lee mayor, mark sokolich.of the more colorful characters at the heart of the bridge-gate traffic scandal. >> david wildstein deserves an ass kicking. okay? sorry. there, i said it. >> sokolich made some big news on friday because of two interviews he gave where at least some people interpreted it as big news. one of those interviews was with "bloomberg," the other with the "bergen record." a columnist describes sokolich's remarks as his most extensive comments yet, with sokolich telling the "record" the christie administration made a -- a personal tour of the 9/11 memorial plaza by david wildstein. i've been asked to be nice to you. "the record" "reporting aides courted him with gifts, like shuttle buses, pothole repairs and emergency radios. when sokolich did not volunteer his support, he said he was punished with paralyzing traffic jams. a lot of people jumped this is evidence that sokolich was changing his story. and christie's office was no dig different. a christie spokesman characterized sokolich's comme

sokolich said mowers asked him. this is clearly saying the discussion of the endorsement was on the table by an operative of christie, and he was even telling him of other democratic mayors who had endorsed the governor. >> right. i think clarence pointed to an important question that obviously governor christie's people are going to press, which is why was he so reluctant to say what he said today earlier, and why did he say it now? and i suspect mayor sokolich is going to be asked that, and he is going to have to explain it. because from this account, the linkage between what the port authority had done for him and the desire for endorsement is pretty clear. and so, again, you have -- there have been all kinds of stories and speculation about why the bridge was closed. if this proves to be a kind of definitive account, then we finally know, which is why i think you're going to see the governor's office pressing hard to try to figure out any way they can to undercut what mayor sokolich said. >> but e.j., when you -

and also requested in an interview with sokolich. sokolich also turned down the request but said he would be happy to testify before the state legislative panel that's looking into the closures. on top of this mastro's team also utilized the new jersey open public records act to request documents from officials in hoboken and ft. lee detailing interactions with members of the media. these tactics fed suspicions that mastro's team might have something else in mind besides just getting to the bottom of the stories. >> i think what their message is, they're trying to sort of threaten people. not explicitly but saying, you know, we're going to go back after you if you come back after us. >> as we thought about all of this this week, we were struck by something, why hasn't christie's legal team been this publicly aggressive in seeking information of those accused by mayor zimmer or implicated in the lane shutdowns in ft. lee? so we sent an e-mail to randy

mayor sokolich is back in the headlines. after sitting down with interviews with bloomberg and the bergen record, and linking the ft. lee lane closures with his own refusal to endorse christie for governor. the most persistent unanswered question, what was the motivation behind the infamous "time for traffic problems in ft. lee" e-mail? the most popular theory was it was retribution for his refusal to endorse christie for governor. mayor sokolich, himself, appeared to poke holes in the teary from the start when he said christie didn't ask for his endorsement. >> i don't recall a specific request to endorse, but, you know, the events that led up to all of this, i guess you can interpret to be somehow attracting me to endorse. >> today sokolich is sharing more details about the events he once guessed you could interpret to somehow be attracting him to endorse christie telling the bergen record, christie administration waged an extensive campaign for his endorsement including gifts from the port authority. the "record" reportin

he's just mayor sokolich. they know who they're talking about. and apparently mayor sokolich is familiar enough to the governor's staff they expect to recognize his phone number when he calls. which is weird, right? because part of governor christie's defense in this whole scandal is that neither he nor his staff really had any idea who this sokolich guy was. this guy who they tell me is the mayor of ft. lee. who's he? >> as i said to you all many times before, mayor sokolich was never on my radar screen. i don't remember ever meeting mayor sokolich and certainly never did in that context. i'm sure i met him at some point at an event in bergen county. i have to tell you, until i saw his picture last night on television, i wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup. i never heard the ft. lee mayor's name, mark sokolich, his name, until all this stuff happened. >> that is not the impression conveyed by the governor's staff in their in-house e-mail. why was the governor's staff focused on mayor sokolich during the time of the lane closures?

