Fort Lee lane closure scandal

The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate,^[1][2] is a U.S. political scandal in which a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie collaborated to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey by closing lanes at the toll plaza^[3][4] to the George Washington Bridge.^[5]

The problems began on Monday, September 9, 2013, when two of three eastbound toll lanes were closed to morning rush hour traffic for no reason. Traffic from Fort Lee was forced to state and interstate expressways. Local officials, emergency services, and the public were not notified of the lane closures, which Fort Lee declared a threat to public safety.^[6] The resulting back-ups and gridlock on local streets only ended when the two lanes were reopened on Friday, September 13, 2013 by an order from Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye (D). He said that the "hasty and ill-informed decision" could have endangered lives and violated federal and state laws.^[7]

The motives for the traffic disruptions are unclear. One theory is that they were retribution against Fort Lee's Mayor Mark Sokolich (D) for not endorsing Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election.^[8][9] Investigators are also examining other possible motives, such as whether the closures were intended to affect Sokolich's promotion of The Modern, a major skyscraper under construction at the Fort Lee bridge access point.^[9][10]

Christie said in a February 2014 radio interview that he "unequivocally" did not know about the lane closures, did not approve or authorize them and only became aware of them from a Wall Street Journal story after the lanes reopened.^[11] Christie was cleared by a report prepared by a law firm he had hired.^[12][13] Critics and a majority of New Jerseyans^[14][15] believed this report was a "whitewash".^[16][17] The report was criticized for not being able to interview key participants and for reading like a legal brief for Christie's defense.^[18][19]

Investigations soon centered on several of Christie's appointees and staff.^[20][21] David Wildstein, who ordered the lanes closed,^[22] and Bill Baroni, who had told the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee that the closures were for a traffic study,^[23] resigned following sworn testimony that the two had violated protocols and then had sought to hide their involvement.^[8] Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff, who had emailed Wildstein advising him that it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee", was fired by Christie for not being forthcoming with him about her involvement. Christie's close political adviser and election campaign manager, Bill Stepien, resigned after Christie said that he was disturbed by the tone of Stepiens's emails related to the lane closures.^[24][25] David Samson (R), chairman of the Port Authority, resigned on March 28, 2014.^[26]

In May 2015, it was revealed that Baroni and Kelly had been indicted on federal conspiracy charges and that Wildstein had agreed in January to plead guilty to conspiracy charges. The indictments charge that the three conspired to close the lanes as retribution against Sokolich for not endorsing Christie for reelection.^[27]

Christie's political standing and 2016 presidential campaign prospects were harmed by the scandal.^{[28][29][30][31]} As of May 2014, investigations were underway by the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, the New Jersey Legislature, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The New Jersey Attorney General has refused to say if it has launched a probe.^[32]

Background

The George Washington Bridge, a double-decked toll bridge, is the busiest motor-vehicle bridge in the world,^[33][34] with a toll charge for traffic from New Jersey to New York.^[35] There are 29 operating toll lanes,^[36] spread among three toll plazas.^[37][38][39] At the main toll plaza for the upper level, there are twelve toll lanes and a Fort Lee entrance at Martha Washington Way (also called Park Avenue).^[3] During rush hours, for the past 30 years or longer,^[40](p86) the three lanes located furthest to the right (the south end of the toll plaza) are ordinarily reserved for local traffic entering from Fort Lee and the surrounding communities.^[4] This local traffic is segregated by movable traffic cones from the heavier traffic of the major highways.^[41] There are other Fort Lee street entrances, which do not have dedicated toll lanes, to the lower and upper levels of the bridge.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ or simply the PA) is overseen by a Board of Commissioners. Under an informal power-sharing agreement, the Governor of New Jersey chooses the chairman of the board and the deputy executive director, while the Governor of New York selects the vice-chairman and executive director.^[42][43]

Chris Christie, a Republican, was first elected Governor of New Jersey in November 2009 and re-elected in November 2013. During his first term, he appointed Bill Baroni as deputy executive director of the PA.^[8] David Wildstein, a local politician and political blogger who had known Christie during high school, was hired by Baroni based on Christie's referral and recommendation in May 2010.^[44][45] As director of interstate capital projects, Wildstein was New Jersey's second highest executive at the Port Authority,^[46] and often substituted for Baroni at major meetings.^[44]

Events

During the week of August 4, 2013, Christie met with David Samson, Christie's appointed chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority. The deputy speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, John Wisniewski, who, as chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee had been leading the Assembly's investigation into the closures, alleged that David Wildstein, the Christie appointee who ordered the closures, must have believed the meeting was related to the lane closures, because a reference to the meeting was included in the subpoenaed documents Wildstein submitted in which all information not pertaining to the Fort Lee lane closures had been redacted.^[47]

On August 13, Bridget Anne Kelly, deputy chief of staff in Christie's office, sent an eight-word email to David Wildstein, a senior official at the PA with close ties to Christie,^[48] that read, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."^[49] Wildstein responded to Kelly's email: "Got it."^[50]

