wildstein has a story to tell. prosecutors don't grant immunity lightly, and the lawyer's request for immunity suggests he believes mr. wildstein has information that could be valuable enough to prosecutors as they determine if any laws have been broken here. john heilemann, msnbc political analyst and the co-author of "doubledown down" and jonathan capehart is a contributor for "the washington post" and an msnbc analyst. he didn't know about this whole bridge problem until afterwards, after it happened. then we get a claim from his lawyer for wildstein that he knew about it during it and has evidence to prove that the governor knew about it during the events themselves. and then we got a rather obscure, rather oddly written nondenial denial by the governor late this evening saying i didn't know about it prior to the events. well, no one said he knew prior. they said he knew during. my question, does this site up to a problem to a governor who still hasn't gotten his story straight, meaning he has already been caug

wildstein's lawyer's other assertions. my question back to you, michael, nobody said he knew about it beforehand. this use of the word prior is totally extraneous. it's not a denial. he is not denying he knew about it during the actual events, and that's what the lawyer for mr. wildstein is saying his client is going to testify. >> right. >> so why is he putting out a statement that doesn't deny the bombshell that wildstein just dropped? >> well, the key word there is "it." what is it? is it the lane closures? >> but he said i don't know anything about it. >> right. >> anything about it until afterwards. >> right. that's -- that's -- that's true. he did say that, and he may have some political trouble explaining that. >> i think he'll have trouble in the witness chair with that one. what about sitting in the witness chair saying i knew about it afterwards. now it comes out i didn't know about it beforehand. this thing went on for five days. by the way, you and i wondered, i know you did because i did, how can the governor

wildstein. the port authority official who's at the center of the lane closings. the one who seems to have actually arranged them. "the new york times" got ahold of this letter in which mr. wildstein's attorney mostly makes the case to a lawyer at the port authority that the port authority should pay mr. wildstein's legal fees. also in this letter mr. wildstein's attorney wrote a strange passive tense sentence that brought front-page headlines across the country. "evidence exists as well tieing governor christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference." that happened on friday and then the weekend, it got even weirder. what happened this weekend that made it, go splash cold water on your face and read the newspaper again bizarre time this weekend was the way that governor christie's office responded privately, pseudo-privately to that allegation from david wildstein's lawyer

>> david wildstein. >> david wildstein. >> david wildstein. >> david wildstein. >> who is this wildstein guy? >> former christie port authority appointee, david wildstein. >> why should we believe him? >> the lawyer for david wildstein write, quote, evidence exists tying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closure. >> evidence exist, ohhh. >> it's a curious choice of words. >> it exists. >> it raises questions about what does he have? >> he hasn't presented that evidence yet. >> how do i feel about david now? >> this is just the governor's word against david wildstein. >> they created a brand-new position just for him. >> specifically for david wildstein. >> what this has done is made christie look so uncredible. >> for the gop field at large. >> perhaps still has ambitions to run in 2016. >> christie was the man to beat. >> a lot of republicans looked at their poll numbers. >> it looks very different with christie falling to the middle. >> what this has done has made christie look so uncredible as a presidential candidate. >> here is the first time that most of us saw david wil

wildstein has a story to tell. prosecutors don't grant immunity lightly, and the lawyer's request for immunity suggests he believes mr. wildstein has information that could be valuable enough to prosecutors as they determine if any laws have been broken here. an msnbc political analyst and the co-author of "doubledown down" and jonathan capehart is a contributor for "the washington post" and an msnbc contributor. he didn't know about this whole bridge problem until afterwards, after it happened. then we get a claim from his lawyer for wildstein that he knew about it during it and has evidence to prove that the governor knew about it during the events themselves. and then we got a rather obscure, rather oddly written nondenial denial by the governor late this evening saying i didn't know about it prior to the events. well, no one said he knew prior. they said he knew during. my question, does this site up to a problem to a governor who still hasn't gotten his story straight, meaning he has already been caught in a s

