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Another Christie ally implicated in spinoff investigation

A United Airlines passenger plane lands at Newark Liberty International Airport Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Newark, N.J. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, United Airlines abruptly replaced its CEO as a federal investigation continued into whether the airline gave preferential treatment to a former chairman of the agency that operates the New York-area airports who has political ties to New Jersey Gov. and presidential candidate Chris Christie. United Continental Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that Jeffery Smisek and two other senior executives had stepped down. Oscar Munoz, a railroad executive and head of United's audit committee, was named CEO and president. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) A United Airlines passenger plane lands at Newark Liberty International Airport Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Newark, N.J. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, United Airlines abruptly replaced its CEO as a federal investigation continued into whether the airline gave preferential treatment to a former chairman of the agency that operates the New York-area airports who has political ties to New Jersey Gov. and presidential candidate Chris Christie. United Continental Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that Jeffery Smisek and two other senior executives had stepped down. Oscar Munoz, a railroad executive and head of United's audit committee, was named CEO and president. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

By Associated Press September 9, 2015 1 min read

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – What began as a mysterious series of traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge exactly two years ago has mushroomed into a high-level corporate scandal in New Jersey.

And that can’t be good for Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s struggling presidential campaign.

United Airlines’ CEO and two other top executives abruptly resigned Tuesday amid a federal investigation into the possible trading of favors between the airline and the Christie-appointed former head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. That’s the agency that runs area bridges, tunnels and airports.

The United Airlines case grew out of the so-called Bridgegate investigation. Three Christie allies have been charged with engineering gridlock at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as political payback against a Democratic politician.