On September 6, Wildstein instructed George Washington Bridge manager, Robert Durando, not to tell anyone in Fort Lee about the upcoming closure, not even the police. When he questioned the order, which he thought was "odd" since he had never been instructed in his 35-year career not to tell host town officials about an event that would disrupt traffic, Wildstein told him "it would impact the study" if people knew and Wildstein "wanted to see what would naturally happen".^[51]

Wildstein sent an email the same day to Kelly informing her that Christie had approved $60,000 to fund a traffic study for Springfield in Union County. The Democratic mayor, David Amlen, did not endorse Christie for re-election and was not informed of the approval of their requested traffic study until after Christie won re-election.^[52]

Closure

Prior to the morning rush hour on Monday, September 9, 2013, two of the three dedicated toll lanes at one of the Fort Lee entrances^[3][4] to the upper level of the GW Bridge were closed to local use, and were reallocated to the main highway traffic, on orders from Wildstein without notification of Fort Lee government and police officials. In an area that normally experiences a great deal of traffic, the lane closings caused a significant increase in traffic congestion. This led to major delays for school transportation and police and emergency responses within Fort Lee, both during and after the peak hours of travel, starting on the first day of the school year.^[4][53]

According to the Fort Lee emergency medical services coordinator, traffic jams delayed paramedic response times, including a 9-1-1 call for Florence Genova, who subsequently died of cardiac arrest.^[54][55] In January 2014, her daughter told The New York Times that she "wants to stay out of it. It's politics". She noted her mother's advanced age (91) and opined that "it was just her time".^[56]

In at least one instance, emergency medical workers were forced to leave their ambulance and respond on foot because traffic congestion was so heavy.^[57] Emergency responders were delayed nearly one hour in rendering assistance to a man experiencing chest pains.^[58]

Within hours of the closure, various Port Authority officials were being told that the traffic delays posed a threat to public safety. At 9:29 a.m., Matthew Bell, a special assistant to Bill Baroni, emailed Baroni regarding "urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee". Fort Lee Borough Administrator Peggy Thomas emailed the PA's director of government and community relations, Tina Lado, with her concerns, noting that police and emergency departments received no advance notice of the closures.^[59] At 11:24 a.m., Lado emailed both Wildstein and Baroni informing them that due to the closures, police and ambulances were having difficulty responding to emergencies. That email noted two specific incidents: a missing child (later found) and a cardiac arrest.^[60][61] These safety warnings were reportedly ignored.^[59]

Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly emailed Wildstein and asked about his response, if any, to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Wildstein responded: "Radio silence. His name comes right after Mayor Fulop [of Jersey City]."^[62]

PAPD Lieutenant Thomas "Chip" Michaels, a Christie childhood friend,^[63] ordered his subordinates not to touch the cones,^[64] and chauffeured Wildstein around the Fort Lee area on an observation tour,^[63] and updated Wildstein on traffic conditions throughout the week, via text messages.^[63]

On Tuesday, September 10, Sokolich texted Baroni: "Presently we have four very busy traffic lanes merging into only one toll booth ... bigger problem is getting kids to school. Help please. It's maddening."^[8] Kelly's text message exchange with Wildstein referred to the mayor's message. Kelly asked, "Is it wrong that I am smiling?" Wildstein replied, "No." Kelly then wrote, "I feel badly about the kids. I guess." Wildstein responded, "They are the children of Buono voters," referring to Barbara Buono, Christie's Democratic opponent in the November election.^[63][65][66]

Also on Tuesday, 12-year veteran PAPD Officer Steve Pisciotta was stationed near the affected entrance, and reported over his radio about hazardous conditions created by the severe traffic. PAPD Deputy Inspector Darcy Licorish radioed back, "Shut up," and that there should be no over-the-air discussion of the closure. Lt. Michaels and PAPD Sgt. Nadine Rhem later visited Pisciotta in person, warning that his communication was inappropriate.^[67]

On Wednesday, September 11, Robert Durando said in a Port Authority email that if the automated toll lanes were closed permanently in favor of one manned lane for local traffic, it would be "very expensive" since annual toll-collector costs would increase approximately $600,000. This would have covered overtime, as well as stationing reserve employees when a scheduled toll collector was not able to work. He said there would be additional, but still to be determined costs, for PA police due to their coverage of traffic for a greatly extended rush hour.^[68][69]

On Thursday, September 12, PA engineers said that reported delays for local traffic greatly exceeded any time savings for the major highway traffic based on reported information for vehicle travel times on Interstate 95 and local traffic counts from that week. In an internal PowerPoint presentation, it was estimated that the extra daily morning rush hour time, 2,800 vehicle-hours, endured by local traffic on a typical day greatly outweighed time savings, 966 vehicle-hours, for the I-95 traffic.^[70]

Sokolich wrote to Baroni that "many members of the public have informed me that the PA police officers are advising commuters ... that this recent traffic debacle is the result of a decision that I, as the Mayor, recently made."^[71]