wildstein. they're talking about the gridlock they caused. "is it wrong that i'm smiling?" "no, no, it's not wrong that you're smiling." the person responds to david wildstein, "i feel badly about the kids. i guess." to which david wildstein responds "they are the children of buono voters." meaning they're the children of people who vote democratic. do not feel bad they're gridlocked for hours in traffic and cannot get to school because of something we just did. that all came out on wednesday, january 8th. wednesday, january 8th. the day after that, governor chris christie gave a press conference responding to this issue, professing to be angry and sad and blindsided about this whole thing. and you know what, the beltway press really loved it. loved his press conference is so long, taking so many questions. he's doing great. the scandal is terrible, but chris christie is doing so great. look at his long press conference. the problem is is that at that press conference, the beltway press may have

david wildstein will do and say anything to save david wildstein. ouch. he had a controversial tenure at mayor of livingston. ooh! he was an anonymous blogger. wow! folks, that is a damning list. and it doesn't even mention the troubling rumors that wildstein is a known associate of scandal-plagued governor chris christie. (laughter and applause) but, folks, all of that -- (cheers and applause) all of this -- all of this just pales when compared to the darkest revelation that wildstein was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior! (audience reacts) oh, yeah. folks, i shudder to think what that could mean. did he improperly footnote a term paper? did he forge his mom's signature for a field trip to colonial williamsberg? did he cover his cross with a notebook while giving oral reports or, upon hearing the words "oral reports"? and, again, again, folks, these accusations are coming from the highest level: a social studies teacher! now, unfortunately, david wildstein's social studies teacher was unavailable for comment

anything to save david wildstein." a former christie ally, wildstein took the fifth in january -- >> i respectfully assert my right to remain silent. >> dangled hints that christie may know more about the bridge traffic scandal. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution. >> wildstein's attorney wrote, "evidence exists tying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly." wildstein's central role in the scandal makes his claims intriguing, but he offers no specific evidence. >> while david wildstein claims that evidence exists, but what's left unanswered is what kind of evidence, what has that evidence, and does it say anything about whether christie knew the motivation behind these lane closures. >> so at first blush, it seemed as if wildstein himself possessed this evidence. we don't actually know if that's the case. the lawyers' purpose in this letter is maybe not what people

wildstein was trashed.ssentially he called him a nerd and said he was a bigwig in high school and wildstein was a nerd. if you're trying to keep people from turning on you, you treat them nicely. you say bridget kelly was great deputy chief of staff. this is a real shame she can't stay on in the government and we thank her for her service. and david wildstein did so many good things for the port authority. but they tried to bully them and to set up the he said/she said. i think the governor's people were aware of the fact that wildstein was eventually going to say the governor knew about it or maybe he ordered it. we have to wait and see. and bridget kelly might do the same thing. so 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

quote, wildstein's sources, including the u.s.orney at the time, chris christie, plied him with tips and poured out their souls in e-mails and instant message conversations at all hours, knowing little more about him than an e-mail address. bridget anne kelly, quote, was one of wally edge's best source. bill stepien, quote, was one of the young operatives whose career he nurtured. in other words, david wildstein knows where the bodies are buried in jersey. and that store of knowledge could become a very dangerous weapon against governor christie in the weeks ahead. brian murphy was the managing editor of politics nj where he worked for david wildstein who then used the pen name wally edge. thanks for joining us tonight. i want you to comment on two earlier stories quickly. one, it seems like mayor sokolich is now talking. he 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

