Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey, testified that this Christie association was partial reason why he didn’t interview David Wildstein during an internal review of the September 2013 traffic jams.
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Baroni and a former top Christie aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, are charged with misusing Port Authority resources, wire fraud, civil rights violations, and related conspiracy counts. He pleaded guilty previous year to orchestrating traffic jams in 2013 to punish a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse Christie.
Baroni was Wildstein’s boss at the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey. Kelly, also 44, is the Governor’s former deputy chief of staff. They have pleaded not guilty and have said the government has twisted federal law to turn their actions into crimes.
Former Port Authority of NY and New Jersey executive David Wildstein pleaded guilty for his role in the politically motivated lane-closing scandal past year.
“If it was good for Christie then it was good for us”, Wildstein said. Kelly and Baroni face as many as 20 years.
Baroni’s attorney claimed he and his client have established that Wildstein has been a liar all his life.
Wildstein pleaded guilty a year ago for his role in the politically motivated George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.
Wildstein is a key witness for federal prosecutors in the case against two former Gov.
Wildstein pleaded guilty previous year to orchestrating traffic jams in 2013 to punish a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse Christie. During opening statements, the US attorney’s office claimed that Christie knew about the lane closures as they were happening. Christie didn’t comment on the allegation this week, but his office pointed to a statement he gave in 2014, denying that he knew about the plot while it was ongoing.
On the spreadsheet next to Sokolich’s name, Christie’s staffers listed a number of favors, including the purchase of shuttle buses for Fort Lee, which was paid for by the Port Authority.
Wildstein said that Baroni hired him as director of interstate capital projects but, in practice, his “job was to act as Mr. Baroni’s chief of staff”.
His testimony could last a week. Federal Courthouse for a hearing, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016, in Newark, N.J. Wildstein, pleaded guilty a year ago to orchestrating traffic jams in 2013 to punish a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse Gov. Chris Christie.
Matt Mowers was giving evidence in the trial of two former allies of the governor accused of creating gridlock in Fort Lee to punish the town’s mayor, a Democrat, for not endorsing the Republican governor’s reelection.
Baroni was Wildstein’s boss at the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey, the agency that operates the bridges, airports and other facilities including the World Trade Center.
He said that meant, “The only person he needed to make happy was Gov. Christie”.
David Wildstein, a political appointee to the Port Authority who admitted to having orchestrated the scheme, walked into the federal courthouse Friday morning.
Wildstein was expected to testify Friday.
Weinberg, who started the investigations into the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September 2013, reacted to what Wildstein said in court.
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Attorneys say David Wildstein is one of the next three witnesses listed in the trial of two former allies of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Mowers testified that despite World Trade Center tours and invites to the governor’s mansion in Princeton, Sokolich balked at backing Christie.
