Gov. Chris Christie did a "decent" job deflecting the bridge-gate mess at his New Jersey State of the State address Tuesday, but there still many unanswered questions, Newark Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine says.
"It's pretty much what I expected. He did a decent job of changing the subject quickly," Mulshine told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"He got that out of the way and then went to his normal agenda and that part was quite good."
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Christie launched his address by talking about bridge-gate — in which his top aides were caught staging a traffic slowdown for political payback — first off.
"The last week has certainly tested this administration. Mistakes were clearly made. And as a result, we let down the people we are entrusted to serve. I know our citizens deserve better. Much better," Christie said in his address.
"I'm the governor and I'm ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch -- both good and bad. Now without a doubt we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure this breach of trust does not happen again."
Mulshine believes Christie was confident he could put bridge-gate behind him after a press conference last week in which he answered questions for nearly two hours and insisted he was betrayed by staffers who didn't tell him the truth.
But that hasn't happened.
"There's so many questions that are unanswered because he was out there winging it. He thought he could get by and not ever reveal his role in this," Mulshine said.
"He has a role in the cover-up, certainly. Now, that may not be illegal, but he tried to spin his way out of this."
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