at this time when wildstein tendered his resignation, the governor through a spokesman called wildstein a tireless advocate for the state's interests. we are grateful for wildstein's dedication with the work of the port authority. if christie is now digging into wildstein's high school career for evidence of questionable character, "the washington post," is digging into his high school career for christie's character. christie, ever the sportsman, was worried the lawsuit might force his team to forfeit the entire season. we await future reports of other episodes displaying christie's lack of vindictiveness. joining me now is the host of "up" and mark halprin. steve, i wanted to start with you. the character assassination thing seems to be distinctly a part of the christie playbook at this point. doesn't it bring out the battering ram on david wildstein's high school career? >> i think the reaction i've heard from people, even people who are supportive of chris christie, the reaction to this statement that came out on saturday is one of shock of how amateur this is. you look at the bulle

wildstein. it's an effort to undermine his character to attack his credibility. david wildstein's past, the e-mail reads, people and newspaper accounts have described him as tumultuous and someone who made moves that were not productive. and then there's a series of bullet point indictments, as a 16-year-old kid he sued over a local school board election. he was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior. he had a controversial tenure as mayor of livingston. he was an anonymous blogger known as wally edge. he had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people's names without telling them. you can make your own judgment about the material christie's team has chosen to attack wildstein with, but two things should probably be pointed out here. one is that every one of those items with the possible exception of wildstein's penchant for registering various web addresses, every one of the items on the list has been known to christie and his team for

david wildstein's lawyer said such evidence exists. he didn't say it's in wildstein's possessions. "the times" revised its copy to say that and the web noticed that instantly. the "times" seemed to make a mistake. here's the bigger problem. chris christie is in some ways the frontrunner for the republican nomination. everything he says and does is pounced upon by the 24/7 internet and cable news cycle. here's alex wagner reacting to the news after "the new york times" story was published. >> we have breaking news. a bombshell revelation from ex-port authority official david wildstein who carried out the lane closures on the george washington bridge. wildstein says he has proof of -- that governor chris christie knew about the plans to close those lanes while they were happening. >> the network eventually reported it more accurately, as did others, but reported like that on other major outlets at the time. on saturday christie's camp attacked "the new york times" for, quote, sloppy reporting and attacked wildstein for basically being a bad guy, who keep in mind christie appointed in

wildstein's motivation for closing them. as the governor said he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press. as he said january 9 had no indication it was nothing more than traffic study. a lot of ground to cover. on the phone is sean boburg of burton county new jersey. senior legal analyst joins us and dana bash. does what the lawyer for wildstein, does it contradict what the governor of new jersey said? >> he said i had no prior knowledge. the governor said i didn't know about it while it was going on. wildstein is saying evidence exists to this and says i have evidence that the governor pf's statements about me were wrong. >> is the governor saying he didn't know the lanes were closed while it was going on or didn't know the alleged political reasons? >> he didn't know the lanes were closed -- now saying i didn't know prior to this nor the motivation. the point from the lawyer is wildstein who was the eyes and ears is saying what he said is wrong. i can contradict that. >> wildstein it seems li

>> david wildstein will do and save anything to save david wildstein." a former christie ali, wildstein and then took the fifth in january. >> i respectfully assert my right to remain silent. >> dangled hints that christie may know more about the bridge traffic scandal. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue in its planning or its execution. >> reporter: wildstein's attorney wrote "evidence exists can tying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly." >> would you reconsider? >> wildstein's central role in the scandal makes his claims intrig intriguing, but he offers no specific evidence. >> well, david wildstein claims that evidence exists but what's left unanswered is what kind of evidence, who has that evidence and does it say anything about whether christie knew the motivation behind the lane closures. >> reporter: and the context of thisler is important, too. . wildstein's lawyer was sending the letter to the wildstein's former employer,

. >> a "new york times" story broke quoting david wildstein's lawyer that evidence exists that vi christie had knowledge of the lane closures in ft. lee. then it got worse. saturday afternoon the christie administration sent out a rambling buzzfeed style liftical to friends and allies titled "five things you should know about the bombshell that's not a bombshell." the two-page document included a section focusing on david wildstein's reputation at livingston high school. he and christie both went there over 30 years ago. >> i was the class president and athlete. i don't know what david was doing during that period of time. >> according to team christie, wildstein was "publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior." the list did not mention that wildstein was known as governor christie's eyes and ears inside the port authority after he was appointed by the governor to work at the port authority.

