but it feels like that's the way they figured out that michael drewniak was there. there was certainly no more formal announcement he was going in to give testimony to the grand jury. we've heard nothing from the u.s. attorney's office in terms of the progress of their investigation or the fact they were interviewing witnesses. do you think it's possible that other people have been testifying that were far into this process and they just haven't -- people have been able to get in and out of there without people noticing them? >> entirely possible. it sounds like somebody just stumbled into the fact this particular witness was there. but as we know, as your viewers know and as you know well, the feds have an absolute duty of secrecy with respect to what goes on inside a grand jury investigation. witnesses and their attorneys can at times talk about it if they want to. usually you're trying to make nice with the feds. the feds are telling you if you're a grand jury witness, we would prefer, strongly prefer that you don't say a word about what is covered inside this in

question other people and decide who else they want to call. >> do we have any indication -- michael drewniak'sawyer confirmed that mr. drewniak has testified before the grand jury. we don't have confirmation that anybody else has actually testified before the grand jury yet? >> no. no, we don't. and i've been told that there's no reason to think that michael drewniak is the first. >> interesting. okay. >> by someone who would know. >> you've also reported that governor christie's former chief counsel, charlie mckenna, a very important person in the administration, he met extensively with the u.s. attorney's office. that was back in january? >> yeah, january 20th, the week of the 20th. >> is there -- i guess there's nothing that we can infer from the fact that he met with them other than he has had some sort of conversation with them. is there any reason to believe that he may be cooperating with the probe? >> well, you could think that that might be a possibility. he's got a lawyer who was a former prosecutor and it'sprose. and it's very good lawyering to get in front of a case right away. so

michael drewniak is somebody spent time at the u.s.ttorneys office and his lawyer is saying that's not a targeted investigation, that's somebody who is providing some answers but we also know from the master report and from the memos that came out, michael drewniak's interview he met with david wildstein in early november. he talked to governor christie back at the september 11th event. pat foye is an interesting one. his first appearance before the legislature back in november when he was not under oath early december, whenever that was, that caused a stir. there are many more questions that emerged since then and he is potentially in position to shine more light on it. >> he shined light because he's on the new york side, not the machinations beforehand. what do you think of my sort of theory that having ms. renna comply it ratchets up the tension the most. you had that ongoing communication happening between the campaign, mr. steppian and bridgette kelly's office and this was the assistant who would have been part of those communica

michael drewniak, christina renna, a staffer in christie's office who served under kelly. pat foye appears to be the only high-level official at the port authority who actually sounded the alarm during the lane closure and it was his scathing letter to port authority officials about the lane closures which leaked to the wall street journal and which christie himself read that said the move likely broke state and federal laws and could have caused deaths because of snarled traffic. michael drewniak was within of the most colorful people in christie's inner circumstance. for instance in a message to a colleague, he called pat foye, quote, a piece of the excrement. and when the bridge scandal exploded he said this about david wildstein, quote, i could claw his, david wildstein's, eyes out, poor gasolines in his sockets and light him up. and he was known to hold a grudge or two with the reporters. at one point, telling a colleague that he was upset with a reporter at the "star ledger." expletive him and the star ledger. then there's christina renna. she worked in bridget kelly

first up we'll start with michael drewniak. as christie's spokesman, he was in constant contact with the governor. would have been his job to understand who gave orders and who enforced them and protected the governor during a p.r. crisis like this one. in november after bill baroni presents the now discredited traffic study defense, "most importantly, government was not brought into this." drewniak is also the guy who personally tells christie on december 5th that wildstein is sitting on explosive information that his staff in trenton and campaign manager both knew about the plan to close the lanes beforehand. christie tells drewniak he has no recollection of wildstein's comments. a few days later, christie tells the press that none of his staff was involved. then there's christina renna, who told the christie's administration lawyers that the head of the christie campaign was sending trenton mandatory directives to brush off certain mayors that weren't in favor with the administration. in other words, he was sending payback o

in january, christie's spokesman michael drewniak sends a colorful text message to a friend which readsthe only trouble is david wildstein is/was a true friend of mine. now i could claw his eyes out, pour gasoline in the sockets and light him up." well, if that ever went before a jury, i don't know, heather, i just wonder, i don't think you can get that image out of your head of the kind of frightening vengeance to even think theatrically i'm going to fill his head with gasoline. >> michael drewniak was referenced with some of the documents earlier. there is also some colorful language there in terms of how he referred to reporters and talking about this issue within the administration. so, again, i expect, you know, democrats are going to make note of that. i think also really coming back to the relationship issue with bill stepien and bridget kelly, which is referenced in the report -- >> did he ever explain it? did he ever justify to it anybody whether it was george stephanopoulos or anybody why he would bring in not even tangential, just sitting out there not explaining if a relatio

