NEW YORK — After a 16-month federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closings scandal, a judge in New Jersey unsealed indictments against two people close to Governor Chris Christie, outlining a conspiracy with a third confidant to retaliate against a mayor who did not endorse the governor’s reelection.
At a news conference Friday, the US attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, announced the indictments in a case that started as an inquiry into a plot to cause a traffic jam and has led to a host of investigations into the Christie administration, threatening the future of a major Republican politician.
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Fishman said the conspirators “callously victimized” the citizens of Fort Lee, purposely scheduling the lane closing to coincide with the first day of school in September 2013.
Then, he said, they sought to cover up the scheme with a “sham” story of a traffic study on the bridge to Manhattan. He said there was evidence to suggest that using a traffic jam to exact revenge was discussed as far back as 2011.
Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, were charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud by “knowingly converting and intentionally misapplying property of an organization receiving federal benefits.”
David Wildstein, another former Port Authority official and a high school friend of Christie’s, pleaded guilty at the US District Court in Newark to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy against civil rights.
Fishman said Wildstein corroborated the allegations in the indictment.
“Based on the evidence that is currently available to us, we’re not going to charge anyone else in this scheme,” Fishman said. But he added that “there may come a time” when other, unindicted coconspirators are identified.
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Christie was not implicated in the indictment. He wrote several messages on Twitter after the news conference ended.
“Today’s charges make clear that what I’ve said from day one is true,” he wrote. “I had no knowledge or involvement in the planning or execution of this act. The moment I first learned of this unacceptable behavior, I took action, firing staff believed to be accountable, calling for an outside investigation and agreeing to fully cooperate with all appropriate investigations, which I have done.”
But Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, reiterated on Friday his client’s contention that “evidence exists” that Christie knew about the lane closings as they occurred.
“There is a lot more that will come out,” he said. “Unfortunately, I am not in a position to talk about the matter in detail.”
Later, Kelly and lawyers for Baroni assailed Wildstein’s credibility. “David Wildstein is a liar,” Kelly said at a news conference. “I will fight relentlessly to clear myself from these charges.”
“It has been a very long and painful year,” she said, adding she was “embarrassed” by the tone and context of her e-mails.
But she said the suggestion that she was the “only one in the governor’s office” aware of the decision to shut down the lanes was “ludicrous.” Kelly and her lawyer said others in the governor’s office were involved in the lane closings, but declined to identify them.
Wildstein was hired by Baroni. For years, the two were considered the closest of friends, working on campaigns together in the rough and tumble world of New Jersey politics.
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On Friday, a lawyer for Baroni also called Wildstein a liar.
“No one should be surprised at his eagerness to concoct any story that he thinks will help him stay out of federal prison,” the lawyer, Michael Baldassare, told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Newark.
Baroni was led to believe the lane closings were part of a traffic study, according to his lawyers, who called on the prosecution to release all the evidence against their client.
In the indictment, Baroni is quoted as saying the lane closings were “important to Trenton” and it details efforts “to conceal the conspirators’ true punitive purpose.”
“The conspirators concocted and promoted a sham story that reducing the number of lanes and tollbooths accessible to the local approach was for a traffic study,” according to the indictment, which details at great length the Port Authority resources that were used to rearrange the lanes and then try to cover up the caper.
The bridge closing was done to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Skolich, who did not endorse Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election, prosectuors say.
Earlier Friday, Judge Susan D. Wigenton laid out the alleged conspiracy involving the three Christie confidants. As the judge went over the case with Wildstein, he answered each inquiry with a soft “yes.”
“Did you agree with Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly to punish Mayor Sokolich by causing significant lane access problems,” the judge asked, staring down from the bench at Wildstein.
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“Yes,” Wildstein answered.
“Did you, Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly decide that no prior notice be given to Mayor Sokolich, the chief of police or the residents of Fort Lee?” Wigenton asked.
“Yes,” he said.
Wigenton confirmed that Wildstein and Baroni ignored Sokolich’s pleas for help.
“Did Mr. Baroni send you an email from Mayor Sokolich regarding an urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee, and did you respond to the email with ‘radio silence?’” Wigenton asked.
“Yes,” Wildstein said.
Wildstein has been a central figure in the scandal ever since it emerged in that he had received an e-mail from Kelly in August 2013 saying that it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
“Got it,” he replied.
Wildstein’s lawyer said his client “deeply regrets” what occurred. He said that Wildstein could not undo what has been done but that he could “shed truth on what occurred during the course of that week, what led to the events, and what ensued thereafter.”
Each count that Wildstein pleaded guilty to carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, but Fishman said he was cooperative with investigators and would almost certainly not face punishment that severe. Baroni and Kelly face higher maximum penalties — around 86 combined years.
Earlier on Friday morning, Christie was in Virginia, where he delivered a political speech to 300 people at the Northern Virginia Leadership Conference and spoke about the importance of trust.
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“People in my business don’t trust the American people enough to tell them the truth,” Christie said. “I absolutely believe that not only should we, but we must.”
For three months, officials said the closings had been part of a traffic study. That story was discredited by testimony by bridge workers before the state Legislature in December 2013. Wildstein resigned as the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority.
The scandal blew open a month later, after documents that had been subpoenaed by the legislature were leaked, including the now-infamous email from Kelly.
Although Fishman on Friday focused narrowly on the bridge lane closing, that initial event spawned several investigations, according to subpoenas the Port Authority has received.
Subpoenas from Fishman’s office, as well as from the Manhattan district attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission, relate to projects that news reports suggested involved conflicts of interest or political influence by Christie’s loyalists, including a redevelopment project in Hoboken, the hiring of contractors for construction on Goethals and Bayonne Bridges, and the purchase by the Port Authority of the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne.
Fishman’s office has also sought records related to a direct flight between Newark and South Carolina that United Airlines reinstated when it was in negotiations with David Samson, whom Christie appointed chairman of the Port Authority. Samson had a home in South Carolina and reportedly referred to the route as “the chairman’s flight.”