and no one knows what wildstein has. and there is no doubt, if you look at the way christie has behaved since friday, if you look at the sequence of events from the initial response they had on friday afternoon or early friday evening to the attacks on wildstein over the weekend to then his decision to go on the radio show on monday, this is the look of a group that is scrambling to try to deal with the unknown and with an unknown that carries almost no positive potential upside. it's all danger for them. and i think you're right. he is trying to say as little as he can, to create a little bit of wiggle room, but is really operating in a darkroom right now in terms of what is to come. >> and we're to believe that he has been looking for the real killer, if you will, to use another old crime case, that he has been looking for this information with his staff, that he has been dramatically out there, you know, keel hauling his staff for information, and yet when he comes on tv last night, he tells us nothing we don't know.

it is not his prior knowledge subject to dispute by david wildstein. >> what david wildstein said, he said the governor knew about these lane closings while they were going on, and evidence exists to prove that. he said governor christie lied during the two-hour press conference. he said he made the truth and the evidence contradicts what christie said in the marathon two-hour press conference and he said things about me and i can prove what he said about me is wrong. you're right, christie is in some ways moving the goal post here, saying i never knew anything about this prior and that's what the people of new jersey care about. he's leaving room for wildstein's accusation to be true, he knew about it during the lane closures. >> one thing we have to think about when we think about the plausibility of the governor not knowing. thls -- this is the governor's own story. this is what the governor is saying, in his two-hour press conference, what he's held to, i had no idea. basically this entire wildfire was happening and didn't get to my level. this is the story from the governor. one

david wildstein's, his role, detail it for us. >> so wildstein is the port authority official. he was a christie appointee who carried out the order to close the access lanes to the gw bridge and you may remember christie's deputy chief of staff bridget kelly e-mailed to wildstein time for traffic problems in ft. lee and wildstein replied, got it. what's so interesting about wildstein as character in this story is he and christie met in 1977 in high school long before christie appointed him at the port authority. but he down played their friendship in that press conference a few weeks ago. >> david and i were not friends in high school. we were not even acquaintances in high school. i was the class president and athlete. i don't know what david was doing during that period of time. we went 23 years without seeing each other. >> so just perhaps not the best way to inspire loyalty. christi and victor? >> erin mcpike was. thank you. >>> joining us now, a democrat from new jersey, democrat congressman, i should say, thank you so much, for of all, for taking the time to be with us.

to save david wildstein.ot sure that is the smartest ploy. >> well, that is the situation that chris christie is going to find himself in. he has got, what, 15, 16 people that are probably going to be subpoenaed and you'll have people coming forward. again, we will see what happens when all of the evidence comes out, when all of the depositions are taken, when all of the documents come in. >> joe, if you were in that position -- >> no. >> -- would you advise a team to put a statement out? >> no. you don't have to ask the question. no. >> you said it on friday. i think it drove the point home. if he is absolutely clear that he is completely separated from the situation, he should be doing town halls and moving along. >> also, i think instead of going after david wildstein, i think i would question "the new york times" reporting because it's am bigus, at best, the statement came out -- so we are all sitting around. friday, i guess, the big headline comes out. he knew. and you're like, oh, my god. i send it to y

from wildstein last month.d them to a committee before he took the fifth. he gave us with first clues that broke open the story and maybe another clue today. alex? >> it's interesting where this information is placed, it's the bottom third of the letter. we are reading through going okay, okay, oh, there it is. >> it's interesting where he talks about the governor said things about wildstein himself and he can disprove some of them. how well did they know each other or not, had they been in touch. it's tantalizing. the governor's office says it doesn't change anything, yet. we have to see if other shoes drop. >> we'll see. thank you for your help, collie o'donnell. >>> my conversation with rachel maddow. we spoke in her office the morning after the president's state of the union speech. i asked about the tribute to the army sergeant corey after being wouned in afghanistan on his tenth deployment. >> the thing that made it so powerful is how moved everybody was by it. we have this weird dichotomy in our country.