one, it seems like mayor sokolich is now talking.put out the word with "the bergen record" late today. it's in the paper now that he had all kinds of motive, the governor, to basically stick to it ft. lee's mayor sokolich. >> right. >> the trenton folks, the governor were giving him all kinds of gifts. they were giving him shuttle buses, fixing potholes, and found out he wasn't going to play ball with him which to me makes a motive for crashing down on the bridge there and closing lanes. the second big story, of course, is that christie somehow a week after letting it sit out there is denying his trashing of david wildstein in that memo that went out last week. all of the sudden after doing the radio interview, after watching news coverage all week, he all of a sudden, somebody close to him i guess decides, i'm sorry, the phrase is someone familiar with him has decided he had nothing to do with that. what is it with christie, who never seems to be -- is he casper the ghost? is he never anywhere? what is his m.o., i'm not here, i didn

lee, new jersey, mayor mark sokolich.'s attorney telling us tonight it was mayor sokolich -- the mayor's telling us tonight that he received that communication from governor christie's lawyer. it was mayor sokolich's town, of course, that got turned into a parking lot for four days in september. governor christie's deputy chief of staff apparently ordered up traffic problems for ft. lee and a christie ally obliged by shutting down the town's access lanes to the george washington bridge. mayor sokolich pleaded for help from governor christie's office during the shutdown, asking what on earth he did to anger someone enough they'd endanger his town by intentionally creating traffic problems in ft. lee so much so that ambulances couldn't get through? in his search for why someone would want to do that to him and ft. lee, mayor sokolich suggested it was perhaps retaliation at him for not endorsing governor christie in his re-election campaign. governor christie denied that allegation from the mayor. but tonight the lawyer for

there's growing speculation at the time the lanes were closed to get back a sokolich, a democrat, for not endorsing christie for re-election. that theory was never entirely satisfying. >> who would close down lanes to the busiest bridge in the world to get to me? first of all, i never viewed myself as being that important. the governor, himself, said i'm not on his radar nor am i in his roladex. how could this be? >> one theory floated to what the motive is it had something to do with the single biggest thing that's happening in ft. lee right now, this planned billion-dollar development called hudson lights. it's a location at the base of the george washington bridge is a huge part of the reason it's so valuable. without clear access to the bridge, hudson lights risks being downgraded from billion-dollar development to, well, just another big plot of land in new jersey. in other words, if you wanted to screw ft. lee or the developers or mark sokolich or god knows who, one really good way to do that is mess with the traffic. we don't know if that's what happened. it's a mystery that on

lee mayor mark sokolich says he once met with governor christie for dinner.lso says he was courted for his endorsement of the governor's re-election more significantly than he has said before. what do you make of these tonight? >> so, yeah, i'm seeing a lot of headlines portraying this as, like, you know, sokolich is changing his story or sokolich is now saying this was about endorsement as if this mystery as has been solved. i don't see it. i look closely at mystery lives. mark sokolich has talked about mowers, a campaign aide to christy, in the spring, saying there are democratic mayors endorsing governor christie. is it something you night do? he's talked in the past how he strung them along, didn't say no, didn't say yes. talked about how hard it would be. talked in the past about the friendly gestures bill baroni made for him for ft. lee providing certain things for ft. lee. he talked to me before about david wildstein meeting him at ground zero when he brought family members and saying i'm here to treat you very well. what he would always say was, i'm t

so one of the most significant things in this document was it shows that meeting between sokolich and baroni which "a" sort of gives the lie to the traffic study explanation. >> yes. exactly. there was a traffic study. he knew exactly what the situation was.