Re-opening and immediate aftermath

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Patrick Foye email, September 13, 2013

On Friday, September 13, 2013, Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority and an appointee of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, ordered that the lanes be reopened in a strongly worded email to senior PA officials and staff, including Bill Baroni and David Samson. In the email, Foye called the decision to close the lanes "hasty and ill-advised", said that the decision violated policy and long-standing custom at the PA, and that he believed that closing the lanes "violates Federal Law and the laws of both States." Foye asked his spokesman to get the word out. Upon learning this, Baroni attempted to prevent any disclosure in order to keep the public in the dark.^[72][73] Additionally, Baroni forwarded the email to Regina Egea, Christie's Director of the authorities unit overseeing the PA, three hours after it was sent by Foye.^[69][74]

During and after the lane closures, "hundreds of pages of emails and internal documents" showed "how Christie loyalists inside the PA worked to orchestrate a cover-up after traffic mayhem" in Fort Lee. In September, as more reporters began asking about the GW Bridge problems, officials conferred on how to respond.^[75] On September 13, The Record reported the outrage commuters were expressing toward the PA following days of long, inbound delays, and Fort Lee officials' unsuccessful efforts to get an explanation.^[76] Then on September 16, a Wall Street Journal reporter asked PA spokesman Coleman about what had occurred after some Journal editors had been in traffic the previous week. "Coleman passed the query up the chain of command" and Wildstein forwarded it to Baroni, commenting "I call bullshit on this." Further inquiries were directed by Coleman to Baroni and Wildstein, asking how they wanted the PA to respond, and Wildstein forwarded one of these inquiries to Christie's press secretary and chief spokesman, Michael Drewniak. Coleman also wrote to Baroni and Wildstein, "I will not respond unless instructed to do so."^[75]

On September 17, Wildstein informed Baroni that he had received a call from Wall Street Journal reporter Tedd Mann. "Jesus", Baroni replied, "Call Drewniak".^[23]

The emails showed efforts by Christie appointees in the PA and his office in Trenton to respond to the aftermath and media inquiries for the toll lane closures. The participants included Christie appointees Baroni, Wildstein, and PA Chairman Samson, as well as Drewniak and Maria Comella, Communications Director. In a September 18 email, Samson warned that Foye is "playing in traffic, made a big mistake" in response to a leak to The Wall Street Journal for their September 17 story citing unnamed PA officials as saying the decision to close the toll lanes had caused tensions within the bi-state agency.^[20][77]

In other communications, officials used an ethnic pejorative to refer to the Fort Lee mayor. In an email from Wildstein responding to Bill Stepien, he said "It will be a tough November for this little Serbian", derogatorily referring to Sokolich, who is Croatian-American.^[78] Baroni referred to "Serbia" in text messages in another apparent reference to Mayor Sokolich.^[79][80] Sokolich told The Huffington Post: "That slight is offensive to me, and it's offensive to me of everyone of Serbian background. If I were Serbian, I would be absolutely, positively appalled by it."^[81] The Serbian remarks received the attention of Serbian and Croatian media, and was commented upon by the Serbian government's Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region.^[81]

On October 9, Philippe Danielides, a senior adviser to Samson, emailed Wildstein a daily news summary and asked "Has any thought been given to writing an op-ed or providing a statement about the GWB study? Or is the plan just to hunker down and grit our way through it?" Wildstein replied "Yes and yes" and forwarded these emails to Baroni.^[75] Wildstein sought advice from Drewniak, with the two meeting in person on December 4.^[82] On December 6, Wildstein announced he would resign at the end of the year, saying the response to the traffic lanes closure had become "a distraction". At a December 13 press conference, Christie announced the immediate resignations of Baroni and Wildstein.^[23]

David Samson allegations

In the wake of the lane closings, the Port Authority's chairman David Samson was the subject of media reports alleging ethical violations and conflicts of interest. It was alleged that Samson's law firm and their clients profited from dealings with the Port Authority and from projects involving New Jersey government financing or tax incentives. It was also reported that Christie benefited politically and his allies benefited financially during Samson's term as chairman.^[83] Patrick Foye, the Port Authority's executive director, asserted that Samson lacked the moral authority to run the agency.^[84]

Calls for Samson's resignation and/or removal came from New Jersey officials and media sources, including The Star-Ledger,^[85] The Daily News (New York),^[86] The Record,^[87] and The New York Times.^[88] On March 4, the freeholders in Bergen County, where Fort Lee is located, called for the resignation of Samson and the other five New Jersey appointed commissioners, with the commissioners faulted for failure to exercise proper oversight.^[89]

In February 2014, Christie stood firmly behind his support of Samson as PA chairman.^[90]

