With Bridge Case Charges, a Cloud Descends on Christie’s White House Hopes

In an era of maddeningly careful politics, Gov. Chris Christie rocketed to national stardom as brazenly incautious. His excesses defined him: the scorching rants, the seductive oversharing, the caustic insults and endless public feuds.

Harmless theatrics, he said.

But the in-your-face instincts and boundary-breaking behavior that Mr. Christie brought to public life found a vindictive host in the fiercely loyal circle around him, as the federal indictment of a top appointee and a former deputy chief of staff in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal la