As the scandals surrounding Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) administration have intensified, the list of officials feeling the need to resign has grown. Today, it got a little longer.
The first notable resignation came late last year, with David Wildstein’s departure. Bill Baroni soon followed. When the bridge scandal erupted in earnest as a national fiasco, Bridget Kelly was ousted from the governor’s office and Christie ended his professional ties to Bill Stepien, his former campaign manager.
But all the while, there were lingering questions as to how long David Samson could remain in his Port Authority post as the questions about his activities grew louder. Today, Christie held a press conference, in part to announce Samson’s departure.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Friday that David Samson, a powerful appointee of the governor’s at the Port Authority, has resigned. Christie said Samson believed the Port Authority deserved new leadership and a fresh start after an internal report found problems with the organization.During a press conference Friday, Christie said that Samson “completely supports the recommendations laid out [in the report] for the Port Authority and he believes the best way to start the new year” is with a new person in charge.
There have long been question marks surrounding Samson’s role in the scandal, most notably in light of a September 2013 email in which Wildstein told Kelly that Samson is “helping us retaliate” against Port Authority officials in New York who ended the Fort Lee fiasco at the time.
Despite being directly implicated, Samson has always enjoyed Christie’s full and unwavering support, and even today, the governor did his best to make it sound like Samson’s resignation was simply a routine changing of the guard, rather than the result of a dangerous debacle.
But under the circumstances, this seems more like a cover story than an explanation, and Samson’s departure won’t put an end to the questions surrounding his efforts within the Christie administration.
Indeed, as Rachel aired a report earlier this month that’s well worth checking out, especially today in light of Samson’s sudden resignation.
For those who can’t watch clips online, a transcript of the episode is online here.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."