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Former Christie Allies Convicted In N.J. ‘Bridgegate’ Trial

Former Christie Allies Convicted In N.J. ‘Bridgegate’ Trial

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two former allies of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were convicted on Friday for their roles in the “Bridgegate” lane closure scandal, following a six-week trial that served to further tarnish the Republican’s damaged reputation.

Bridget Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty in Newark federal court on all counts, the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey said on Twitter.

Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud, conspiracy and depriving the residents of Fort Lee, New Jersey, of their civil rights.

Christie, who has repeatedly denied any advance knowledge of the scheme, is a top adviser for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“Let me be clear once again, I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them,” Christie said in a statement following the verdict.

“Anything said to the contrary over the past six weeks in court is simply untrue.”

The scandal has dogged Christie, once seen as a rising political star and a potential presidential nominee before his campaign for the White House failed this year.

The two officials were accused of shutting down access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, creating a massive days-long traffic jam to punish the town’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, for declining to endorse Christie’s reelection campaign.

The bridge, which connect New Jersey to Manhattan, is one of the country’s busiest.

Lawyers for Kelly and Baroni vowed to appeal.

“This is not over,” Michael Critchley, Kelly’s lawyer, said outside the courthouse, with his arm around a weeping Kelly. He said the judge had erred during jury instructions.

Defense lawyers were furious when U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton told jurors during deliberations in response to a question that they could convict Kelly and Baroni on conspiracy even if the act itself was not “intentionally punitive toward Mayor Sokolich.”

Wigenton said prosecutors did not have to prove motive, even though their case had revolved around the political retribution.

“By answering the way you’re answering, you’re directing a verdict of guilty,” an angry Critchley told Wigenton on Tuesday.

Baroni’s lawyer, Michael Baldassare, told reporters on Friday the case was a “disgrace” and said the conviction would be overturned.

“I am innocent of these charges,” a smiling Baroni said.

Kelly and Baroni’s co-conspirator, former Port Authority official and confessed mastermind David Wildstein, pleaded guilty and appeared as the government’s star witness, detailing how the three schemed to pay back Sokolich, a Democrat.

But Wildstein also implicated Christie, saying he and Baroni discussed the lane closures with the governor while they were ongoing. Christie, Wildstein testified, laughed at the notion that Sokolich was frustrated by the traffic.

At the time, Christie was eyeing a presidential run, and his aides believed that securing the backing of Democratic officials would burnish his national reputation, according to trial testimony.

Kelly, who took the stand in her defense, testified she had discussed the lane closures with Christie a month beforehand, though she said she thought at the time they were part of a legitimate traffic study.

Legal experts have said it is unlikely Christie would face any criminal consequences based on the trial testimony.

Kelly and Baroni’s lawyers argued that Wildstein had orchestrated the plot himself and told them he was conducting a traffic study. Wildstein said on the stand the three of them knew all along that the study was a bogus cover story.

Prosecutors showed jurors numerous exchanges that Kelly and Baroni each had with Wildstein, who operated as a liaison between Baroni at the Port Authority and Kelly in the governor’s office.

Those included Kelly’s now-infamous email to Wildstein that prosecutors said launched the scheme, in which she wrote, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by James Dalgleish)

IMAGE: Peter Stevens via Flickr

Judge Rules ‘Bridgegate’ Complaint Against Christie Can Proceed

Judge Rules ‘Bridgegate’ Complaint Against Christie Can Proceed

PRINCETON, N.J. (Reuters) – A citizen’s complaint against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie related to the “Bridgegate” lane-closure scandal can move forward, a judge ruled on Thursday, referring the case to state prosecutors to consider possible criminal charges.

Roy McGeady, the presiding judge for Bergen County municipal courts, found probable cause for the criminal complaint filed last month by Bill Brennan, an activist and retired firefighter, a court official confirmed.

The complaint of official misconduct accused Christie of knowing about a plot to close down lanes at the George Washington Bridge as an act of political payback. The governor has repeatedly denied any prior knowledge of the closures, which created massive traffic jams in northern New Jersey.

The ruling ratchets up the political pressure on Christie, who became a major supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after dropping his own White House bid and now heads his White House transition team.

The controversy surrounding the scandal, which has resulted in criminal charges against two of Christie’s associates, helped scuttle his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and has eroded the governor’s approval ratings in New Jersey.

The misconduct case now moves to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which will decide whether enough evidence exists to support a criminal charge. “The office has no comment at this time,” spokeswoman Maureen Parenta said in an email.

Brennan filed the complaint in municipal court in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where Christie allies were accused of deliberately causing a massive traffic jam in September 2013 by closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in order to punish the town’s mayor. The bridge is a major link to New York City.

The two Christie associates – his former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive Bill Baroni – have been on trial in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, for their alleged roles in the scandal.

Brennan’s complaint was based on testimony from David Wildstein, another Port Authority executive who pleaded guilty in the case and has been cooperating with prosecutors, that Christie was aware of the lane closures at the time.

A Christie spokesman, Brian Murray, said the governor would appeal the ruling immediately.

“This is a dishonorable complaint filed by a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system,” Murray said. “The simple fact is the governor had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening. This matter has already been thoroughly investigated by three separate independent investigations.”

Brennan has filed numerous complaints, as well as lawsuits, against various officials in New Jersey over the years.