turns out the teacher signed wildstein's petition to run for school board and wildstein has taken thenature as an endorsement and agreed there was a misunderstanding. joining me now is political reporter bob engel and maggie hagueman. this stuff is so low going after the guy's high school behavior and try to make it look like he was a weirdo in high school politics when it turns out he was trying to get into local republican politics the teacher signed his petition and then used it as an endorsement. i think these are shadings but are highly escalated charges by the christie people. your thoughts? >> i think going back to somebody's high school era to muddy them or make them look a certain way is always sort of questionable. the bigger question is when you see the e-mail you ask yourself and we are asking this, if he was so bad, if all of this was true why did you appoint the guy to the port authority and praise him on his way out the door. those are very legitimate questions. mostly it surprised people for the reason that what christie is facing is an allegation that his office basic

. >> 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 reads "local ft. lee traffic disaster." and chip michaels and david wildstein had more in common than an interest in traffic. they both hail from livingston, new jersey, where they attended high school with none other than chris christie. in more recent years, michaels coached christie's kids' hockey team. in a 2010 profile for the "star-ledger" michaels joked about seeing his childhood friend ascend to governor of his state. "we break his chops a little bit just saying, you're the governor? looking at him laughing." the connection involv

but not in david wildstein's case, david wildstein's case, no job description, no paper nots.s a spokesman for governor christie defended hiring david wildstein as well as his lack of an official job description, he's in that job because he's well suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the port authority in accordance with the governor's goals. so whatever that job was, whatever he was doing there for four years in accordance with the governor's goals, david wildstein is gone from that agency now. he resigned in december, and he's now pleading the fifth to avoid testifying about his role in shutting down access lanes to the busiest bridge in the world as part of some yet unexplained scheme to inflict punishment on the town of ft. lee new jersey. and now today, exactly 60 days after he became the first chris christie ally or staffer to resign in this bridge scandal, today we learn that the port authority is eliminating the job that they created for him. they are eliminating the job that he once held. quotes from ledger today, there's never been a job like it, it came with no job

david wildstein turned up at the bridge that morning to see his handiwork. he showed up at the bridge that morning to see what the impact was of shutting down the lanes from ft. lee, at 7:30 that morning, he sent this e-mail saying he was going for a ride around with chip. thanks to steve kornacki's reporting, we believe that was david wildstein taking a ride around with port authority police lieutenant whose name is chip michaels. he turns up in a few other places in the documents that have been released publicly so far. we have previously reported, we broke the news on this show about how david wildstein did the work over a period of a couple weeks of planning the bridge shutdown before he put it into effect. what was fascinating about that, is that he got some options from the career employees around the bridge, from the technokrats, from the traffic engineers about ways to mess with ft. lee. he asked them specifically to model some new traffic patterns that would result in reducing ft. lee's access to the bridge. but the options that the traffic engineer

david wildstein is making a bid for immunity.. bill stepien, deputy campaign manager yesterday, his lawyer wrote a letter asking -- saying he intends to take the fifth amendment. he is not going to give his story any time soon. i am told that there already have been multiple requests for extensions. >> this is dragging on, is what you're saying. >> this thing is going to drag on for a while and it's hard to see how the governor can satisfy the public and -- republican party donors and people of new jersey when you have got this many questions unanswered and witnesses who won't be heard from. >> we're going to be joined right now in the conversation by eleanor clift from the daily beast in washington. eleanor, with a welcome to you. i know that you have covered local politics, national politics, as well. what's your take on how this is evolving? >> well, when i heard the news yesterday, my first instinct was, oh they're really closing in on chris christie. but then when you examine it, exactly what the lawyer is saying and you see