one, it seems like mayor sokolich is now talking.t the word with "the bergen record" late today. it's in the paper now that he had all kinds of motive, the governor, to basically stick to it ft. lee's mayor sokolich. >> right. >> the trenton folks, the governor were giving him all kinds of gifts thauchlt were giving him shuttle buses, fixing potholes, and found out he wasn't going to play ball with him which to me makes a motive for crashing down on the bridge there and closing lanes. the second big story, of course, is that christie somehow a week after letting it sit out there is denying his trashing of david wildstein in that memo that went out last week. all of the sudden after doing the radio interview, after watching news coverage all week, he all of the sudden, somebody close to him i guess decides, i'm sorry, the phrase is someone familiar with him has decided he had nothing to do with that. what is it with christie, who never seems to be -- is he caspar the ghost? is he never anywhere? what is his m.o., i'm not here, i didn'

major sokolich made that allegation, so i think they're doing their due diligence. to what end? you or i could really understand what they'll do, as you pointed out until they actually decide to do something with it. >> i know that your special counsel who's advising your side of the investigation has met with the u.s. attorney's office and has talked about making sure that these two investigations, your own and the federal criminal one, don't step on each other's toes. is it clear to you what you have to do to avoid impeding any sort of potential federal criminal prosecution here? >> well, i think reid schar, a former u.s. attorney out of chicago has a very good understanding of how they're going to operate. and as a consequence, what we need to do to make sure we're not impeding or interfering with their investigation in any way. he's very confident in the way that we're proceeding. he's not interfering with anything that they've got planned. and we're going to continue to seek his advice and counsel as we move forward, but obviously we do not want to do anything that's going

lee telling frustrated motorists to complain to the mayor sokolich. and the other from our own steve kornacki about an acquaintance of the governor who was at the scene. meet lieutenant thomas chip michaels, a police officer at the port authority. chip was on duty at the george washington bridge on september 9th, 2013. that would be the first day of traffic in ft. lee. but september 9th wasn't just a normal day at work for chip because he had a meeting with a high-ranking official at the port authority, according to documents submitted to the new jersey assembly. you may recognize him. >> david wildstein. w-i-l-d-s-t-e-i-n. >> yes, according to documents submitted by david wildstein, himself, on september 9th, chip michaels appeared to be texting the former port authority appointee david wildstein, "it's expletive up here." later the two met in person. michaels took david wildstein for a ridearound to survey the impact on traffic. in the coming days, documents indicate that chip texted wildstein with updates on the traffic. a message on september 10th

i just say mark sokolich and ft.e when you attach a billion dollar redevelopment project to it. so i think it raised some questions worth getting into. the other thing talking about this during the break, brian, the role of david samson in all of this. and david samson basically we show some of the e-mails there, you know, samson is retaliating. samson is firing off this furious e-mail to foye. the first thought baroni has when he realizes, whoa, we might be into it here, david samson, the chairman of the port authority, christie's top ally, his fingerprints are all over this. >> samson, the former attorney general of new jersey under a democrat who has played both sides of the political parties in new jersey very well over the past -- >> nobody else has ever done that. >> thank you. >> i mean, come on. >> well, let's put it this way, he's gotten rich off of it. >> no one else has ever done that either. >> you keep shooting me down. >> i'm sorry. i'm sorry. >> but this is what i find interesting in this kind of like

lee, new jersey, mayor mark sokolich. thanks very much for being here.tory and what was going on in your town initially when it happened and then you stopped talking about it publicly for a while. >> i did. >> why did you stop far while and why are you talking to us tonight? >> my decisions is what i believe to be in the best interest of my community, bottom line. when this happened on that monday on september 9 and for three or four months, i dpnt view there being any benefit. there were fact finders that were investigating, you know, senator weinberg and the s assemblymen. i didn't view it toub a benefit for ft. lee to enter that fray, number one. the only time i really spoke publicly during those four months when i believe the governor made reference that if it was such an important issue to me i should have called pat foye. i didn't know who he was until he wrote that memo. because we were told to talk to new jersey employees because it was a new jersey problem. >> he said you didn't say anything when it happened initially? >> that wasn't the case. >

