelly is -- bridget kelly, david wildstein, bill stepien and bill baroni, these are the people you really need to know everything that they know. the question is how you going to get it out of them. are we looking a at a protracted legal fight for a committee to assert its authority to force this information from them. are they going to are have to go down that road to get the information out of them or is the u.s. attorney going to compel it from them? that's the issue right now. >> let me go to another question with you, congressman. we also today learned among the 12 new subpoenas that i referred to is a demand for the records for the use of governor christie's state helicopter that includes records from september 11th, day three of the closings. governor christie was in new york city that day and was with port authority officials, including david wildstein. now, what could the records of the helicopter that the governor used, what could that tell us? >> well, again, there has been a long history of the christie administration not providing docum

>> there's that and the statement when he alludes to brij bridget kelly's "time for some traffic" e-mail, coming from the administration through her. one of the wishful defenses if you're a christie defender is that this was this group of people going rogue. >> a bridget anne kelly pet project. >> bridget kelly, wildstein, maybe these people were going rogue. what this letter is stating as fact is that message from her was coming up from somebody higher up in the chain in the administration. there's those two things and also the statement at the end of this where he basically says christie made statements about him at the press conference, some of which he can prove are not true. >> michael, it seems to me the key thing here is if -- and this has been clear i think from the moment that all of us watched that two-hour press conference, and i think everyone who watches that was saying to themselves or saying to people they were watching with, if he is found to be lying about any of this, he is toast. he was so emphatic. he was so repetitive. he was so demonstrative about how blindsided he

. >> what about the situation with bridget kelly, though.u were angry when you read about her e-mails to wildstein. you said you personally fired her. >> no, i did not say that. >> you did not -- >> i ordered it. >> i'm sorry, you personally ordered her firing. did you have no face to face with her on that day snf. >> no. >> so there was no opportunity for you to pull her aside and say what was going on? >> eric, by that time it was evident from the e-mails what was going on. and it was not appropriate for me to have those conversations. >> because? >> because there was obvious legal consequences going on potentially for her and for others. and by the way, on december 12 and 13th, she was questioned extensively by her superiors and said she had no knowledge, no involvement, no e-mails, nothing. if someone is not going to tell you the truth, they don't tell you the truth. what are you going to do? grab them by the ankles and shake them upside down? till e-mails fall out of their pocket? come on, let's not be hysterical about this. >> here's c

over any documents. >> i know everything i needed to know from a point of employment for bridget kelly when she didn't tell me the truth and i fired her. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. chris christie and bridge kelly are playing some serious defense over the bridgegate scandal. she's his former deputy chief of staff who wrote in a message, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. it snowballed from there. new jersey democrats have issued subpoenas for kelly to turn over her documents and her electronic devices. one goal is to find out if governor christie was involved with the lane closures. on monday, her lawyer said she will not comply with the subpoena saying unfettered access to her information could reveal highly confidential communications not related to the bridge scandal. christie is just fine with kelly pleading the fifth. >> these people all have lawyers now. i would hope they would share information with us, but i also understand people have rights. if folks give it to us, great. if they don't, i don't think any of us can be critical of s

it goes from wildstein to bridget anne kelly. those are two central figures, bridget anne kelly being the deputy chief of staff in governor christie's office. they have not spoken out now. so if there are inconsistencies, if the governor isn't being truthful, i have to believe at some point that will come to light. >> well, in an e-mail after the bridge lane closures, christie's of former campaign manager, bill stepien called ft. lee mayor mike sokolich, quote, an idiot. back in january, he said he asked stepien to remove his name from nomination for state party chair because of his tone and behavior. let's ask the governor in action here. >> i was disturbed by the tone and behavior and attitude of callous indifference that was displayed in the e-mails by my former campaign manager bill stepien. and reading that, it made me lose my confidence in bill's judgment. >> that is so lawyered up. to me, the real question to a person or answer would be, okay, i see these people working together here. i'm the governor. i didn't know they ha

she answered to bridget anne kelly. renna's friday resignation was not released from her lawyer until sunday before the super bowl kickoff. saying "this reflects a decision i've been considering since shortly after the election." weather or not she now about the bridge-gate scheme, renna does appear in e-mails regarding the lane closure, participating in damage control. for example, "the mayor," referring to the mayor of ft. lee, "is extremely upset about the reduction of toll lanes from three to one," renna wrote in the e-mail to kelly. "not only is it causing a horrendous backup in town, first responders are having a terrible time maneuvering the traffic because the backup is so severe. the port authority told evan he had no idea whey they did this but it's government retribution for something. he can't understand why that's been the case because he's been so supportive of the governor." she joins former chief of staff kelly, david wildstein, port authority deputy executive director bill baroni and former christie cam

