Christie to talk about bridge scandal

New Jersey's State of the State address takes on national interest

Gov. Christie will discuss the current controversy surrounding the George Washington Bridge

Investigators look to see if Christie staffers staged traffic gridlock to punish Ft. Lee mayor

Federal auditors are investigating the use of Superstorm Sandy relief funds

(CNN) -- Gov. Chris Christie will tackle the controversy surrounding the George Washington Bridge when he delivers New Jersey's State of the State address Tuesday afternoon, a source close to the governor told CNN.

Normally, a State of a State address doesn't create such a state of interest, but this is different.

Christie is embroiled in multiple scandals and is considered by many to be a GOP frontrunner for the White House in 2016.

When he takes the podium in Trenton, more than just the residents of New Jersey will be listening in, much of the nation will lend an ear too.

Christie probes are 'just the beginning'

Bridge scandal investigator speaks out

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is embroiled in the controversy over what appears to be political payback from his last gubernatorial campaign. Christie hasn't been tied to the scandal, but his aides and appointees have been accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish the Fort Lee mayor, who didn't endorse Christie.

Christie fired Bridget Anne Kelly, who had been his deputy chief of staff, when her e-mail ordering the lane closings emerged. In a news conference, Christie said he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the "abject stupidity" of the move.

David Wildstein, who apparently carried out Kelly's orders, is under investigation by a state Assembly committee looking into the scandal. The committee charged Wildstein with contempt for failing to answer its questions. In December, Wildstein resigned from his top-level position with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates bridges and tunnels.

Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, called the lane closings a "venomous form of political retaliation." After a face-to-face meeting with Christie following his news conference, Sokolich said the governor was "gracious and apologetic" but said that "we're concerned there is more stuff and more issues to deal with."

New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski is chairman of the Transportation Committee that is investigating the scandal. Wisniewski said Christie "has a lot of explaining to do."

Michael Drewniak, Christie's spokesman, told reporters early in the investigation: "The governor of the state of New Jersey does not involve himself in traffic studies," which is what Wildstein had said the lane closings were for.

Bill Baroni was executive deputy director of the Port Authority until he resigned amid the scandal in December. Christie said Baroni accepted responsibility for not following the right protocols in approving the traffic study, which was initially blamed by the administration for the lane closures.

David Samson, Port Authority chairman, said the Port Authority's board had no knowledge of the lane closings until they were lifted five days later. "I am extremely upset and distressed over today's disclosures," Samson, a Christie appointee, said in a statement after learning of the closings.

Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority, said the bridge lane closures didn't follow protocols. He ordered the lanes reopened.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat who also didn't endorse Christie, has raised his own suspicions about his cooled relationship with the administration and a suddenly tabled bill he was sponsoring in Trenton.

New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat, has been pressing for information about the scandal. She has introduced a measure asking Congress to restructure the Port Authority to ensure transparency.

Democrat Barbara Buono is a New Jersey state senator who challenged Christie this past November and lost in a landslide. She derided Christie during the campaign as representing "the worst combination of bully and bossism," and she brought up the lane closures as an example.

Bill Stepien is a sharp-elbowed strategist who managed Christie's two gubernatorial campaigns. E-mails suggested he was aware of the bridge lane closures, and Christie has asked him to give up his political role.

Scott Rechler, vice chairman of the Port Authority's board of commissioners, e-mailed other representatives of the Port Authority saying he was disturbed that traffic was snarled "without regard to this being the Jewish high holiday weekend." Rechler was appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Internal e-mails suggest Regina Egea, then a senior staffer and the governor's point person to the Port Authority and other agencies, was aware of concerns that the lane closures were not part of an ongoing traffic study. She's now Christie's incoming chief of staff.

Who's who in Christie bridge scandal

$Who\'s who in Christie bridge scandal$ Who's who in Christie bridge scandal

Scandal is unfolding around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta to punish a local mayor who wouldn't support him at the polls. In damaging evidence, Christie's top aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, sent an e-mail to David Wildstein, then-top New Jersey official at the Port Authority, three weeks before the lane closures, saying, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." "Got it," Wildstein replied. New Jersey State Sen. Ray Lesniak told CNN he will formally request an investigation.

Sen. Robert Menendez is saying accusations of paying a Dominican woman for sex against him are part of a smear campaign against him after a woman filed a notarized statement that she had never even met the New York Democrat. If Menendez's charges are true, it wouldn't be the first time an American politician was targeted for dirty tricks -- the practice goes back as far as running for office in the U.S. Click through to see other examples of less-than-ethical campaign tactics.

