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Christie Aide Testifies She Thought Bridge Lane Closings Were a Traffic Study Christie Aide Testifies She Thought Bridge Lane Closings Were a Traffic Study
(about 7 hours later)
NEWARK — The former aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at the center of the political plot to close access lanes at the George Washington Bridge broke her long silence here in federal court on Friday, saying that the idea to close the lanes had been sold to her as a policy matter to move traffic more rapidly across the Hudson River, and that the governor had signed off on it. NEWARK — The former aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at the center of the political plot to close access lanes at the George Washington Bridge broke her long silence in federal court on Friday, saying that the idea to close the lanes had been sold to her as a policy matter to move traffic more rapidly across the Hudson River, and that the governor had signed off on it.
The former aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, was the author of the email that set off the so-called Bridgegate scandal when it was revealed in January 2014: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”The former aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, was the author of the email that set off the so-called Bridgegate scandal when it was revealed in January 2014: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
In court here, where Ms. Kelly is now charged with directing the lane closings to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., after he did not endorse the governor, her bold directive came off as something more like bureaucratic churning. In her testimony in court, where Ms. Kelly is now charged with directing the lane closings to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., after he did not endorse the governor, that bold directive sounded more like bureaucratic churning.
Ms. Kelly, ostracized by the governor as a rogue and a liar after her email was exposed, presented herself as a newly promoted employee who had been eager to please her boss, Mr. Christie. She had witnessed his temper up close – upset with an idea she had in a meeting, he once threw a water bottle at her – and so was careful to follow his directions, she said. Ms. Kelly, ostracized by the governor as a rogue and a liar after her email was exposed, came off as a newly promoted employee who had been eager to please her boss, Mr. Christie. She had witnessed his temper up close, she said: Upset with an idea she had in a meeting, he once threw a water bottle at her; shortly before the lane closings, he had told her to cancel meetings with the mayor of Jersey City after he too declined to endorse the governor, who said that no one was entitled to a meeting, using an expletive. So Ms. Kelly was careful to follow his instructions.
Ms. Kelly said that David Wildstein, a wily former political blogger who was the governor’s enforcer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, had approached her with the idea in the summer of 2013. Until now, she has been known only through her emails — sounding like a callous and ambitious aide, punishing the mayor and then ignoring his complaints about public safety problems as the administration of Mr. Christie, a Republican, sought to build a re-election majority that could propel the governor to the White House.
In court, Ms. Kelly’s lawyer painted a softer portrait of a divorced mother of four who resorted to taking back roads on her daily hour-and-a-half commute when highway tolls became too expensive. She had been in her job as deputy chief of staff for only three months when she sent the incriminating email, which she described as being dashed off quickly on an anxious morning when she was preparing to have her first lunch with the governor.
“Take a deep breath,” her lead lawyer, Michael Critchley, said as Ms. Kelly took the stand. “We’ll be asking some tough questions.”
She spoke in a clear and loud voice, which broke only when she was asked about her children, and her encounters with the governor’s rage.
Ms. Kelly said that David Wildstein, a wily former political blogger who was the governor’s enforcer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, had approached her with an idea for a traffic study in the summer of 2013.
Mr. Wildstein has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the lane closings and is now the prosecution’s chief witness against Ms. Kelly and Bill Baroni, once the governor’s top staff employee at the Port Authority.Mr. Wildstein has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the lane closings and is now the prosecution’s chief witness against Ms. Kelly and Bill Baroni, once the governor’s top staff employee at the Port Authority.
The way Mr. Wildstein pitched it, she said, the three access lanes from the local streets of Fort Lee were slowing traffic along the main highways across the bridge. The local access lanes had been granted as a political deal to a prior mayor of Fort Lee, by a prior governor of New Jersey. The way Mr. Wildstein pitched it, she said, the three access lanes from the local streets of Fort Lee were slowing traffic along the main highway across the bridge. The local access lanes had been granted in a political deal between a prior mayor of Fort Lee and a prior governor of New Jersey.
The Port Authority, Mr. Wildstein said, wanted to end that privilege, and would do a study of the impact. Ms. Kelly said he told her that there would be extensive traffic problems, but that those would go away once people who used the local lanes figured out a new route. The Port Authority, Mr. Wildstein said, wanted to end that privilege, and would do a study of the impact. Ms. Kelly said he told her that there would be extensive traffic problems in Fort Lee, but that those difficulties would go away once people who used the local lanes figured out a new route.