they include of course bridget kelly who gave the order for some traffic problems in ft. lee. david wildstein, the christie appointee at the port authority who carried out that order. christina renna who basically apologized to bridget kelly when one of her staffers apparently broke the embargo not to answer the ft. lee mayor's calls. evan ridley, the low level aide who was on the lookout for the mayor's car to ignore him, shut him out. bill stepien who called mayor sokolich an idiot and flippantly told wildstein you win some, you lose some. and david samson who says he was calling in to help them retaliate when the port authority's chief threatened to shut down their scheme. then there is the second group we're looking at right now. the staffers being mentioned connected to the cover-up, the cover-up part of this thing. bill baroni who gave discredited testimony to lawmakers about the bogus traffic study that never existed. philip kwon, the port authority's general counsel, who spent five days apparently prepping or coaching baroni on what to say, making up this traffic study

basically going to be meeting with sandy survivors. >> well, as noted by governor christie, he fired bridget kellyshe's one of five people who have been fired or resigned in wake of this scandal and we now know that kelly is the third chris christie official to plead the fifth behind stepien and wildstein. governor christie in his remarks on the radio said he encourages these individuals to give the documents and to say -- give the documents and answer necessary questions here. what is left regarding the questions given last night his very stern and absolute answering of whether he knew before, after or in the makings of these bridge closures. >> well, i think we're just really going to have to wait and see what the documents say and they right now are under lock and key. what they've received so far and we'll see what may be coming out with them. his statement urging people to corporate with the investigators and to hand over documents is not really new. he actually said that in his january 9th press conference urging wild stein to talk -- >> that was before -- i'm sorry that was before at least

it's hard to make the case this is a fishing expedition designed to tarnish the image of bridget kelly given how deeply she appears to have been involved in this. >> she is the key person if you're investigating whether the lanes were closed for political payback. she's the person who knows the answer. she started the closures. she did this, as you noted, in her capacity as a state employee. here is the oversight body trying to figure out what happened. they are well within their rights to say turn over any information you have. they're not pursuing their own criminal charges. they cannot do that. so every state law is different and to what degree she has some protection here we'll see, but if this goes to the courts often in these cases the courts say no, this is not an issue of self-incrimination. this is an issue of a legislative body having proper responsibility to come to a position of accountability. so i think at the end of the day she and bill stepien may lose this fight, but what this certainly does is drag this out longer and longer. that's the key thing. we talked about the

bridget kelly and bill stepien are refusing to

chief of deputy chief of staff bred j bridget kelly e-mailed him, time for traffic and he e-mail back, got it. the port authority already refused once to pay wildstein's legal fees so he's lawyer wrote this letter friday urging them to reconsider. and in this letter the attorney

bridget anne kelly. in late january, the former deputy chief of staff who christie famously said he fired for lying to him changed lawyers. her original lawyer was known to be in governor christie's orbit. not the new one. joining me is loretta weinberg who was co-chair of the legislative select committee investigating the george washington lane closures, and bob ingle who writes about politics and is co-author of "chris christie: the inside story of his rise to power." when you're up there in jersey, imagine all these people out there lawyered up now, especially wildstein, and of course i imagine bridget kelly's got a top flight lawyer, and bill stepien. they're all trying to avoid trouble legally for themselves, which might include prison time. we don't know what the charges might be. but they're looking out for number one, whoever number one happens to be. my question to you, christie's reaction, we just talked about it in the last segment, what do you make of christie's reaction to that the way he tr

between a bad storyline and worse story line. >> to give you a taste from the e-mails, one from bridget kelly about this rabbi who apparently he and wildstein were feuding on port authority. kelly said, we cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we? wildstein responds, flights to tel aviv all mysteriously delayed. it's certainly not a pretty picture and this preceded the traffic backup. >> it's important to remember this because it seems in some way the relationship wen wildstein and christie is at the heart of this. he said he didn't know wildstein and he was the captain of the football team and wildstein wasn't. but chris christie appointed david wildstein to what frankly is a quite plum assignment working for the port authority at the senior plefl. level. he had to have enough trust and relationship with this person to give him what is a job that lots of people in christie's orbit would be clammering for. the decline of that relationship, obviously wildstein making allegations about what is out there regarding christie's knowledge, i negligence that ultimately is going to