late friday, abc news discovered this man, christie press secretary michael drewniak, gave testimony to a federal grand jury in newark. while his lawyer told abc that his client was there as a witness and not as a target, his very presence before a federal grand jury is significant. why? chairman of the state supercommittee investigation, john wisniewski, offered his take this weekend on "up" with steven kornacki. >> not going to be calling people in front of a grand jury to figure out whether or not a crime was committed. they're going to be operating under some time o assumption that there's something that they're looking for testimony to corroborate. >> in other words, the calling of witnesses could indicate a deepening criminal probe. and adding to christie's manic monday, those reports, all those reports are coinciding with a new deep dive on the culture of the christie administration written by the new yorker's ryan lizza. that story offers clues as to what mr. drewniak and wildstein might be testifying about, detailing christie's mounting anxiety about the bridge scandal, he r

and of course with michael drewniak's line that he could claw wildstein's eyes out. this team served christie right up until he decided to deny being the team leader, which is precisely the time this whole escapade went publicly. today, april 15, the picture becomes clearer. we see a governor's office, governed by a mandatory directive to favor or punish mayors who play ball. we hear the mayors being cut out, condemned to radio silence, that's the phrase, for not backing christie's re-election effort. we see the pattern of playing hardball to achieve an all-important political end -- a big majority for governor christie in 2013. big enough to impress even the most dimmest, most skeptical of right-leaning republicans. impress them or steam roll them, whatever gets the job done. whatever worked to put chris christie on the road to the republican presidential nomination. brian murphy is an msnbc contributor and professor in new york. governor christie says he has no idea why his staffers shut down the george washington bridge in an apparent act of political payback. her

christie's press secretary michael drewniak. christie's former chief council met with prosecutors back in january. and the big one now is david wildstein. and, you know, these are just three we know. it's probable that others have been talking. so this looks like a real intensified investigation. >> oh, this is a real investigation. there is absolutely no doubt about that. we don't know what it's going to find, but i think what everybody with any common sense agrees is that there's no way that bridget kelly herself came up with this idea and had the power to pull the trigger and say okay, now it's time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. we all know that did not happen. we do not know what did happen and we don't know where this came from. we don't know why. but i think it's more than just, did wildstein tell the governor about it while he was at the 9/11 event b. if that's all he had to share with us, that would be small potatoes. it would still prove the governor lied, but i don't think that's what they're going for here at

the lawyer for michael drewniak is telling us that his client is not a target of the investigation. the report last week released that the governor was cleared. the governor, clearly, wants to put bridgegate behind him. how difficult is that es pepeciy with word now that a member of his inner circle has testified before the grand jury? >> great question. everyone wants to know whether david wildstein is going to again allege that the governor knew about these bridge foreclosures because he said he told him. as you mentioned, governor christ christie, very much trying to put this behind him. meeting with top donor sheldon adelson, raising money for a potential 2016 campaign. this investigation is clearly ongoing. many questions yet to be answered. at some point, whether or not he is going to have to make the call whether or not this is just too much of a distraction for him to run in 2016. and when he's so clearly still having issues with the far right of his party for primary season. >> the reports say the grand jury was meeting. we knew that. this was the first time we heard of the

. >> let's look at the language this guy who's been called before the grand jury, michael drewniak. look at some of the quotes that he's been caught saying. pretty colorful language behind the scenes. last november he told david wildstein, the appointee at the port authority, patrick foi, who shut down the bogus traffic study was, quote, a piece of exkrimt, a piece of excrement. drewniak, the guy who speaks for a governor. he sent this text message. the only problem is david is a true friend of mine. now i can claw his eyes out, poor gasoline in the sockets and light him up. i guess that was somewhat enticing brian murphy through the prosecutors because they've got that guy under oath now before a grand jury. >> and that's how he talks about his friends, right? and this is a family show. the thing i've wondered about is the commonality between the two cases. and the temperatures that have been issued in hoboken and brajgate both involve the state party and governor christie's campaign. and other lawyers have suggested to me that they see vulnerability under the rico statute, that al

>> you may remember michael drewniak who said, i could claw him, wildstein, and light him up in a socketbe here at 90, great things are made. >> hard to say this is politically deadly for governor christie but it's not the end. when you accept leadership, it's not a guarantee of sunshine and rainbows. >>> stand up to the bully. those are the words of

>> you may remember michael drewniak who said, i could claw him, wildstein, and light him up in a socket>> still to be here at 90, great things are made. >> hard to say this is politically deadly for governor christie but it's not the end. when you accept leadership, it's not a guarantee of sunshine and rainbows. >>> stand up to the bully. those are the words of hoboken dawn zimmer what she wrote to herself in details with troubles new jersey governor chris christie. in a letter to the state legislature this week, zimmer explains the reason she did not come forward last year when she says the lieutenant governor threatened to withhold sandy aid because she did not support a project allegations the governor has denied. in an attachment to that letter zimmer included the undated journal entries which she says are notes from a conversation with hoboken's attorney. quote, yes, this is illegal. i debated with joe mar ziti whether or not to go to the u.s. attorney. we decided that christie has friends throughout the u.s. attorney's office. not much chance of getting help from them and it could