It almost seems like a dream. The 2013 NJ election for governor ended in a complete landslide. Chris Christie defeated Barbara Buono in what was not even a remotely close contest. After winning he gave a speech in which he promised to continue to fight for the people, especially those affected by Sandy. The state of New Jersey loved him. Now, only months after the election, Governor Christie has been caught up in two scandals. Could the man who relentlessly fought to provide aid for Sandy victims actually have taken money to promote his own political agenda and abused his position of authority?

Governor Christie has recently been accused of misusing the funds allocated to aid the victims of Sandy. According to Chris Frates of CNN, a Democratic legislator stated that “laws have been broken.” This is a serious statement, especially when it is referring to a member of state legislature. The same article states that in August, Frank Pallone (NJ Representative) wrote a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development asking them to inspect how Christie spent the money received to aid the victims of Sandy. The audit will take months to completely investigate before the full details can be released. The media reported recently that there is an investigation into the Governor’s choice of self-promoting ad campaigns that were displayed to the public following the storm.

The other scandal was about the closing of many lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which resulted in heavy traffic. Jenna Portnoy of The Star Ledger says the reason believed for closing these lanes was because the Mayor of Fort Lee had refused to endorse Governor Christie during the election. The exact details of who told whom what to do is unknown at the moment. As of now, the only evidence we have is in the form of abhorrent emails. The content within the emails is disturbing, one of which saying “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”, and another email replying “got it” as reported by N.R. Kleinfield of the New York Times. The messages prove that the closing of the lanes was commanded by someone within the Christie administration, but who that was is currently unclear.

Clearly there is some unsavory business going on in the administration. With no proof of who is responsible, fingers are being pointed all over the place. Despite conceding that all these actions are irresponsible, Governor Christie has still failed to apologize. The Huffington Post quoted Christie as stating, “I am not a bully”. We all hope this is true, but as this scandal rises to the surface, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust the governor says. Is the New Jersey government really this corrupt?  Have the people of this state been lied to? The only thing we can do is wait for the complete details to emerge.