On March 28, Christie announced that Samson offered his resignation, effective immediately, from the PA. They both agreed with the recommended PA reforms in the March 26 report commissioned by the governor's office for an investigation of Bridgegate allegations. The report did not mention any involvement by Samson, who refused to be interviewed, in any Bridgegate events or any of the other allegations during his role as PA chairman.^[18][26] On April 29, 2014, Christie nominated John J. Degnan, a former state attorney general, as Samson's replacement, subject to confirmation by the New Jersey state senate.^[91]

Possible motives

One widely held theory is that the toll lane closures were political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not supporting Christie in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Sokolich initially claimed that he was asked for an endorsement once, in the spring of 2013, months before the August "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email by Bridget Kelly to David Wildstein.^[8][92] Although the two men are from different parties and an endorsement would normally not be expected, Christie ran on a platform of bipartisanship and had secured the endorsement of many other Democratic officials.^[8]

In an interview on February 6, 2014 with The Record, Sokolich said that the Christie administration courted his endorsement over a period of time going back to around 2010, when Christie invited Sokolich and a handful of other mayors, including Hoboken's Dawn Zimmer, to have lunch at the governor's mansion in Princeton. Christie was shown in a picture talking with local mayors in a line-up, including Sokolich, after a news conference in Teaneck on December 8, 2011. In 2012, Sokolich and his cousins were given a personal tour of the 9/11 Memorial Plaza by Wildstein, who repeatedly told Sokolich, "I've been told to be nice to you." Matt Mowers, regional political director for Christie's re-election campaign, who had previously worked in the governor's intergovernmental affairs office, met with Sokolich regularly in 2013 and told him about other Democrats who endorsed Christie for governor. On at least three occasions, Sokolich noted that Mowers brought up the subject of Sokolich's possible endorsement. Sokolich eventually supported Barbara Buono, Christie's Democratic opponent in the 2013 election.^[93] Christie said at his January 9 press conference that Sokolich was "never on my radar screen" and that he would not "have been able to pick him [Sokolich] out of a lineup."^[24]

Emails indicated that Wildstein and Baroni were aware the closures would harm Sokolich. In an email from Wildstein responding to Bill Stepien,^[72] Wildstein wrote "It will be a tough November for this little Serbian", derogatorily referring to Sokolich, who is Croatian-American.^[78] Baroni referred to "Serbia" in text messages in another apparent reference to mayor Sokolich.^[79][80]

Another theory is that the closures were intended to affect Sokolich's promotion of Hudson Lights,^[94] a $1 billion redevelopment project that was underway at the Fort Lee bridge access point.^[9][10][95] It has been noted that "the Hudson Lights project is a billion-dollar project because it offers unparalleled access to the George Washington Bridge. But take away that access and it's no longer a billion-dollar project."^[96] In a September 12, 2013, email to Bill Baroni, during the time when the closure was still on-going, Mayor Sokolich raised concerns about the redevelopment project, asking "What do I do when our billion-dollar development is put on line at the end of next year?"^[97]

On January 9, Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, alleged that he was also targeted for political reprisals by the Christie administration for declining to endorse Christie in the 2013 governor election.^[98] His claim may be supported by a September 9, 2013 email by David Wildstein after Bridget Kelly asked about his response to Fort Lee Mayor Sokolich about the toll lane closures. Wildstein responded: "Radio silence. His name comes right after Mayor Fulop."^[62]

Investigations

According to The New York Times, the emails discussing the lane closure "could represent evidence that government resources were used for political purposes, a potential crime".^[8] According to legal experts, federal prosecutors also could "examine whether the obstruction of interstate commerce on the bridge between New Jersey and New York" violated federal law, and either federal or state prosecutors also might "build a cover-up case, rather than one based on the traffic tie-ups themselves".^[99]

On January 17, Alan Zegas, Wildstein's attorney, said that his client would offer to shed light on the scandal on the condition that he is given immunity from prosecution from the relevant federal and state law enforcement agencies. There has not been any offer of immunity from the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, which is reviewing the matter.^[100]

A joint legislative committee, New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation, was created on January 27 to take over the original investigation by the Assembly Transportation Committee.^[101]

Assembly Transportation Committee investigation

On October 2, 2013, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), said that he would open an investigation with the Assembly Transportation Committee to determine whether or not the lane closures were politically motivated.^[21]

The first hearing was held on November 25, for which Bill Baroni attended on behalf of the PA. Baroni, who was not sworn in to testify under oath, said that David Wildstein had ordered a study to determine if closing two of the Fort Lee toll lanes, and assigning them to mainline traffic, would shorten delays for commuters from other parts of New Jersey. Baroni argued that it was unfair that Fort Lee drivers occupied three out of the 12 lanes on the upper level, despite being only 4.5% of all traffic. Committee members pointed out that 4.5% was based on the number of E-ZPass users from Fort Lee that use all approaches to the bridge, and that vehicles from many other towns, besides Fort Lee, use that Fort Lee entrance. He admitted the actual percentage of vehicles, which utilize that Fort Lee entrance, could be higher than 4.5% of overall traffic, and also failed to mention that there are actually 29 operating toll lanes for the bridge when comparing the three dedicated toll lanes for this entrance.^[102][103]

Baroni said that with the reduction in Fort Lee toll lanes, traffic data showed that the mainline traffic travel times in the express lanes' approach to the bridge were about four minutes faster on two days. He apologized for what he acknowledged was the agency's failure to properly communicate with local officials and the public in advance of this project.^[102][104] Following the hearing, Wisniewski called the closures at best "clumsy and ham-handed" and at worst "political mischief by a political appointee and another political appointee that they did not make available for testimony", referring to Wildstein's non-attendance.^[105]

Immediately after Baroni made his presentation, the following text exchange occurred, according to subpoenaed documents from Wildstein:^[106][107]

Wildstein: You did great

Baroni: Trenton feedback?

