I’ve mentioned that Christie, after working as U.S. attorney, was famously paranoid about leaving an email, voicemail or text trail. So finding no evidence is not the same as clearing someone:
But the report said that Mr. Christie did not recall Mr. Wildstein’s raising the topic during their interaction and, in a sweeping claim of vindication, found no evidence that he — or any current members of his staff — was involved in or aware of the scheme before it snarled traffic for thousands of commuters in Fort Lee, N.J., from Sept. 9 to the morning of Sept. 12.
The inquiry instead blamed, almost entirely, Mr. Wildstein and the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, for the scandal, describing Ms. Kelly as scrambling to cover up her role.
As the Times report noted, Randy Mastro’s press conference sounded just like a criminal defense attorney’s statement to the jury. Which it was.
How surprising!