Chris Christie's 9/11 lie

Bumping this post from AUGUST to the top of the page because Christie went back to the same September 10 claim in the second debate, adding a bunch of pathos about how he didn't know his wife was alive or dead on 9/11 because she worked near the World Trade Center.

Marcy Wheeler had her ears open during Thursday's Republican debate, and caught Chris Christie in a big lie that probably no one else would have picked up on. It was this, when he was asked whether he really would blame "Senator Paul just for opposing the bulk collection of people’s phone records in the event of a terrorist attack?"

CHRISTIE: Yes, I do. And I’ll tell you why: because I’m the only person on this stage who’s actually filed applications under the Patriot Act, who has gone before the federal—the Foreign Intelligence Service [sic] court, who has prosecuted and investigated and jailed terrorists in this country after September 11th.

I was appointed U.S. attorney by President Bush on September 10th, 2001, and the world changed enormously the next day, and that happened in my state.

Setting aside that is the "Surveillance" Court, and that U.S. attorneys don't go before the FISC, there's a big problem here. Maybe Christie was so affected by the events of that day and the aftermath that his memory has got all foggy. Because, as Marcy points out, Christie wasn't nominated for the U.S. attorney post until December of that year and started in January 2002. Which his official biography as governor confirms. Given Christie's, or at least his administration's, penchant for political payback, here's the part of this that is more interesting than just his lying about when he started the job.

Christie implies he was involved in the dragnet in question. He was US Attorney from January 2002 to December 2008—so he in fact would have been in office during the two years when the phone dragnet worked through the Servic–um, Surveillance court, and four years of the Internet dragnet. But if, as he implies, he was involved in the dragnet for the entire span of his tenure—and remember, there were huge cases run out of Trenton right out of 9/11—then he was also using the fruits of illegal wiretapping to do his job. Not Servic — um, Surveillance court authorized dragnets and wiretaps, but also illegal wiretaps.

Which may explain why he’s so invested in rebutting any questions about the legitimacy of the program.

Maybe he's trying to get the last gasps out of Rudy Guiliani-style 9/11ism. He's definitely self-aggrandizing. But it would sure be interesting to know if he was using illegal wiretaps in his prosecutions.

Wed Sep 16, 2015 at 7:18 PM PT (Meteor Blades): Asked if they would support U.S. troops in Syria as Lindsey Graham says is necessary:

Paul: The first war in Iraq was a mistake. I would not send our sons and daughters there again. Should arm the Kurds. The Saudis aren't doing what they should in fighting this war. Not in the national interest.

Kasich: Called for boots on the ground but said you win the battle not just with troops but with a battle of ideas. Faith in Jewish and Christian principles are key to the greater battle.

Fiorina: Need the strongest military on the face of the planet and everybody should know it. 50 Army Brigades. 350 ships.