Fake letters: Then-Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine was expected to do well in the 1972 Democratic primary in neighboring New Hampshire. But the Manchester Union-Leader published a letter alleging that Muskie condoned the use of the term "Canuck," a derogatory term used against French-Canadians. Muskie denied the charge but still suffered at the polls in the early primary, which doomed his chances. The Washington Post later reported that the letter was a hoax and was probably written by Ken Clawson, deputy White House communications director in the Nixon administration.

Watergate: The break-in at the Watergate was just the tip of the iceberg of what was going on within Richard Nixon's re-election campaign in 1972. The Nixon machine was hell-bent on destroying its opponents and Donald Segretti was one of the primary dirty tricksters. The Nixon operative printed fliers that attacked Muskie on his stance against Israel and placed them outside synagogues. He also pitted Democrats against one another in a tactic he called "rat-f---ing," like the letter addressed from Citizens for Muskie that accused Democratic primary rival Sen. Henry Jackson of fathering an illegitimate child with a teenager and that Jackson was a homosexual. Segretti was one of several Nixon operatives who ended up in jail.

Doctored photos: Ross Perot was the first major third-person candidate in modern American politics to mount a serious run for the White House. His plain spokenness got attention and his platform appealed to the far-right. Most of all, he was seen as a threat to split the Republican vote with President George H.W. Bush, who was running for his second. Despite the energy in his campaign, Perot dropped out of the race, claiming that Republican operatives were about to smear his daughter with doctored photos and try to ruin her wedding. Perot never explained what the photograph purportedly showed.

South Carolina: Sen. John McCain's first run for president was against then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000. Karl Rove, often called the "brain" behind the Bush operation, began to spread the rumor in South Carolina that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child, asking voters if they would support McCain if he had fathered an illegitimate black child. McCain lost South Carolina decisively and his chance at the nomination. The rumors twisted the fact that McCain's adopted daughter Bridget whom he adopted from Bangladesh.

The mystery of Alvin Greene: When Alvin Greene suddenly won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, experts asked, "Who?" Greene didn't campaign, had no political experience was rarely seen in public. A CNN interview led to more questions of whether he was intellectually capable of running a viable campaign. Others felt that Green was planted by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who was running for re-election. Greene was cleared by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division before he lost overwhelmingly to DeMint.

Swift-boating: Before John Kerry was elected senator, won the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam before later protesting against the war. When he ran against Bush in 2004, he spoke out against the Iraq War. Although Kerry was seen as the underdog in the race, he was gaining momentum before a political ad released by the group known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accused Kerry of speaking ill of his fellow veterans and lying to get his medals. Kerry first tried to ignore the ads before denying the allegations but by then the ads and Kerry's avoiding them stopped whatever momentum was building.

Political dirty tricks

Why? The embattled Republican is facing two investigations in New Jersey on whether his staff orchestrated traffic gridlock near the country's busiest bridge to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for refusing to endorse Christie's re-election.

On Friday, the New Jersey State Assembly committee investigating the scandal released more than 2,000 pages of documents suggesting politics was behind the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and showing top Christie aides allegedly tried to stonewall media inquiries into the matter.

N.J. Dem on bridge scandal: I think laws were broken

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, is also looking into the bridge matter.

The governor has already dismissed two top advisers for their roles in the scandal and has repeatedly apologized for being "blindsided" by what his aides and appointees were doing.

But it doesn't stop there. CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used Superstorm Sandy relief funds to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family.

In the new investigation, federal auditors will examine New Jersey's use of $25 million of the funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone told CNN.

In a statement on Monday, Christie's office said the "Stronger than the Storm" campaign was part of an "action plan" approved by the Obama administration and developed with the goal of showing that the New Jersey shore was open for business just several months after the storm.

While political observers say the bridge scandal isn't good for Christie, the Sandy investigation has the potential to be much more damaging to his national image since it was his signature achievement following the devastating storm.

During his speech, Christie will call for a longer school day and school year as part of his continuing education reforms.

"Our school calendar is antiquated both educationally and culturally. Life in 2014 demands something more for our students," Christie will say, according to an excerpt from his address. "It is time to lengthen both the school day and school year in New Jersey."

He'll also say the state's biggest accomplishments have been achieved by putting politics aside and working together. Christie will challenge the people of New Jersey and the legislature to do the same thing during his second term.

Feds investigate Christie's use of Sandy relief funds

CNN's Jake Tapper, Chris Frates and Scott Bronstein contributed to this report