( CNN ) -- There were always three possible scenarios for New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie and Bridgegate : . One , that he was explicitly involved in the shutting down of three lanes feeding the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee , New Jersey , as political retribution against a no-name mayor who did n't endorse him in an election Christie ran away with . Two , that he was marginally involved , in that he told staffers to `` take care of '' the problem mayor but was n't specific about the actions to take . And three , that he was n't involved at all ; that an appointee at the Port Authority and staffers in his office cooked this up unbeknownst to him , did n't tell him and repeatedly lied to him about their involvement until e-mails proved otherwise . Wednesday , many assumed the third option impossible , admittedly including me . It 's Christie , we said . It 's politics , we said . It 's ... New Jersey , we said . Nonetheless , that 's exactly the story Christie 's going with , and in his two-hour news conference , he did a tremendous job convincing me , at least , that he really was blindsided by the news . And as apologies go , he hit all the right notes : . I 'm sorry . I 'm responsible . I 'm sad . I 'm embarrassed . He stuck around for an hour and a half answering reporter questions . He admitted the buck stops with him . He fired two staffers immediately . He said he planned on meeting with the jilted Fort Lee mayor and with Fort Lee residents to apologize directly to them . In contrast to other well-known news conferences , it was one of the best mea culpas in recent memory . But he 's not out of the woods yet . Democrats would very much like to hang Christie on this , and they will not be satisfied with the `` it was n't me '' defense . If there 's any dirt , any inkling that he had knowledge of this , they 'll find it and destroy him over it . This is sure to be a sideshow for the next few weeks , if not months , as investigators look into exactly how this happened . And even if it turns out Christie 's hands are clean , it still wo n't paint a pretty picture of politics in Trenton . He 's also heading up the Republican Governors Association , a post that requires him to regularly raise funds and speak alongside other Republican governors . Christie said in his news conference that this would n't affect his job at the RGA , but that 's pretty naive . What governor wants to share a stage , at least in the short term , with a guy embroiled in a seedy , petty political scandal ? In the long term , however , if Christie is telling the truth , this is perfectly survivable . If he 's not ... well today 's performance was Oscar-worthy -- and fatal . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of SE Cupp .
S.E . Cupp saw three possibilities : 1 . Christie knew directly about bridge payback . 2 . He knew obliquely . Third possibility : He was in the wrong . She says this is the one he went with , convincingly . She says news conference hit all right ##eous ; opponents will still try to hang him with issue . Cupp : If he 's telling truth , his career should continue ; if he is n't , issue will be fatal .