Wildstein: Good

Wildstein: [Senator Kevin] O'Toole statement ready

Baroni: Just good? Shit

Wildstein: No I have only texted brudget [Bridget Anne Kelly] and Nicole they were VERY happy

Wildstein: Both said you are doing great

Wildstein: Charlie said you did GREAT

Sen. Kevin O'Toole released a statement that day to the media, echoing various talking points from Baroni's presentation. All of this suggested that O'Toole had prior communications with Wildstein and possibly Baroni.^[108]

According to a Republican source, it appeared that "Nicole" refers to Nicole Crifo (then senior counsel to the authorities unit in the governor's office), who was served in the February 10 round of subpoenas, rather than Nicole Davidman Drewniak (Finance Director for Christie's 2013 election campaign and wife of Michael Drewniak), who was served with the round of subpoenas due February 3.^[109][110] In January 2014, Crifo quietly took a job in the PA as chief of staff to Bill Baroni's replacement as deputy director, Deborah Gramiccioni.^[111]

On December 9, Wisniewski subpoenaed Foye and career PA staffers to testify under oath about the lane closures. Robert Durando, George Washington Bridge manager, said that he feared retaliation if he did not follow Wildstein's orders to close two toll lanes to local traffic and not notify local officials or the public about these changes. Durando and Cedrick Fulton, director of tunnels, bridges, and terminals, both said that they were personally told by Wildstein that he would notify Foye of the change.^[51][112] Foye said that he was unaware of any traffic study until he ordered its termination on September 13, and blamed Wildstein for the toll lane changes, while believing Baroni was involved in the planning.^[40][113] When Wildstein called Fulton on September 6 to inform him that the lane closures would begin on September 9, Fulton explained that he thought that was unusual since planning for traffic disruptions on major facilities typically starts years in advance. He said that he told Wildstein, "This will not end well", due to expected traffic problems.^[51]

Redacted documents were turned over under a subpoena to investigators of the committee and those documents were turned over to The New York Times and other news media.^[8][114] On January 8, 2014, The Star-Ledger, The Record, The New York Times, and other news media published emails and text messages tying Bridget Kelly, deputy chief of staff in Christie's office, to the closure. The content of the released communications said that the lane closures were ordered with the knowledge that they would cause a massive traffic jam.^[115][116] Christie released a statement later that day denying knowledge of the scandal, rebuking Kelly for her role in the lane closure event, and vowing that "people will be held responsible for their actions" in the affair.^[117]

A Republican member of the Assembly committee complained that the Republican members had not been given sufficient time to review the subpoenaed documents in advance of hearing testimony: "Allowing Republican committee members less than 24 hours to review more than 900 pages of information is a disservice to the bipartisan committee process ... As chairman, he [Wisniewski] should be impartial and provide committee members, regardless of their political affiliation, a reasonable opportunity to review documents he has had access to for weeks".^[118]

On January 9, 2014, David Wildstein, who appeared with his attorney, Alan Zegas, refused to testify before the committee, invoking the right against self-incrimination in the federal and New Jersey constitutions. The committee voted to hold Wildstein in contempt, asserting that the right against self-incrimination did not apply in such a hearing.^[119][120]

Wisniewski said "I do think laws have been broken. Public resources—the bridge, police officers—all were used for a political purpose, for some type of retribution, and that violates the law".^[121] He called it "unbelievable"^[122] that Christie did not know anything about his aides' plans, stating: "It's hard to really accept the governor's statement that he knew nothing until the other morning". He also raised the issue of the potential for Christie's impeachment if Christie was aware of his aides' actions.^[123]

Special legislative investigative committees

On January 16, the New Jersey Assembly and Senate each created committees to take over the investigation from the Assembly Transportation Committee. The Assembly committee hired Reid Schar as special counsel, who would assist in the investigation. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney from Illinois who assisted in the prosecution of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.^[124][125]

The New Jersey Assembly re-authorized the legislative subpoena powers, which were immediately used to subpoena two organizations and 18 individuals (including Christie's appointees and aides listed in the Key Figures table above) in Christie's administration, his 2013 election campaign, and the Port Authority. Those receiving subpoenas were instructed to submit by February 3 all documents and communications, going back to September 1, 2012, related to the reassignment of the two toll lanes during the week of September 9, 2013, and any attempts to conceal the activities or reasons related to that incident. While Christie himself was not subpoenaed, his governor's office and 2013 campaign organization received subpoenas.^[126]

