Mayor to Christie: 'Don't call me'

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich dressed down New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his embattled top aides Wednesday, calling the politically motivated logjam of the George Washington Bridge in September “the lowest, most venomous form of political retaliation.”

“I didn’t decide to join the fray of this until today, when these emails surfaced. I’m not a retribution kind of a guy, but the folks that are responsible for this can no longer be in positions that they can actually cause this type of damage to other unsuspecting communities,” Sokolich told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.


Christie hasn’t been directly linked to the controversial lane closures, but the direct involvement of aides at the top tier of his staff has raised many questions about his role. In the interview, Sokolich said he was not interested in a personal apology but insisted that the governor should apologize to members of his community.

( On POLITICO: Emails between Christie stafff members)

Sokolich continued to slam Christie in a later interview Wednesday on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live,” saying his statement addressing the situation was delayed.

“It came four months into this debacle. It would have been a little more sincere, I believe, if it happened within a day or two or three of all of this happening,” Sokolich said.

He added that he didn’t want to speculate on Christie’s involvement but said that “as time transpires and events unfold, it becomes disheartening to believe that it’s this close to the governor’s office.”

( Also on POLITICO: Chris Christie: ‘People will be held responsible’)

The mayor also told Morgan that he had not heard from Christie or his office.

“Remain mindful, Piers, I’m not on his radar, so I trust I’m not in his Rolodex, either,” Sokolich said.

“Don’t call me, but call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart palpitations or extreme chest pains and were waiting for our ambulance corps to arrive,” he said. “Who would plausibly reduce themselves to closing lanes to the busiest bridge in the world?”

Sokolich also expressed dismay that the scandal, which is now being flippantly labeled “Bridgegate” and “Bridgeghazi,” has made New Jersey politics a national joke.

( QUIZ: How well do you know Chris Christie?)

“We’ve now ensured that we’re going to remain the butt of every political joke for the next 20 years on political misconduct. It’s such a sad, sad state of events,” he said.

In addition to the lane closures that crippled Fort Lee, Sokolich was himself personally attacked by members of Christie’s team. Port Authority official David Wildstein apparently referred to Sokolich as “this little Serbian” when emailing Christie’s two-time campaign manager Bill Stepien.

“I’m Croatian, Wolf,” Sokolich clarified to CNN.

Sokolich expressed harsher disdain for Wildstein, who resigned in December over the flap, when the mayor spoke on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” on Wednesday.

“David Wildstein deserves an ass-kicking, okay? Sorry. There, I said it,” Sokolich said.

Lucy McCalmont contributed to this report.