It is
more likely that Governor Chris Christie will be impeached
and removed from office – in 2014 – than he ever runs for the GOP nomination
for President.
Why?
Because Democrats
– unlike our current House Republicans – know how to run a gut-cutting,
down-and-dirty-if-necessary investigation against a
political opponent. They know how to take aim – and then
keep their eye on the target – no matter what. They know they have most of the
media with them – and they thus are not afraid of “over-reach.” And they have
the killer instinct that almost all Republicans lack.
The
Bridge-Gate Scandal is the latest perfect example: the emails ordering up the
traffic jam first made it into the public domain last Wednesday, January 8th.
By the following Monday – January 13th – a mere five days later, the
Assembly and Senate Democrats had already named not one but
two Special Investigative Committees armed with Special
Counsels and widespread subpoena power. The Assembly Speaker said, “The
investigation will go where it goes.” In other words, they are free to go down
any tributary – as long as it helps them sink Governor Christie.
Their
enmity toward the Governor is two-tracked: First, they despise Chris Christie
and harbor grudges over the condescending, demeaning way he has treated them
over the past four years. He has called Senate Democrats “animals” and even
suggested people should “take a bat” to Senator Loretta Weinberg, the Senate
Democratic leader, who is an elderly widow.
Second, the
national Democrats see Christie as the only current threat to Hillary’s
presidential ambitions in 2016. Now that he might be in trouble, the party –
from the top down and including the Democratic Donor Class – is encouraging the
Trenton Democrats to “take out” and “finish off” Christie right now.
So these
two committees in Trenton now have free rein to do whatever it
takes to ruin Chris Christie. They have motivation, memory (of how he
has treated them), money and momentum as more and more tales of political
retaliation, payback and vendettas comes into these two committee.
His circle
of aides is at the moment in a state of total panic. They read and saw Chairman
of the Assembly Special Committee, John Wisniewski, openly talking on Sunday’s FACE THE NATION that “impeachment is a
possibility here.”
Wisniewski
believes that using governmental resources to exact political revenge is a
crime – and thus could lead to impeachment.
Christie’s
aides are all worrying about themselves right now – and asking these questions:
1) “Do I need to hire a lawyer?” 2) “Should I be the first to offer to talk in
return for immunity? 3) “If I wait too long, maybe someone else I am working
with will make that deal first and I won’t be able to get immunity.” 4) “Can I
even talk to the people I work with?” 5) “Can I ever get another job?” 6) “Is
Chris Christie worth sacrificing my career for?”
As for
friends he can rely on, Governor Christie has fewer inside the New Jersey GOP
than he should have. He has systematically bulldozed so many fellow Republicans
that they are tentative and tepid in their support. For four years it has been
known inside Jersey politics that if you made even the mildest criticism of the
Governor, he would come after you with a vengeance. Payback and punishment have
become the rule over the past four years.
Right after
the election this past November, Governor Christie tried to dislodge Senate GOP
Leader Tom Kean, Jr. – the son of Christie’s political mentor, former Governor
Tom Kean.
The elder
Kean sees this as an act of betrayal.
Oh, and
Christie failed to dislodge Kean, Jr. from his leadership post.
If
impeachment comes and makes it to the New Jersey Senate, does the Governor
believe Senator Kean will go out of his way to save him from a conviction?
What we are
witnessing is an overly-arrogant Republican governor who has gone out of his
way to insult and offend people who dare to disagree with him coupled with a
hungry Democratic Party armed with indignation, money and subpoena power.
This all
adds up to one thing: he does not survive 2014.
John LeBoutillier is a former U.S.
Congressman (Rep. NY 1981-1983) and is the co-host of Fox News Channel’s POLITICAL INSIDERS seen on FNC at 7:30
PM Sunday nights.
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