New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation

On January 21, Assemblyman Wisniewski and State Senate majority leader Loretta Weinberg, whose district includes Fort Lee, announced that the Senate and Assembly committees were being merged into a bi-partisan joint investigative committee of 12 members, and that they would co-chair the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation. While the committee initially focused on the Bridgegate scandal, it had the power to investigate other allegations against the Christie administration.^[101][127]

On January 24, the members of the bi-partisan committee were announced. It consisted of eight Assembly representatives, including five Democrats and three Republicans, and four Senators, including three Democrats and one Republican. At the time, 40% of the members of the New Jersey Legislature were Republican. Besides the two Democratic co-chairs, members included Assemblywoman Marlene Caride (D-Bergen), Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris), Senator Nia Gill (D-Essex), Senator Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex), Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth), Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (D-Bergen), Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen), Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), and an unnamed Republican Senator.^[128] On January 27, both houses voted unanimously to combine the investigations, maintaining the partisan balance, and announced Kevin O'Toole's (R-Essex) inclusion,^[129] despite his mention in a December 5 email from Wildstein to Michael Drewniak.^[130]

As a precautionary move, the new investigative committee re-issued subpoenas that had been sent earlier, with the requested records still due on the original deadline, February 3.^[131]

In a January 31 letter to Reid Schar, general counsel for the legislative committee, Kevin Marino, the attorney for Stepien, said that he would not submit anything in response to their subpoena and requested its withdrawal, citing his client's Fifth Amendment right and New Jersey common law privileges against self-incrimination, with regard to the criminal inquiry underway by the U.S. Attorney, and Fourth Amendment and New Jersey Constitution (Article I, paragraph 7) rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Wisniewski said the subpoena was perfectly sound, and that Schar would review the attorney's objections and consider the committee's legal options.^[132][133] Michael Critchley, the attorney for Kelly, submitted a letter that his client would not comply with the subpoena based on similar claims.^[134]

On February 3, Wisniewski and Weinberg issued a statement, without details, that some responses to subpoenas had been received and that extensions for submissions had been granted to others. Mark Sheridan, an attorney for Christie's campaign organization, said it had been granted an extension while it awaited an opinion from the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, which on February 11 allowed the campaign to use existing funds and raise funds to pay its legal bills in response to the NJ Legislature and federal subpoenas for general evidence. It could not use those funds in response to any criminal investigations.^[135][136]

On February 10, the committee voted to reject the objections raised by the lawyers of Stepien and Kelly to not comply with the subpoenas for their records, and to compel Stepien and Kelly to produce all related documents, instructing special counsel Reid Schar to "take all necessary steps" to enforce the subpoenas. All four Republicans abstained in the vote. They claimed that they did not have enough time to review the legal arguments, including Fifth Amendment rights, presented in Schar's legal brief countering the lawyers' objections.^[137][138]

On the same day, the committee announced it was issuing 18 new subpoenas to individuals within the governor's office and the Port Authority that also included new recipients, as well as the governor's office itself and Christie's 2013 re-election campaign. The new recipients included assistants to Foye, Wildstein, Baroni, and Kelly. Other new PA recipients included Christie referral, Philip Kwon, deputy general counsel, Christie appointee William "Pat" Schuber, a commissioner, who had served in a variety of local, county, and state elected positions in New Jersey, and Steve Coleman, deputy director of media relations.^[110][139] One of the subpoenas was sent to the New Jersey State Police aviation unit for flight information records when Christie used a state helicopter during the toll lane closings. An agency spokesperson said that Christie had not used one to fly over the Fort Lee area during the lane closings.^[140] The subpoenas also sought information related to any dossiers^[141] compiled by Christie's re-election campaign and his governor's office on Fort Lee Mayor Sokolich.^[142]

The subpoenas sought information for records from staff at the PA and the governor's office related to preparations for Baroni's presentation to the Assembly Transportation Committee's November 25, 2013 hearing.^[142] Wildstein's attorney had claimed that Wildstein was present during some of the times when Kwon, who attended the committee hearing, helped prepare Baroni over several days for his presentation about a traffic study and other issues related to the local toll lane closures. A PA spokesman said: "Meeting with a witness prior to testimony is a routine function of any lawyer and any attempt to assign ulterior motives to this general practice is unwarranted." Kwon served as first assistant attorney general during Christie's first term as governor and previously worked for him in the U.S. Attorney General's office in New Jersey. He was also Christie's 2012 Supreme Court justice nominee, who was blocked by Democratic state legislative members.^[143]

One of the subpoenas sought documents from the PANYNJ related to toll increases for the tunnels and bridges and Christie's 2010 decision to cancel the Access to the Region's Core project, specifically with regard to projected cost overruns. It also requested the names of job candidates sent by Christie's office to the agency.^[142]

