Rachel Maddow: Key question in Chris Christie investigation is 'Who drafted the cover-up?'

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow reported on Tuesday that each of the 18 new subpoenas issued to appointees, allies and staffers for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) concerns -- at least in part -- the debunked explanation that the September 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge were part of a traffic study.

"The legislature is subpoenaing all these people at the Port Authority, all these lower-level people who work at the governor's staff, and his governor's office, and his campaign again, all looking for, who helped draft the cover-up?" Maddow said.

Maddow explained that the subpoenas issued by a state legislative committee to Christie's office, his re-election campaign, members of his legal counsel staff, and various members of both the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and his administration all ask for drafts of the Nov. 2013 testimony by former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni concerning the closures.

At the time, Baroni told lawmakers that his agency was watching the effects of the closures on local traffic, and that no harm was being done to emergency services in nearby Fort Lee, New Jersey. But, as Maddow reported, that was not true. Baroni resigned less than a month after delivering his testimony.

"Were any of these people, were any of these offices, in on it?" Maddow asked. "Was the governor's campaign in on it, was the governor's office in on it?"

Watch Maddow's commentary, as aired on Tuesday on MSNBC, below.