today mark sokolich, the mayor of ft. lee rejected team christie's request for an interview.ter by mayor sokolich's lawyer says while the mayor has gone out of his way to be fair to all parties in this matter, he wants to make sure that he respects the legal proceedings that are ongoing. in light of the parallel investigations being conducted at the same time regarding the same subject matter, i do not believe it would be appropriate for the mayor to be interviewed by you or to produce any bottoms. joining me now is attorney ari melbourne, co-host of msnbc's "the cycle." the showdown on the subpoenas they're refusing to deliver. what does the legislative committee do next to try to enforce those subpoenas. >> yeah, well, to enforce the subpoenas, what they will ultimately say is that even if these individuals can invoke a fifth amendment right not to verbally testify, that won't extend to handing over a lot of these documents. and that's something that can be litigated out and can be appealed to a court. as you point out, lawrence, and it can't be stressed enough. that was a

one potential reading on this that i've heard from people, and sokolich with this, is that there may be a strategic thinking here by the christie people to intimidate other would-be elected officials, mayors, public officials, others from coming forward that hey, if you have anything that you want to air about christie we're not just going to take it lying down, we're going to -- this is a little bit of what you can expect. >> there are also obviously just trying to do what lawyers call discovery, which is they desperately need to know what the other side knows. they desperately need to know in order to get their story straight, what has she told them. >> right. and the other thing that i have been looking for and i have not yet seen. i think it's been three weeks now since dawn zimmer was on our air with that allegation -- >> it seems like three months ago. >> given everything that's happened. but the one thing i've been looking for in all that time is the public statement from chris christ christie, the public statement from the governor of new jersey that i have full faith in -- k

mayor sokolich was never on my radar screen. i have to tell you, until i saw his picture last night on television, i wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup. >> he didn't know sokolich, he didn't know wildstein well, he didn't know anything. supposedly we come back with the helicopter record saying that he flew over the gorge washington bridge those days, is he going to say he didn't look down? where does this end? >> it's hard to believe that he didn't know all these things, you know. he has a reputation of being a micromanager, being very much in charge. these people are his close assistants. some of this is getting truly hard to believe. and i don't really understand why he continues to say he doesn't know these people well who were some of his closest advisers. it's very hard to believe, al. >> what sticks out to you, steve, about these subpoenas? what grabbed you when you heard this today about these subpoenas? >> well, the interesting thing is the new subpoenas. so we have a dozen new subpoenas that are going t

the message got through to sokolich. so much that he wrote a panic letter to bill baroni when the closure spilled into day four. he wrote, quote, adding insult to injury, many members of the public have indicated to me that the port authority police officers are advising commuters in response to their complaints that this recent traffic debacle is the result of a decision that i as the mayor recently made. let me go to matt katz at wnyc. this is what brings it home to me. after all the weeks of trying to figure out the politics, the hands-on role played by police officers who are not politicians carrying out a political vendetta. the misuse of authority here over police officers using them for some cheap political number here on the mayor, wittingly or not, these cops were basically playing like they were ward healers, local paws in a political army doing the dirty work of wildstein, kelly, and maybe the governor. we don't know. but this is terrible. this is -- cops are supposed to defend you and protect you and get you

now the bridge lane closings as he set were ordered as political retaliation for punishing mark sokolich for not endorsing christie as governor. when he told cnn from my perspective there's obviously credibility issues with mr. wildstein and he certainly is bucking for immunity. >> right. >> he also says the letter repeats there was no prior knowledge on mr. christie' chris issue either. >> he wrote anonymously in a newsletter that he used to have. and he would be on -- it appeared he would be on which ever side that he could back, and for whatever reason. put it that way. it wasn't really a journalistic pursuit. and towards the end there he was very, very supportive of chris christie. but there are few of us if any, who really believe this was about getting back at a mayor who didn't support the governor. it's got to be something more than that. i mean, you know if it turns out that was all it was we're going to be very surprised. but there are very few of us who cover this administration who think that's what it was. there's just too much down side like what's going on right now. to be

mayor mark sokolich said in his most extensive comments to date on the george washington bridge

lee mayor sokolich. this was at the height of the lane closure mess.lls 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 drove david w