he had terminated bridget kelly's employment in the office.onight he was asked about her firing. >> what about the situation with bridget kelly, though. you said you were angry when you read her e-mails to wildstein, you said you personally fired her. >> no, i did not say that. >> that was not -- >> i ordered it. >> okay, you personally ordered her firing. >> yes. >> did you have no face-to-face with her on that day? >> no. >> so there was no opportunity for you to pull her aside and say, what was going on? >> eric, by that time, it was evident from e-mails what was going on. and it was not appropriate for me to have those conversations. >> because -- >> because there was obviously legal consequences going on, potentially for her and others. so, you know, you -- and by the way on december 12th and 13th, she was questioned extensively by her superiors. and said she had no involvement, no knowledge, no e-mails, nothing. if someone's not going to tell you the truth, they don't tell you the truth, what are you going to do grab them by the ankles a

he and i agree that bridget kelly is a much more likely domino to roll.ion, any prosecutor that is going to cast the female or the male lead is looking for somebody that will play well at four, five, six, and 10:00 and on this show on saturday and sunday morning, steve. >> one final question. the other guy who had an issue, bill stepien, the former campaign manager refusing not just to testify but to turn over documents as well. brian is saying the legislative committee is sort of aaa baseball in all this. are there serious consequences for not turning over those documents even to that committee? >> it is what a good attorney would do. there is this complicated fifth amendment doctrine called the act of production privilege which means you don't have to turn over documents. there is something about the act of turning them over that would incriminate you. you almost never win. when lawyers make those motions. it is just a way of buying time. >> buying time. that's a delaying tactic. i want to thank former federal prosecutor, paul butler, criminal defense a

the whole dispute between david wildstein and what he had to say and bridget kelly taking the fifth. where does this now stand? is this all people either not only taking the fifth but also their lawyers trying to get some kind of immunity or perhaps that's the case with wildstein? >> we've all seen "law and order", they get one person and say, if you cooperate we can go easy on you. i think it's a race to see who gets to the courthouse first and gets a deal. >> and chris cillizza, this is first time we heard from chris christie since the sort of friday night memo from wildstein's lawyer. he was pretty effective, i think, in taking to the microphone and trying to regain some kind of upper hand here. >> he's a good communicator, we saw that in the january 9th press conference. he is someone who is effective at seemingly answering questions forthrightly. he sticks to his message by and large. and he did that in this radio interview. he said i unequivocally had no knowledge there was any payback going on here. the problem for chris christie is, it may well be factual, but it's definitely

christie's former deputy chief of staff, bridget kelly, is refusing to turn over documents. citing fifth amendment right to self incrimination and fourth amendment right to privacy, joining bill stepien, who has also declined to cooperate. christie's campaign committee asked state officials for permission to begin raising what is expected to be hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for attorneys' fees in relation with these allegations. without a legal defense fund, christie's campaign committee will find itself without the means necessary to respond to the subpoenas and will arguably face contempt charges. christie's committee, he says, has about $126,000 in cash on hand. after spending more than $12 million on last year's re-election campaign it has less than $13,000 short of a state mandated limit on how much it can spend. let's turn now to michael isikoff who joins me now from trenton. the governor acknowledged the investigation by the u.s. attorney. >> reporter: right. and that's probably the most significant one. although not a surprise. the campaign committee clearl

and bridget kelly saying is it wrong that i'm smiling?ty much all we had on the page before everything else was blocked out. look at the new page. same page but he have different. what was redacted on the whole rest page is now evident. and bizarrely, yes, that is what you think it is. what was redacted on that page includes a picture of john boehner, yes. so in this exchange, this part that they've unredacted, he this banlter a little about this rabbi in this photo with john boehner and what they think of this rabbi. david whilestein says of the rabbi, he has officially pissed me off. and bridget kelly responds we can't cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we? >> flights to tel aviv all mysteriously delayed. they're obviously joking around about this. this is six days after the traffic problems and it is clear in this and caexchange that the referencing the idea about what they would do on the bridge. they're referring to have will ability to cause traffic problems for people who, i them by using public resources to cause th

you're familiar with former deputy chief of staff bridget kelly, who is since been fired. there's bill baroni, the state senator that was appointed at the port authority's executive director. the guy who testified that the lane closures were part of a traffic study. then there's david wildstein, the former point authority appoint man who knew christie in high school. david wildstein has now resigned and he claims through his attorney that evidence exists showing governor christie knew of the lane closures as they were happening. in the latest twist, another childhood pal of chris christie's is tied to the scandal by e-mails. the message first reported indicated that chip michaels, the police officer, knew about it the day before it happened. is there going to be a new traffic pattern installed for monday the 9th? and will this effect our normal rush hour operation? the answer from mr. licorice, most likely. chip michaels took david wildstein for a wide through the now infamous traffic jam in ft. lee. officer michaels grew up in livingston, the same town as chris christie a

