In a GOP talking points-approved post at The Hill (headline: “Amateur hour is over”), conservative Christie turned his attention to the issue of security lapses at the White House's state dinner:

Veteran Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn noted in her piece yesterday afternoon that there has been a reluctance to fire [social secretary] Desiree Rogers due to the fact that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is mulling a bid to run for mayor of Chicago and doesn't want to upset the popular and influential Rogers back in their shared hometown.

Quinn's a “reporter”? That's news to me. But anyway, Christie clearly suggested Quinn had nailed down hard facts in the Post yesterday. Christie's Obama hit piece claimed that Quinn had discovered a startling quid pro quo: Emanuel wouldn't fire Rogers because he'd need her Chicago ties if he ever ran for office from Illinois.

But of course that's not what Quinn wrote. Here's what she wrote [emphasis added]:

It's possible that he has other considerations. Emanuel is said to have told people that the chief-of-staff role is an 18-month job and that he is considering a run for mayor of Chicago. And Rogers is a major social and political player in the Windy City.

Bottom line: Quinn had no idea why Emanuel wouldn't fire Rogers. In fact, Quinn had no idea if Emanuel wanted to fire Rogers. In her column, Quinn simply suggested (i.e. guessed) that Emanuel wouldn't fire Rogers for political reasons. Meaning, Quinn had no proof the claim was true. And the ace “reporter” made no effort to verify it. But Quinn liked the way it sounded so she typed it up in her column.

And what did Christie then do? He pretended that Quinn reported that claim as fact, and then he pointed to the “fact” as very troubling news.

Ugh, talk about the blind leading the blind.