Federal prosecutors have accused Kelly, Baroni and Wildstein of orchestrating the lane closures to send a message to Fort Lee Mayor Michael Sokolich after the Democrat refused to endorse Christie’s 2013 gubernatorial re-election campaign.

At the time, Christie was already eyeing a White House run, and his advisers believed a show of bipartisan support would help enhance his national standing.

Christie, 54, was among the 17 Republicans who originally vied for the Republican presidential nomination, but he dropped out of the race in February after failing to gain traction in the early voting. He became one of eventual nominee Trump’s staunchest supporters.

As head of the New York businessman’s transition team, he would work to smooth the handover from Democratic President Barack Obama to Trump should Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.

U.S. prosecutors are nearing the end of their case against Kelly and Baroni after four weeks of testimony. Lawyers for the two defendants have argued that virtually the entire Christie administration was aware of the scheme and have portrayed Kelly and Baroni as scapegoats.

Both were expected to take the witness stand in their defense.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Frank McGurty and Jonathan Oatis)

IMAGE: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

‘Bridgegate’ Witness Says Governor Christie Backed Lane Closures

‘Bridgegate’ Witness Says Governor Christie Backed Lane Closures

NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was aware of and supported a plan to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 in an act of political payback, a key prosecution witness testified Tuesday at the criminal trial of two former Christie associates.

David Wildstein, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told jurors in Newark federal court that he and Bill Baroni, another Port Authority executive, discussed the lane closure with Christie before a memorial service marking the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center.

The testimony marked the first time federal prosecutors have presented specific evidence to back their contention that the Republican governor knew about the scandal that New York’s tabloids christened “Bridgegate” as it unfolded, despite his repeated denials.

Baroni and Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, are charged with fraud and other crimes for allegedly orchestrating the September 2013 closure of access lanes at the bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, to punish the town’s Democratic mayor for refusing to endorse Christie’s re-election bid.

“Mr. Baroni said, ‘Governor, I have to tell you, there’s a tremendous amount of traffic in Fort Lee this morning,'” Wildstein testified, adding that Baroni was using a sarcastic tone.

Baroni also said the mayor, Mark Sokolich, was “very frustrated” that his increasingly desperate calls to the Port Authority were being ignored.

“Governor Christie responded by saying, ‘I would imagine that he wouldn’t be getting his phone calls returned,'” Wildstein said. Prosecutors showed jurors a series of photographs depicting the three men laughing at the site that morning.

Christie has not been charged with wrongdoing. Wildstein pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Spokesmen for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The scandal helped torpedo Christie’s White House run, undercutting his bipartisan image.

Since taking the witness stand Friday, Wildstein has described coordinated efforts by Christie’s office to use the Port Authority’s power to punish local officials who failed to get behind his re-election campaign.

Mayor Steven Fulop of Jersey City had high-level meetings with officials from the Port Authority and other state agencies canceled after he declined to endorse, Wildstein testified.

Wildstein said Christie’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, told him the governor personally ordered Port Authority officials to disregard messages from Fulop.

(Editing by Scott Malone and Alan Crosby)

Photo: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie enters the debate hall before the first U.S. presidential debate between Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, U.S., September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Chris Christie ‘Flat Out Lied’ About ‘Bridgegate’ Scandal

Chris Christie ‘Flat Out Lied’ About ‘Bridgegate’ Scandal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former aide to Chris Christie said in a text message that the New Jersey governor “flat out lied” when he said senior staff members were not involved in the “Bridgegate” scandal in 2013, according to a court filing on Wednesday.

The new details were revealed in a document filed in New Jersey federal court by Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who is one of two former Christie allies facing criminal charges in the case.

Speculation has persisted for years about whether Christie or members of his staff were aware of the alleged plot to close two New York City-bound lanes at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee as retribution against the town’s mayor, who had refused to back Christie’s re-election campaign.

Christie addressed the controversy at a Dec. 13, 2013, news conference, a day after the state legislature issued several subpoenas in its investigation of the lane closures.

“I’ve made it very clear to everybody on my senior staff that if anyone had any knowledge about this that they needed to come forward to me and tell me about it, and they’ve all assured me that they don’t,” Christie said at the time.

Christina Renna, former director of Christie’s intergovernmental affairs office, immediately sent a text message to Peter Sheridan, a member of Christie’s re-election campaign, according to the filing.

“Are you listening? He just flat out lied about senior staff and Stepien not being involved,” her first text said, referring to Bill Stepien, who managed Christie’s two gubernatorial campaigns.

In a subsequent text, Renna said “it could be bad” if emails were later uncovered through a subpoena or court discovery.

Christie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governor, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, has denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme.

Renna, now vice president of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, and Sheridan, who is working for the state Republican Party, also did not immediately respond.

Stepien could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jury selection will begin Sept. 12 for Baroni and Bridget Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, who face charges including conspiracy and fraud. Another former Port Authority official, David Wildstein, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with federal prosecutors.

The details of the texts came in a filing by Baroni’s lawyers seeking to exclude certain evidence from trial.

The document said it “appears to be clear” that Renna deleted the texts and did not disclose their existence when she testified under oath before lawmakers.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bill Trott)

Photo: Republican U.S. presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks during a forum for lower polling candidates held by Fox Business Network before the 2016 U.S. Republican presidential candidates debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young