NEW YORK : New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s US presidential ambitions ran into a jam Thursday when he was forced to admit his staff lied to him about their role in blocking commuter traffic onto a major bridge. Christie, a larger-than-life Republican seen as a frontrunner for his party’s 2016 presidential nomination, said he had been “embarrassed and humiliated” by the alleged dirty tricks. In a marathon news conference, Christie repeatedly apologized for his office’s connection to the shutting down in September of local access lanes onto the heavily-traveled George Washington Bridge, which links New Jersey to New York.
The lane closures caused massive traffic disruption for four days in the New Jersey town of Fort Lee, allegedly to punish the local mayor, who did not endorse Christie’s successful re-election bid.