Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday that the “Bridgegate” scandal rocking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration amounts to a well-orchestrated effort by Democrats to damage the Republican governor. 
 
 “It clearly is a partisan witch hunt,” Giuliani said on NBC's "Meet the Press." 
 
 Giuliani said a lengthy news conference held by Christie to address allegations that his senior staff ordered traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge closed as political retribution was sufficient and that Christie has proven accountable and responsible for the scandal — something President Barack Obama has failed to do in the fallout over the attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. 
 
 Read more about: Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Bridgegate 

 House intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers was pressed on Sunday on his suggestion that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden may have received assistance from the Russians. 
 
 “There are some security things that he did get around that are clearly above his capabilities," the Michigan Republican said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "The way he departed and how he ended up in Moscow, now we still have some questions there. But I can guarantee you, he's in the loving arms of an FSB [Russian security service] agent right today, and that's not good for the United States, and it's not good for the information to be shared with nation-states, that actually hinders and will cost us billions of dollars, by the way, Bob, to try to rectify the problems he's caused in the military operations.” 
 
 “This wasn't a random smash and grab, run down the road, end up in China, the bastion of Internet freedom, and then Russia, of course, the bastion of Internet freedom,” Rogers said. 
 
 Read more about: Russia, National Security Agency, Mike Rogers, NSA, Edward Snowden 

 The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said on Sunday he believes that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was “cultivated by a foreign power to do what he did.” 
 
 Asked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" which foreign power, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said, “I can’t give a definitive statement on that … I don’t think he was acting alone.” 
 
 McCaul added that Snowden, given temporary asylum by Russian President Vladimir Putin after leaking information about U.S. data collection by the NSA, is a traitor and not a hero. 
 
 Read more about: National Security Agency, Vladimir Putin, Mike McCaul, NSA, Edward Snowden 

 5 years ago 
 
 Washington (CNN) – A day after Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer rankled the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with allegations that his office withheld Superstorm Sandy relief funding over her refusal to push through a redevelopment project, Zimmer now says the threat was "a direct message from the governor." 
 
 "It's stunning. It's outrageous. But it's true," Zimmer told CNN's Candy Crowley in an interview Sunday morning. 
 
 
 
 Follow @politicaltickerFollow @jhseher 
 
 Zimmer appeared on MSNBC on Saturday to level charges that members of Christie's administration pressured her to approve a redevelopment project sought by The Rockefeller Group, a real estate developer with ties to the governor's office. Zimmer said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno made the threat on behalf of Christie at a May 13 event they both attended in Hoboken. Later recording the conversation in a journal entry she shared with CNN, Zimmer recalled the lieutenant governor warned her she had "to move forward with the Rockefeller project" and labeled the demand "a direct message from the governor." 
 
 "She came and made a direct threat to me," Zimmer said of her conversation with Guadagno. 
 
 "She said that she had been with him on Friday night and that this was a direct message from the governor," Zimmer added. 
 
 In light of Zimmer's new claims, a spokesman for the Governor's office, Colin Reed, stuck by his initial dismissal of the MSNBC report Saturday, saying the mayor's allegations are nothing more than "partisan politics." 
 
 “Mayor Zimmer’s categorization about her conversation in Hoboken is categorically false,” Reed told CNN. 
 
 The Hoboken mayor refuted that characterization. 
 
 "I haven't been a part of the Democratic machine," Zimmer said, citing her frequent praise of Christie and what she describes as a solid working relationship between the two executives. "I did have a really good relationship (with the governor) so I couldn't believe they were doing this." 
 
 "This is wrong. This is not fair to Hoboken," Zimmer added. 
 
 Of her conversation with Guadagno, Zimmer told Crowley she sensed the lieutenant governor felt remorseful for relaying the message that no funds would be given to the city until The Rockefeller Group's project was approved. 
 
 "She felt almost guilty about saying it," Zimmer said. "She knows it's wrong," 
 
 Steadfastly clinging to her account, Zimmer predicted that if the matter ultimately gets folded into the ongoing investigation of the George Washington Bridge controversy, Guadagno would confirm her story. 
 
 "If she's asked to testify under oath, I think we're going to see the truth come out because I will she be truthful under oath," Zimmer said. 
 
 Christie's office declined to make Guadagno available for an interview but sources familiar with her plans told CNN the lieutenant governor is expected to reference Zimmer's allegations during remarks Monday in Union Beach. 
 
 Zimmer's claims center around a property owned by The Rockefeller Group, which had its plan for "redevelopment" of a three-block area of Hoboken rejected by the city's planning board. Instead, the panel voted to classify the area owned by the company as available for "rehabilitation." The "redevelopment" tax incentives offered a much more lucrative deal for the development company. 
 
