Christie Shuts Off Electricity at U.S. Prosecutorsâ Office
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is under fire today for allegedly ordering the electricity be shut off at the U.S. attorney's office in Newark, which is investigating the growing George Washington Bridge scandal. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey reported that the power at its Newark office was cut off around 9:30 a.m. Monday, leaving its attorneys and staff members unable to do any work. As of Tuesday morning power still has not been restored, even though no other building in Newark has reported being affected by power cuts. "It's suspicious that everyone else in the neighborhood has power while we don't," U.S. attorney's office spokesman Nelson Van Alden said. "We tried contacting the utility company to see if we were behind on our payments, but no one answers our calls. "A couple of our attorneys went to the Starbucks across the street to use the WiFi, and the electricity went out there as soon as they sat down. But as soon as they left, Starbucks' power was restored." Dimmed bulbsn Emails released today revealed that Christie's office asked the local Newark utility, E Street Energy, which donated $5,000 to Christie's reelection, to "help us delay the attorney's inconvenient investigation until after, say, 2024." E Street Energy responded with, "Anything for our guy." The U.S. attorney's office is investigating the George Washington Bridge closure scandal, in which several officials tied to Christie may have deliberately caused a four-day traffic gridlock in retaliation to area Democrats for not endorsing Christie for reelection in 2012. Christie, a Republican, has been publicized as a potential presidential candidate for 2016. During a press conference today, Christie denied that he was aware E Street Energy had shut off electricity to the U.S. attorney's office to stop the investigation. "Look, just because I'm the governor doesn't mean I know what that electric company, which just happens to be very supportive of my future political ambitions, is up to," he said. Ralph Cifaretto, executive director of E Street Energy and a campaign donor to Christie, claimed that the company was "testing a new energy efficiency technology" on the grid that supplies electricity to the attorney's office. When asked if the company is working to restore power to the U.S. attorney's office, Cifaretto responded: "Yeah, we'll get right on that."