and bridget kelly might do the same thing.o they're trying trash them to say that they're liars right now, to implant that in people's minds, and to create the motive for lying to save their own skin. so it's a strategy. i don't think it's a good strategy. >> now, we don't know if wildstein down the road, what he is going to say as you allude to possibilities. we do know wildstein's letter says that, quote, evidence exists as well trying to -- tying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed. evidence exists. that's a direct contradiction of what christie told the press in a news conference. what does this say to you, governor? >> sure. >> first of all, it was never credible for governor christie to say that for four days a major bridge in the united states of america, which leads into his state had a horrible traffic jam that endangered public safety, and he, an activist governor, never heard about it. that just defies credibility. governors hear about things like that w

the super committee also voted today to enforce the subpoenas already injured to bridget kelly and former christie campaign manager bill stepien. they both refused to comply with the subpoena, citing the fifth amendment. >> our attorneys supplied the entire committee last week -- yeah, friday, with a complete background on those constitutional issues. we came out and passed motions to in turn let both of those folks and their attorneys know that in fact we do not believe they have constitutional grounds to stand on the fifth amendment for the production of documents before that committee. >> joining me now, msnbc's steve kornacki, host of "up with steve kornacki." steve's been following this story, obviously, from before the beginning. you knew david wildstein and these players before any of us knew their names. steve, so many developments to go over. but first of all, the christie team turning their own in-house investigation toward mayor dawn zimmer. >> no, and that's -- i don't think many people saw this coming, obviously. the context you have there is important. the day after she made

the one thing about bridget kelly's text message that has always stuck with me when she said time foric problems in fort lee and the response back was got it. that got it speaks thought had gone into this. anyone who would get a text message or e-mail like that and responding got it must know what the plan is, what the plans are and how to execute them. if you are going to try to pull off something this big it is not just two people over e-mail. you will have to have more than a few people and trusted people from their perspective to pull this off. >> i want to talk about the role of port authority police lieutenant chip michaels. he has a close personal tie with the governor and apparently gave david wildstein a tour of the traffic jam. the waul street ju"wall street today text message sent by chip michaels asking to reroute local traffics towards the closure. this might have made the traffic jam even worse. does your committee want to learn more about chip michael's role in this matter? >> yeah, here is a new actor in this whole scenario. it seems as we look we see more and more and

it was august 19th and it shows you that was six days after we had already knew about bridget kelly'sime for traffic problems for ft. lee order from august 13th. this is six days later and just sort of in casualkacasual conve where they are making fun of anybody, it's the context of that exchange. in the context of making fun of him, they are joking about the idea of causing traffic problems. it shows you in the month at least leading up to september 9th when the lanes were closed down, this was something that was prominent on their minds. this was something the idea that this was anything other than a very -- a planned out well in advance exercise, i think is reinforced by the fact they are making repeated reference to it in the weeks leading up to it. >> and steve, there's still no smoking gun yet that directly links any of this to chris christie and yet you have some lawmakers who are calling on him to resign. he doesn't seem to be showing any signs that he's even beginning to contemplate that, is that fair? >> no, there is no smoking gun at this point. there are just lots of quest

it involves a discussion between bridget kelly, a top christie aide.lems. wildstein sends kelly a picture of the rabbi and said "he has officially missed me off. she replies clearly, we cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we? he jokes, flights to tel aviv all mysteriously delayed. the rabbi in question is a gentlemen who is a chaplain of the port authority police. it's not clear from the text why wildstein was so annoyed with him. we reached out to the rabbi to maybe find out, but we haven't heard back. there is also a separate exchange between wildstein and a port authority police officer. that shows us that wildstein was on the george washington bridge the first day of the lane closures. >> anyother telling details going through the do you means? >> the top appointee is a guy named bill barony. he texted and asked are we being fired? that text came about a month before he resigned. i'm going to have more on this later in "the situation room." >> wow. thank you very much. new information with the texts. coming up, it's snag can be

i think there's what's getting the most attention, this exchange between wildstein and bridget kellyhere they are jokingly talking about traffic for this rabbi, this politically active rabbi who rubs them both the wrong way. >> did we determine what the specifics of the grij against the rabbi? >> no, we didn't. he sort of typifies a certain of political character, i think who is probably -- who drove david wildstein crazy, the person who is always sort of striving to show you how important and relevant they are. look at me in this picture with famous person x -- >> just annoying. >> there were a number of characters like that who i know working and we would joke about. i'm reading that exchange and saying, i think i've had few exchanges with him like this before. i'm guessing that's what that was. >> michael, do you think this is a first of a trickle on more unredakss or is this it? >> no, i don't think this is it. i think we're going to start to see is some of these unredacted documents and they come out either through this or the federal -- there's a federal investigation going on