wildstein's attorney? >> a couple things. first of all, yes, it's clear he wants an immunity deal and his lawyer has been saying that repeatedly including at that hearing. but, remember, a letter like this is not what the u.s. attorney is looking for when he makes a decision about whether to grant immunity. they're going to want to proffer. they're going to want to know exactly what he's got to say. they're going to want to see the evidence. before they give him immunity, they've got to be confident in their own mind this guy's got a story to tell that they can stand behind. and i just want to differ with steve a little bit on those redacted messages. yeah, it's one thing to be held in contempt for taking the fifth, but if he consciously concealed evidence that was relevant to the investigation, that could be interpreted as part of an -- as an obstruction effort on his part that the u.s. attorney might even take into consideration as part of a conspiracy. so, you know, what this evidence -- i mean, i keep

to kelly and wildstein says, he has officially pissed me off. kelly replies clearly. we cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we? wildstein flights to tel aviv all mysteriously delayed. >> kelly, p kelly, perfect. four days after the lane closings in the george washington bridge, wildstein and kelly were worried about press inquiries. wildstein, wall street journal just called my cell so i need to speak with you. kelly, i'm calling your office. no answer. kelly, i spoke to mike. we also now know that david wildstein and the port authority deputy director bill baroni were worried enough about what happened at the george washington bridge on november 12, 2013, baroni asks, are we being fired? they were not fired, but were allowed to resign in december and were both praised by governor christie as they exited their jobs. there is another exchange where wildstein and baroni worried about new jersey senator loretta weinberg and assemblyman john wisniewski disrupting one of their press events. wildstein, instructions for gaggle. do

wildstein responds, around 7:30.is where the puzzle starts to come together because there is something is else that appears 200 pages earlier in wildstein's subpoenaed documents. it's an e-mail sent from wildstein at 7:28 that morning to durando informing him he's, quote, going to take a ride with chip and see how it looks. so we wonder, is this person, chip, the same person wildstein was texting with? the same police lieutenant durando testified gave wildstein a tour of the area? it appears likely that it is. it's a little tricky because there's no one with the name of chip listed in official port authority materials as a police officer at the bridge. but, when we called the police chief in ft. lee, we asked him which officials at the port authority he had conversations with that week about the lane closures and the traffic. he mention ed a port authority police officer named chip michaels. and there is a port authority police lieutenant assigned to the george washington bridge with the last name of michaels, his na

whether it is wildstein. whether it is wildstein's lawyer.g careful about the language and they should be. they could be in court under sworn testimony. this could move in that direction. i don't think it has. i have read the letter four times. i think it is a devastating letter. >> what in particular would you say is devastating? >> about the eighth para graph said he just laid it all out. it has come to light that a person within the administration communicating the christie administration's order, et cetera, et cetera. evidence exists tying mr. christie of having knowledge of the lane closures during the period of when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly. that's a direct statement. that's not parsed. >> he is asserting, for instance, a christie defense that may have been plausible to some people at least even still currently is that this was like a rogue operation, wildstein and baroni and maybe bridget kelly. he is stating it as a fact that her e-mail was communicating the christie administration's orders.

wildstein replied, "got it." there were 20 subpoenas issued seeking documents from christie's former and top aides and his reelection campaign. responses to those subpoenas are due next week. assemblyman john wisniewski is leading the investigation. >> i don't know what documents he is referring to. we had subpoenaed documents from him. i'm a little frustrated as committee chair that we had asked for documents from him through a valid subpoena. he provided us over 900 pages. and apparently the documents he is referring to were not part of that response. >> reporter: and the voices are only going to get louder after this. forget presidential hopes, brian. many are now saying that if this is proved, he should resign or be impeached. >> katy tur starting us off on the new york side of the gw bridge. katy, thanks. as we said, the governor has responded to this charge late today in the form of a statement. nbc's kelly o'donnell has been covering the governor and this story since it broke. she is in our washington news