 In an e-mail to Zimmer, Lori Grifa, counsel for The Rockefeller Group, lobbied on behalf of the company, asking to speak directly with the mayor regarding the property. 
 
 Grifa was previously commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for the Christie administration. 
 
 Asked by Crowley on Sunday why she had not come forward sooner, Zimmer said she was afraid her story - accusing a an overwhelmingly popular governor of the same kind of political corruption he once targeted as the state's attorney general - would have been ignored. In a June Quinnipiac University poll, New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved of Christie's job performance, 69% to 27%. He won re-election in November by a crushing margin over Democratic challenger Barbara Buono. 
 
 "I didn't think anyone would believe me," Zimmer said Sunday. "I probably should have come forward sooner, but I really didn't think anyone would believe me." 
 
 Zimmer was unequivocal in backing her allegations the Christie administration continues to hold relief funds hostage until she approves the redevelopment project. She offered to testify under oath, hinting that she expects a fuller investigation of these claims. 
 
 Hoboken was one of the cities hit hardest by the 2012 hurricane, which ravaged the eastern seaboard, destroying an estimated $100 million worth of property. In its response to Zimmer’s charges, Christie’s office pointed to nearly $70 million in federal aid that was approved to help Hoboken in its recovery from the still-visible impact of Superstorm Sandy, and said more funds are set to be earmarked for the city once the White House approves the next round of funding for the state. 
 
 Zimmer described this claim as a half-truth, telling Crowley that the $70 million Trenton says the city received is from the federal flood insurance program, not from the pool of cash Congress approved specifically to help New Jersey recover from the storm. Christie took some members of his own party to task when they threatened to deny the state the funds in the name of fiscal responsibility. The Hoboken mayor said the governor's response, thus far, to her claims has danced around the central issue at stake. 
 
 "They did not respond to the No. 1 question: Are they linking Hoboken funding to the Rockefeller project?" Zimmer said. “The fact is they are." 

 The Olympics are just a few weeks away, but don’t expect Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine to be there. 
 
 Citing security concerns ahead of the winter games in Russia, King said: "I would not go, and I don't think I would send my family." 
 
 (POLITICO Magazine: The Putin Olympics) 
 
 "It's just such a rich target," King said in an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." "It would be a stretch, I think, to say I'd send my family." 
 
 King's comments come amid increased concerns from some U.S. officials that Russia hasn't done enough to combat the possibility of a terrorist attack. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Putin: 'Everybody's invited' to Sochi) 
 
 Appearing prior to King, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said the Russian government had not been cooperative in sharing its intelligence. 
 
 "We've had a departure of cooperation that's very concerning to me," he said. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Islamic group threatens Olympics) 
 
 The games are scheduled to begin Feb. 7. 
 
 CLARIFICATION: This story has been altered to reflect that in discussing the safety surrounding the games, King said he wouldn't want he or his family to attend. The senator did not directly respond to a question about whether it’s safe for U.S. athletes to participate. 
 
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 Read more about: Russia, Olympics, Mike Rogers, Angus King
– Dawn Zimmer took her crusade against Chris Christie to CNN today, telling State of the Union of her accusation that the governor held Sandy recovery funds hostage, "It's stunning. It's outrageous. But it's true." Of her timing, Zimmer admits that "I probably should have come forward sooner, but I really didn't think anyone would believe me." Team Christie, meanwhile, is dismissing Zimmer's story as "categorically false" and "partisan politics," as per a spokesman. Zimmer, a Democrat who says she's never "been part of the Democratic machine," denies that politics are at play; "I did have a really good relationship (with the governor) so I couldn't believe they were doing this." Elsewhere on your Sunday dial, as per Politico: Rudy Giuliani on Bridgegate: "It clearly is a partisan witch hunt." House Intel chair Mike Rogers on Edward Snowden: "There are some security things that he did get around that are clearly above his capabilities. The way he departed and how he ended up in Moscow... But I can guarantee you, he's in the loving arms of an FSB agent right today, and that's not good for the United States. This wasn't a random smash and grab, run down the road, end up in China, the bastion of Internet freedom, and then Russia, of course, the bastion of Internet freedom." House Homeland Security chair Mike McCaul on Snowden: He was "cultivated by a foreign power to do what he did." Asked which foreign power, McCaul said, "I can’t give a definitive statement on that … I don’t think he was acting alone.” Maine Sen. Angus King on Olympic security: "I would not go, and I wouldn't send my family. It's just such a rich target. It would be a stretch to say I would send my family." And Vladimir Putin was busily inviting everyone to his Olympics.