Rachel Maddow Accuses New Jersey BridgeGate Report of 'Slut-Shaming'

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has taken aim at a lengthy report released yesterday that documented the findings of a 10-week investigation into the New Jersey BridgeGate scandal involving Gov. Chris Christie.

The report, commissioned by Christie, cleared him of any wrongdoing with respect to the politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last September. But, as Maddow noted on her show last night, the report placed much emphasis on the personal life of Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly.

"At some point after Bill Stepien's departure to run the Chris Christie reelection campaign,'" Maddow read from the report, "Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien became personally involved, although, by early August 2013, their personal relationship had cooled, apparently at Mr. Stepien's choice.'"

Citing to further references to Stepien and Kelly's relationship throughout the report, Maddow argued that its relevance to the BridgeGate scandal was never explained. "It's just supposed to be self-evident, I guess," she fumed.

"Essentially, they're going throughout this report, over and over again, 'Did we mention that he dumped her?'" she continued. "What possible relevance does that have to the issue of whether or not the Chris Christie administration abused its power by using the busiest bridge in the world as a weapon to attack a small town as some sort of act of political retaliation?"

Maddow concluded, "What they’ve printed throughout the report is gossip about what they heard about their relationship and how it was going. They just gratuitously bring that up as they blame the whole thing on her. In real life, this is called slut-shaming."

Check out the segment below.