On February 19, it was reported that the co-chairs said that the committee would need to question Senator O'Toole about what he knew, including any communications with Baroni and/or Wildstein, prior to Baroni's November 25 presentation to the Assembly Transportation Committee. A previously redacted November 25 text message from Wildstein to Baroni said that O'Toole was ready with a statement, which was issued to the media, that echoed talking points from Baroni's same day presentation and attacked the Democrats investigating these issues. O'Toole followed up with an editorial in The Record that elaborated on these talking points and attacks. It raised further questions on whether O'Toole should continue to serve on the committee.^[107][108]

On February 28, Bonnie Watson Coleman withdrew from the committee, a day after she called on Christie to resign as governor due to the culture of bullying she says was fostered under him.^[144] On March 21, Assembly Speaker Vincent Pietro named Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Camden) to fill that vacancy.^[145]

On March 31, Wisniewski announced the intention to subpoena notes, records, and interviews from the inquiry conducted for the governor's office by Randy Mastro of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, since they had not been made available to the committee. Wisniewski said that there would be questions about the objectivity and independence of that investigation if subpoenaed items were withheld. In response, Mastro released a statement saying that the governor's office did not release interview transcripts because of its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney's Office's investigation and would respond to any subpoena request, when received. These matters could go to court if the governor's office tried to exercise any rights not to provide subpoenaed items.^[146][147] On April 11, the committee received the list of 75 persons interviewed by Mastro's team.^[148][149] Wisniewski said that he expected all existing interview materials in "whatever form", or the committee would issue a subpoena.^[149] The interview notes, marked "privileged and confidential attorney opinion work product", were turned over to the legislative committee and U.S. Attorney's Office, and publicly released online on April 14, without a subpoena. Wisniewski and Weinberg said in a joint statement that the committee reserved the right to request or subpoena further information, if required.^[150]

On April 9, the committee's investigation was dealt a setback when New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that Stepien and Kelly do not have to hand over subpoenaed documents since the subpoenas were written too broadly, like a "fishing expedition".^[151][152] The judge also said that the subpoenas, as written, "clearly violate" federal and state protections against self-incrimination and unlawful search and seizure.^[152] The ruling said that Kelly and Stepien could assert their Fifth Amendment rights because of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, and these documents could provide a "link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute the claimant for a federal crime".^[153] The judge suggested that the committee could consider reissuing subpoenas with more limited document requests that could be acceptable. Legal experts agreed with that approach, and also suggested that electronic copies of the original subpoenaed documents could be obtained through subpoenas of system servers that store those documents since individuals do not have any personal right to bar the subpoena of a server.^[151]

The judge also expressed reservations about having jurisdictional powers to compel the turnover of subpoenaed documents since "the committee has the power to enforce its own subpoenas through orders to compel and grant immunity in return." The lawyers for Stepien and Kelly have contended that the committee could grant their clients immunity from criminal prosecution in exchange for the documents. Reid Schar said that the committee has no such powers.^[154]

Wisniewski forecast that "north of ten" people would be subpoenaed for testimony.^[155] On April 22, he announced the joint committee's first subpoenas for oral testimony, initially calling four witnesses to testify: Christina Genovese Renna (former director of intergovernmental affairs), William "Pat" Schuber (a PA commissioner), Patrick Foye, and Michael Drewniak.^[156] All four agreed to testify.^[155] After a subpoena on April 29 calling Matt Mowers (former campaign staffer who reportedly asked Sokolich for an endorsement, and who has been cooperating with the committee),^[155] and some schedule adjustments, testimony was set for May 6 (Genovese Renna), May 13 (Drewniak), May 20 (Mowers), and June 3 (Foye and Schuber).^[157] However, the committee later postponed Foye's testimony, at the request of the US Attorney.^[158] Kevin O'Dowd (chief of staff and nominee for attorney general) was subpoenaed to testify on June 9.^[159][160] The committee was considering issuing a second set of more narrowly focused subpoenas to Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien. For now, Christie will not be subpoenaed.^[161]

On May 7, the committee announced a subpoena for documents and records from Michael DuHaime, who is Christie's chief political strategist.^[162][163] According to the Gibson Dunn memo on the DuHaime interview, he told Christie "on or about" December 11, 2013, that Wildstein, Stepien, and Kelly had knowledge of the "traffic study" beforehand. During Christie's December 13 news conference, he denied involvement by anyone in his office.^[164]

Committee work slowed in July 2014, and they postponed or skipped some witnesses' testimony, in deference to the federal investigation.^[165][166] On July 17, it heard testimony from Regina Egea, Christie's Chief of Staff, who had learned of the lane closures on September 13, 2013 after their reversal^[167] and later assisted Bill Baroni prepare for his testimony, but has not been accused of wrongdoing.^[168]

