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| David Wildstein, a former senior appointee by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the George Washington Bridge scandal. | Andrew Kelly / Reuters |
THE ATLANTIC
David Wildstein, who served as one of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges stemming from Bridgegate, the infamous 2013 lane-closure incident on the Fort Lee side of the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey.
The scandal, which dominated national headlines, was hawked as the politics of retribution at its most vindictive. On Friday, a 16-month federal investigation concluded that the closures were politically motivated as an act of revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich who opted not to endorse Christie during his 2013 reelection bid.
The governor's office initially argued that the lanes had been reduced for "a traffic study," even as Christie himself claimed that he had nothing to do with it. An investigation eventually wended its way to the governor’s office, revealing an email from Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, to Wildstein advising him that it was “time for traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Kelly was indicted on Friday, along with Bill Baroni, another high-level Port Authority appointee, for nine conspiracy and fraud charges.
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| Bridget Anne Kelly, who has proclaimed her innocence, suggested that sarcastic comments she made amid the George Washington Bridge lane closings had been taken too seriously. Credit Kirsten Luce for The New York Times |
In announcing Wildstein's plea and the two indictments at a press conference on Friday afternoon, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman characterized the lane reductions as "a deliberate and illegal scheme."
"Local officials reported that first responders were delayed in reaching those in need," said Fishman. He added that the lane reductions were initially ordered in August, but intentionally took place on the first day of school in September to maximize their impact.
As The New York Times reported, Alan Zegas, Wildman's lawyer, "reiterated on Friday his client’s contention that 'evidence exists' that Mr. Christie knew about the closings as they occurred."
In Friday's press conference, Fishman said that no other people have been implicated in the scandal so far. This includes, for the time being, Governor Chris Christie. Nevertheless, the indictments will be a considerable setback for Christie's presidential ambitions at a moment when the governor already seemed to be fading from view.
Once a target of leading donors who sought to draft Christie to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, his poll numbers and approval ratings have steadily declined from a meteoric high after Hurricane Sandy to single digits in the wake of last year's Bridgegate scandal. Those numbers have never recovered both in New Jersey and beyond.
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| Bill Baroni was appointed by Mr. Christie to the Port Authority.Chris Pedota/The Record, via Associated Press |
NY TIMES
U.S. Indictment Details Plotting in New Jersey Bridge Scandal.
Bill Baroni, Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein waited for the first day of school.
They held off on telling people so their secret would not get out.
They steered cars to a cash lane, to make drivers sweat even more.
For 16 months, only the basic contours of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal have been known: an email called for “some traffic problems in Fort Lee”; a month later, gridlock and an angry mayor.
But an indictment released by federal prosecutors in New Jersey on Friday fills out in more detail the specifics of how and why, presenting the lengths three accused conspirators, aides and an ally of Gov. Chris Christie, went to, and the delight they took, in concocting their scheme and the sham story to cover it up. Two of the three, Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly, were indicted, while the third, Mr. Wildstein, pleaded guilty.
The fine-grained intricacies laid out in the legal papers show the three plotting like petulant and juvenile pranksters, using government resources, time and personnel to punish a public official whose sole offense was failing to endorse their political patron. The three were in constant contact, brazenly using government emails, their tone sometimes almost giddy. They even gave the increasingly desperate mayor of Fort Lee their own version of the silent treatment.
The charges reveal the step-by-step, carefully coordinated attention paid by the three associates of the governor to create the perfect traffic jam, a veritable town-size parking lot. Closing down lanes to the world’s busiest bridge would complicated, expensive, and in the end may have stymied Mr. Christie’s presidential ambitions.
Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly have proclaimed their innocence, saying that Mr. Wildstein, who is cooperating with the authorities, fabricated stories about their actions to help his case.