. >> one of the main players, mark sokolich, the mayor of ft. lee.. did you take the george washington this morning and how was it? >> i certainly did and it was clear sailing and ample names available to ft. lee. >> the ft. lee only lanes that people from all these other towns use. >> steve, we only wish they were ft. lee only lanes. they certainly are not. >> i lived in hoboken for a while. when i would use the george washington bridge, would i use the fd lee only resident lanes. i can vouge for that not being just a ft. lee situation. >> you will forever be remembered if nothing for that comment about david wildstein on this network. in the news in a big way yesterday with this letter to the port authority hinting that there is evidence out there, he doesn't say if he has it. he says, there is evidence out here that chris christie knew about this while it was going on, knew about these closures while it was going on. i wondered of what you make about what he had to say through the letter. >> you have to read the letter. it is an artfully written l

i personally believe that mayor sokolich, that's who i believe. you can believe whoever you wish. >> is it possible, i mean, you're a member of the new jersey congressional delegation. this is -- we're talking about the city -- >> the last time i looked. >> we're talking about the sitting governor. we're also talking about the issue of prime importance if, i imagine, for the delegation which is the different waves of this federal money. can you work with this governor? do you trust him? do you view him as trustworthy? do you view his people as trustworthy? >> my record the last four years, the governor dually recollected, dually re-elected. i work for the governor. i said when he's right -- nobody's perfect. you know what, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. no one prove to me that this administration has been transparent on a number of issues. there are questions that are hanging out there. you want me to believe that it took this e-mail to get the governor to even think -- what did he do about it? i want to know what the governor

lee mayor sokolich will not cooperate with christie's lawyers, as i just said. that's the news tonight. you can see the mayor's spine stiffening earlier in the story when he was the target of disparaging comments from christie appointee david wildstein. let's watch that, which is redavid wildstein who since resigned saying it will be a tough november for this little serbian. got a response to that? >> david wildstein deserves an ass-kicking, okay? sorry. there, i said it. >> okay. let me go to senator weinberg. i know you don't use that language. let's go to this question here. >> how do you know that? you didn't ask me. >> i'm just being a gentleman, and you're a lady, so let's go on. it seems to me there are three or four people trying to figure out what is going on. the u.s. attorney in new jersey, maybe the u.s. attorney in new york. you certainly have your investigating team, and then you would say this questionable self-investigation by christie. my question to you. are you getting cooperation from these people, from the mayor of ft. lee, the mayor of hobo

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 had all worked together without me being involved. i see the whole loop here where stepien is obviously involved in this punishment of the mayor. he knows all that is going on. he is laughing about it. he is enjoying it. he is part of it. it's not his attitude, it's fa that he is involved in what look likes a cabal, and the governor says it's just his attitude i don't like. wait a minute. whose government is this? >> chris, for

lee, mark sokolich and asked him to endorse chris christie for re-election. mr. mowers is reportedly complying with the subpoena but "the wall street journal" reports he asked for an extra week to get his documentation. his documentation should be in a week from today, next monday, february 10th. we got all this new information today about who is complying with subpoenas and how exactly they're complying. how long it's going to take them past the initial deadline. we know about who has asked for extensions. we know that these four people on your screen here, bill baroni, christina lado philip, e danielides, paul nunziato, responded and turned in their documents already. of course, we know these christie staffers, bill stepien and deputy chief of staff bridget kelly have both invoked their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination and are refusing to turn over anything. bridget kelly, of course, is the person who worked in the governor's office who sent that e-mail that said "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." she's the one who then professed basic

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 thing. bridget kelly, who said she was very happy with baroni's testimony, his performance, according to texts from wildstein. and then nicole grifo, who wildstein also mentions in texts. and mckenna who wildstein tells baroni you did great. melissa, this is fascinating, because this is a large web of people that were involved in coaching or saluting or praising baroni's cover-up claim it was all a traffic study. it's almost growing to be as l