Former Christie campaign manager denies report

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

Christie denies that he lied during the news conference.

The filing – by lawyers for one of the former Port Authority of NY and New Jersey officials charged in the bridge scandal – said Renna’s text message was sent to campaign staffer Peter Sheridan as Christie held the December 13, 2013, news conference.

“Yes. But he lied”, Renna responded.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denies that he lied during a news conference about the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.

But that, according to a newly released text exchange between former aides to Christie, is a “flat out lie”. “There’s nothing new to talk about”, Christie told the Associated Press, regarding the new texts.

Renna, who worked in the office of Intergovernmental Affairs under Kelly, was texting Peter Sheridan, who worked on the campaign for the governor’s re-election, according to Baroni’s filing. Renna texted Sheridan that Christie “flat out lied” in saying his senior staff and campaign manager weren’t involved.

Kelly and Bill Baroni, another Christie appointee at the Port Authority, were also indicted in connection with the “Bridgegate” scandal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“I’ve made it very clear to everyone on my senior staff that if they had any knowledge about this that they need to come forward and tell me about it and they’ve all assured me that they don’t”, he said. It came to light in court filings by lawyers for one of the defendants.

Who is former aide Christina Renna? “And if emails are found with the subpoena or ccfg [referring to Christie’s reelection] emails are uncovered in discovery if it comes to that it could be bad”.

Christie fired Kelly in January 2014 but Renna left the administration on her own shortly after and joined the Chamber of Commerce South Jersey, a pro-business lobbying firm, where she is now vice president, according to her Linked In profile. “It’s nothing new.There’s nothing new to talk about”.

Renna agreed to a $500 fine in 2015 after acknowledging “the contents of some of the emails she sent to her family members contained information that was not generally available to members of the public”, according to a consent order from the New Jersey Ethics Commission. An excerpt of the exchange from court documents:Ms. Renna: “Are you listening?” Baroni, along with Kelly, has been charged with federal crimes related to the scheme and is scheduled to go on trial next month.