By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor and Ml Nestel New Jersey Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski told MailOnline on Thursday evening that Republican Gov. Chris Christie is 'not believable,' and claimed a staffer who pleaded the Fifth during a 'Bridgegate' hearing represents 'just the tip of the cover-up.' Christie, said the lawmaker leading the probe into New Jersey's most improbable scandal since the last New Jersey governor was caught up in one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history, is either 'a governor who can’t manage his staff or one who isn’t telling the truth.' In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the Democratic assemblyman said he was unimpressed with the governor's claim that he first learned Wednesday morning about a political payback plot involving his most trusted staffers and traffic entering the George Washington Bridge.
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NJ Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski said Christie is either 'a governor who can’t manage his staff or one who isn’t telling the truth'
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He trashed the governor's presumed presidential aspirations, saying he can't even be trusted to run the George Washington Bridge
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It's inconceivable, he insisted, that a 'hands-on' leader like Christie might 'suddenly have a senior member of his administration go rogue'
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A long-time NJ political operative said Thursday that Christie political aide Bill Stepien was likely the shot-caller behind the bridge scandal
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The insider added that Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, was loyal to Stepien and may have taken orders from him
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Kelly's childhood friend told MailOnline that she was 'scapegoated' and called it 'a disgrace ... that she's the only one with egg on her face'
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Port Authority appointee David Wildstein refused to answer questions during a state assembly hearing, exercising his Fifth Amendment right
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Wisniewski described Wildstein's silence as 'the tip of the cover-up'
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A US Attorney has opened a criminal investigation after the punitive traffic snarl-ups caused by the bridge plot led to emergency vehicle delays
Right hand woman: Bridget Kelly was close to the New Jersey Governor and critics of @placeholder say she would not have done anything without taking orders