Gov. Christie was told about plan to close lanes

Bill Baroni, left, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s former top appointee at the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey, and his attorney Michael Baldassare, right, walk with an associate while arriving at Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Court for a hearing, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Newark, N.J. Three years after gridlock paralyzed a New Jersey town next to the George Washington Bridge for days, two former allies of Christie, Baroni and Bridget Kelly, are being tried.

“I’m sure it was a factor”, Christie said. Christie has said that if Wildstein mentioned Fort Lee traffic, it meant nothing to him and he doesn’t recall. In September of 2014, the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey unexpectedly closed two of three access lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge. Chris Christie for political revenge.

Bridget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to Christie, whose email account sent the infamous “Time for some traffic in Fort Lee” message to David Wildstein, a Christie hire at the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey who executed the scheme. Following that refusal, Christie’s chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly sent an email to her boss that said, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”.

Both defense attorneys signaled that they are planning to assault the credibility of Wildstein, a former campaign operative-turned anonymous political blogger who ended up – allegedly by his own description-as Christie’s “enforcer” inside the huge and fractious bistate Port Authority bureaucracy.

Chris Christie’s former top appointee at the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey, and his attorney Michael Baldassare, right, walk with an associate while arriving at Martin Luther King, .

Khanna did not elaborate on what was allegedly said during the conversation with Christie, but he told jurors that “evidence in this case may show that others could have, should have, perhaps knew certain aspects of what was going on”. Later on, though, Port Authority officials testified that no such study ever happened. Another 10 percent said they did not know or had no opinion.

Prosecutors will introduce texts and emails showing the defendants joking about the traffic jams, including an email from Kelly to Wildstein, a month before the traffic jams saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee”. Court documents recently revealed that Christie’s staff was texting about their boss’ public lies, and now, matters have grown worse for Christie. The most serious charge carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence. They are accused of closing access to lanes to punish a mayor for not endorsing Christie. This characterization directly contradicts the way Christie has characterized their relationship – as nearly non-existent.

“That is in direct contradiction to not only the story that he has told the media, but the story that he told the people of New Jersey back on January 9 of 2014”, Harrison said.

I don’t have a complete transcript of Khanna’s remarks, but if that all he said then it’s a lot less cut and dry than what some of the headlines are suggesting. “They’re with him all the time, the people that did it”.

State Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) were both present at the trial and had similar takeaways from the prosecution’s argument. She didn’t know, he said, that Wildstein “was insane”. The Port Authority is in charge of the region’s bridges.

But the opening statement was the first time that federal prosecutors have agreed that Christie knew about the plan.

Christie has long denied any involvement in the closures and neither the federal investigation nor the New Jersey legislative inquiry has pointed to him.

“It’s a search for the truth and we believe we have gotten to the truth”, former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro, whose law firm produced the Bridgegate report, told NJ.com in 2014 upon its release. Kelly and Baroni have been charged with conspiracy, fraud, and other crimes related to the bridge closure scheme.

Christie’s fate is now tied to Trump, Galen said, making the 2016 campaign his last chance at a political future. He was called vulgar names that had defense lawyers apologizing to jurors and U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton.

Opening statements began Monday in the trial of former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly and former bridge authority executive Bill Baroni.