New Jersey governor knew of 'Bridgegate'
plan a month in advance: defendant
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[October 22, 2016]
By Joseph Ax
NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie was told about the lane closures that led to the
"Bridgegate" scandal a month before they occurred, a former aide
testified on Friday, contradicting Christie's statements that he only
learned about them afterward.
Bridget Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, told jurors
in federal court in Newark she discussed the plan to shut down access
lanes to the George Washington Bridge with Christie in August 2013 and
again in September as it was ongoing. She testified she had been
frightened of Christie, saying he once threw a water bottle at her.
Kelly, who is on trial for her alleged role in the plot, said she
believed at the time that the lane closures were for a legitimate
traffic study, not a politically motivated scheme, and described it as
such to Christie.
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Prosecutors have charged Kelly and Bill Baroni, a former executive of
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a Christie appointee,
with creating massive traffic gridlock in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as
payback after Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, refused to
back Christie's 2013 re-election campaign.
Christie has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the plot, but the
scandal dogged his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
“As the governor has said since January 9, 2014, the governor had no
knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and he had no role
in authorizing them. Anything said to the contrary is simply untrue,”
Christie's press secretary, Brian Murray, said in a statement on Friday.
Kelly testified that former Port Authority executive David Wildstein,
the confessed mastermind, said the traffic study might allow Christie to
take credit for lessening commuting time and asked her to run the idea
by the governor.
Kelly said Christie told her on Aug. 12 the study sounded fine. The next
morning, Kelly sent a now-infamous email to Wildstein in which she said,
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Prosecutors claim that email set the scheme in motion. But Kelly said
she was simply "parroting" the language Wildstein used in describing the
possible gridlock.
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![](../images/102216pics/news_I13.jpg)
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reacts to a question during a
news conference in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. on March 28, 2014.
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
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"Was that intended to be a code to punish Mayor Sokolich?" asked
Kelly’s attorney, Michael Critchley.
"Absolutely not," Kelly replied.
A tearful Kelly said Christie bullied her on occasion, including one
instance when she asked him to introduce local officials at an
event.
Christie asked if she thought he was a "game show host," using an
expletive and then threw a water bottle at her.
"I guess you’re a little afraid of the governor?" Critchley asked.
"Yes," Kelly said.
Also on Friday, Christie political adviser Michael DuHaime testified
that he informed the governor ahead of a December 2013 news
conference of Wildstein's claims that Kelly and campaign manager
Bill Stepien knew about the closures in advance.
Christie then told reporters no one in his administration was
involved. The next month, Christie apologized and fired Kelly and
Stepien after Kelly's Aug. 13 email became public.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ;
Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Leslie Adler)
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