Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

Here are a few dots that are beginning to look suspiciously connected:

Last summer, Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee, N.J., was expected to follow a lot of other mayors in the state by endorsing Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, in his easy run for re-election. Mr. Sokolich, a Democrat, refused.

A short time later, two of Fort Lee’s three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were mysteriously shut down. The traffic jam was horrendous. Short trips — it was the first day of school — took as long as four hours. The town of Fort Lee was a parking lot.

Mr. Sokolich suspected that there might be a connection between his failure to support the governor and his town’s sudden traffic nightmare. Mr. Christie appoints key members of the board for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the routes to the G.W., the busiest bridge in the world.



At a hearing Monday in Trenton, bridge workers testified that Mr. Christie’s associates at the Port Authority ordered them to close the lanes. Bridge workers were told it was part of a traffic study. And they were also told to keep quiet about it.

When Patrick Foye, the Port Authority executive director (appointed by New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo), learned about the “traffic study” days later, he was reportedly outraged, since there was no such thing, and he ordered the lanes reopened.

Calling the episode “a low point in Port Authority history,” Mr. Foye told New Jersey legislators on Monday that the lane closures had been ordered specifically by David Wildstein. Mr. Wildstein is a high school friend of Mr. Christie and a longtime political supporter. Last Friday, he suddenly announced his resignation from the Port Authority, effective Jan. 1.

Mr. Wildstein could not be reached for comment, and he has yet to testify in Trenton before Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the transportation committee, which is investigating the Fort Lee matter.

Mr. Christie, for his part, thinks the notion that there was a conspiracy is simply “crazy.” Strange, yes, but there is certainly more to learn before this whole Fort Lee matter is dismissed as mere coincidence. To determine if this was more than a traffic mishap, Mr. Foye should authorize a full investigation by the Port Authority’s inspector general.