He told her that he had run the idea past Bill Stepien, the governor’s campaign manager, and asked her to run it past the governor. And, she said, he put a cherry on top: Once the study was complete, they would hold a celebratory event at the bridge, where the governor, then in the thick of his re-election campaign, would be able to trumpet how he had speeded up traffic across the bridge. He told her that he had run the idea past Bill Stepien, the governor’s campaign manager, and asked her to run it past the governor. And, she said, he put a cherry on top: Once the study was complete, they would hold a celebratory event at the bridge, where the governor, then in the thick of his re-election campaign, would be able to trumpet how he had eased traffic across the world’s busiest bridge, a bane of commuters. There would be banners saying, “Thanks, Governor Christie.”
Ms. Kelly said she told the governor on Aug. 12, 2013, the day before she sent her now-famous email, that the Port Authority would do a traffic study, and that there would be problems in Fort Lee. The governor, she said, told her this was fine, and that she should run it past his chief of staff. When she told him about Mr. Wildstein’s idea for the political event afterward, he said, “That sounds like Wally,” referring to the name under which Mr. Wildstein wrote his political blog, Wally Edge. “It was a little crazy, but this is what he wanted to do, to tout the success of what he believed was going to be a very successful study,” she said.
Ms. Kelly said she told the governor on Aug. 12, 2013, the day before she sent her now-famous email, that the Port Authority would do a traffic study, and that there would be problems in Fort Lee. The governor, she said, told her that was fine. He asked her two things: He wanted her to inform his chief of staff, and he wanted to know what the administration’s relationship with the mayor was.
When she told him about Mr. Wildstein’s idea for the political event, he said, “That’s typical Wally,” using the name under which Mr. Wildstein wrote his political blog, Wally Edge.
The governor then said, “If our schedules work, let’s have lunch tomorrow.”The governor then said, “If our schedules work, let’s have lunch tomorrow.”
Ms. Kelly, who by then had held her job as deputy chief of staff for about three months, had never had lunch with the governor before, and was nervous about making sure she had done as he asked before she saw him again. Ms. Kelly said she had been embarrassed that she could not answer the governor’s question about the mayor. She was nervous about the lunch and wanted to make sure she had all the details when she saw him again.
So she checked with the governor’s chief of staff, she said, then quickly jotted off the email to Mr. Wildstein. So, she said, she checked with staff members who knew the Fort Lee mayor best. And she informed the governor’s chief of staff of the bridge plan. Just as she prepared to drive to work, she wrote the email to Mr. Wildstein.
“Traffic problems,” she said, was a shorthand she had heard often from Mr. Wildstein. “Traffic problems,” she said, was a shorthand she took from Mr. Wildstein.
“I was stressed about thinking about having lunch with the governor and driving to Trenton and I was trying to check things off my list of things I needed to get done,” she said. “Poor choice of words?” Mr. Critchley, her lawyer, asked her.
“Poor choice of words?” her lead lawyer, Michael Critchley, asked her.
“Very,” Ms. Kelly responded.“Very,” Ms. Kelly responded.
Why tell the governor? Mr. Critchley asked. “David asked me to,” she said. “It was going to cause these traffic problems in Fort Lee, and I thought he should be aware.” Asked why she thought she had needed to inform the governor about a Port Authority policy matter, she said, “I was scared if I didn’t tell him of what would happen, that I would get blame for something that I didn’t do.”
And if he wasn’t made aware? The lanes were closed on Sept. 9, 2013. Mr. Wildstein testified that he had told the governor about the closings, and that the mayor’s panicked calls were not being returned, at a Sept. 11 memorial service, the third day of traffic jams.
“It would fall on me,” Ms. Kelly said, her voice breaking. “I was scared if I didn’t tell him of what would happen. That I would get blame for something that I didn’t do.” Ms. Kelly testified that when the governor returned from that event, he stopped by her office and they briefly discussed complaints about traffic.
The governor told her that the Port Authority was handling it, and that Mr. Wildstein had been in touch with Fort Lee. Mr. Wildstein, she said, had told her the same thing.
To convict Ms. Kelly, the jury will have to find that she intended to punish the mayor for not endorsing the governor. Asked whether she had any animus against Mr. Wildstein, she replied, “Absolutely not.”
But she has yet to face cross-examination. And in her testimony, which will resume on Monday, she will have to explain an even more damning message, sent to Mr. Wildstein when he told her about the traffic problems on the first day of the purported study.
“Is it wrong that I am smiling?” she wrote.