Executive Rob Astorino Urges Christie and Cuomo to Resign Amidst New Allegations
Outside the Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, October 5, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino called on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to both resign amidst new revelations in the Bridgegate trial that suggest the governors colluded together to cover up the scandal.
The press conference was delivered by Astorino one day after Port Authority official David Wildstein testified in a Newark, New Jersey courtroom that Govs. Christie and Cuomo falsified a traffic report to explain the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge during September of 2013.
Astorino, the Republican candidate defeated by Gov. Cuomo in the 2014 race, believes the falsified reports, if proven true, are all part of a “mutual re-election assistance pact” between Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo.
He stated that Gov. Cuomo pledged not to raise questions about the Bridgegate scandal until after Gov. Christie’s 2013 re-election. In return, Astorino asserts that Gov. Christie pulled his support from Astorino’s campaign and urged other Republican donors to do the same.
Executive Astorino continued his press conference by telling a personal story about how he believes these governors impacted his 2014 campaign against Gov. Cuomo. Astorino said, “the public needs to hear it, and not just because it involved me, but because it really demonstrates how politically corrupt and cynical these two governors are.”
Astorino explained that on November 20 2013, Gov. Christie personally expressed his support of Astorino’s candidacy in the 2014 New York election while they both attended a Republican Governors Association (RGA) conference together in Phoenix, Arizona. Gov. Christie was just appointment chairman of the RGA earlier that month.
Gov. Christie’s support of Astorino did not last long. A few days later on November 25, Gov. Cuomo said in a conference call that the New Jersey Governor had assured him earlier that day that he would not be supporting Astorino’s candidacy.
In the weeks following, Astorino reported that “Governor Christie said on TV that my candidacy against Governor Cuomo was a lost cause.” He added, “We also got word that Governor Christie was instructing big donors not to give to our campaign.”
Astorino’s campaign began to lose financial support and he eventually lost the 2014 election.
The 2014 campaign was closer than expected, but Astorino does not dwell on this loss, as he said what’s more important now is revealing the truth. “The bottom line is that Governor Cuomo agreed to look the other way on Bridgegate in the fall of 2013 to help Governor Christie get re-elected.”
The Westchester Executive continued, “The deal between these men is so patently obvious, Governor Cuomo insults the intelligence of every New Yorker by pretending that these events never played out.”
New Yorkers in attendance had similar sentiments to Astorino.
Grace Callan, a student, agreed and said “It’s insulting because [the governors] act like we don’t know what’s going on.” Callan continued, “I’m not personally insulted, but it’s crazy that Cuomo thinks people would believe that.”
After the press conference, Astorino was asked if he would encourage an impeachment process if the two governors refused to resign on their own.
Astorino dismissed this possibility, saying that “it seemed far-fetched, but the legislature can clearly do whatever they want.”
Manhattan resident and audience member Alyssa Marinkovich agreed. “There’s no way either of them would be impeached” said Marinkovich. Gesturing towards the area where Astorino’s held his press conference, Marinkovich said “Stuff like this will probably keep happening but I don’t think [Astorino] can cause an impeachment.”
When asked whether or not he would be pursuing a 2018 candidacy, Astorino responded that he’s “thinking about it” but what he is focusing on now is exposing the truth: “the public needs to know so they can decide whether this is the kind of system [they] want in America.”
Governor Cuomo also has not announced his 2018 plans for candidacy. Gov. Christie is ineligible to run again because of term limits.
The Bridgegate trial is now entering its fourth week in Newark, New Jersey. The allegations about Governors Christie and Cuomo’s falsified reports and their mutual re-election pact are still being discussed.