Port Authority investigation

On October 16, 2013, the Port Authority announced that it would conduct an internal review.^[169] Its inspector general opened an investigation on December 10.^[170] On February 16, 2014, Executive Director Pat Foye ordered the inspector general and PA Police Chief Louis Koumoutsos to examine PA Police Lieutenant Thomas "Chip" Michaels for his role in chauffeuring Wildstein on an observation tour on the first day of the closures and allegations of PA Police officers telling frustrated motorists to direct their ire at Mayor Sokolich. Michaels had at least one day's advance knowledge of the closure.^[171][172] Lt. Michaels and his brother Jeffrey Michaels (a GOP lobbyist in Trenton) are childhood friends of Christie.^[63]

U.S. Attorney investigation

On January 9, 2014, Paul J. Fishman, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, opened a preliminary federal inquiry into matters related to the toll lane closures. Fishman's office has jurisdiction because the Port Authority was created via an interstate compact between New York and New Jersey.^[173] Rebekah Carmichael, public affairs officer for the U.S. attorney's office, said in a statement: "The Port Authority Office of Inspector General has referred the matter to us, and our office is reviewing it to determine whether a federal law was implicated."^[174] Whether anyone will be federally prosecuted in the scandal is uncertain.^[175]

The U.S. Attorney, whose office did not identify who was served, began an official investigation and issued grand jury subpoenas for documents related to the Bridgegate scandal to various people and entities. Mark Sheridan, a partner with Patton Boggs, which had been retained to represent Christie's 2013 re-election campaign organization and the New Jersey Republican State Committee in connection with investigations into this scandal, said on January 23 that both organizations had received subpoenas.^[176][177] On February 3, Christie said that his governor's office received a subpoena. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting the U.S. Attorney in its investigation.^[178][179]

Prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office met with Mayor Sokolich on February 21^[180] and Governor Christie's press secretary, Michael Drewniak, as a "fact witness", on February 27.^[63] Drewniak, who had been subpoenaed by the legislative committee, was referenced in several previously subpoenaed documents released by the committee from others.^[181]

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, issued a subpoena to PA Chairman David Samson on March 7, but then rescinded it on March 10, because of overlap with the Fishman investigation based in New Jersey.^[182][183]

As part of the criminal investigation, Drewniak testified on April 4 in Newark before the grand jury investigating the scandal. His lawyer, Anthony Iacullo, said he was not a target of the investigation. ABC News reported that this was the first confirmation of a convened grand jury, which can meet for up to the next 18 months (with further extensions possible), for interviewing witnesses. It has the power to indict, subpoena, and interview witnesses without their attorneys being present.^[184] The New York Times reported that it was the same grand jury that had reviewed subpoenaed documents.^[185]

On April 7, it was reported that David Wildstein met with federal prosecutors in Newark for several days during the week of March 31 and Charlie McKenna met with investigators in mid-January in Fishman's office.^[186]

On April 25, it was reported that Fishman had subpoenaed the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation for "any and all records" they have gathered, with delivery due on May 2.^[187] Committee co-chairs Weinberg and Wisniewski said that they will comply, and that the request "reaffirms" their progress.^[188]

On May 1, it was reported that the federal grand jury had subpoenaed PA attorney Phillip Kwon, who had reportedly assisted preparing Bill Baroni's unsworn November 25, 2013 "traffic study" testimony to the Assembly Transportation Committee, and that Kwon had asked the PA to cover his legal fees.^[189]

On September 18, WNBC-TV4 (New York) reported that unnamed federal investigators told them that thus far no evidence that Christie knew in advance of the closures or had directed them was found, but cautioned that the investigation is ongoing and that no final determination has been made.^[190] That evening's NBC report by Brian Williams, "federal [Bridgegate] charges are now ruled out for Chris Christie", was retracted.^[191]

In January 2015, it was reported that Christie was interviewed by federal prosecutors and FBI agents in December 2014. He reportedly met with investigators voluntarily to give his side of the story. The meeting lasted two hours and was described as “professional, collegial and courteous.”^[192][193]

Indictments

In May 2015, the U.S. Attorney unsealed indictments, showing that Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly had been charged with nine counts of conspiracy, fraud and related charges. These included conspiracy to commit fraud by "knowingly converting and intentionally misapplying property of an organization receiving federal benefits". The same day, prosecutors released David Wildstein's plea deal. He agreed in January to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy against civil rights.^[27]

The indictments charge that the lane closures were retribution against Sokolich for not endorsing Christie. Fishman said that Wildstein had corroborated the allegations in the indictments,^[27] and said that the three officials "agreed to and did use public resources to carry out a vendetta and exact retribution," and that they "callously victimized the people of Fort Lee."^[194] Kelly vigorously denied wrongdoing.^[195]

U.S. Senate inquiry

The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation had opened its own inquiry into the closure. Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) had written Samson and Vice Chairman Scott Rechler in December 2013 to demand answers about how the Port Authority handled the closure and its aftermath. According to his letter, Rockefeller, who has long been critical about shortcomings in the PA's operations, was concerned about what seemed to be evidence of "political appointees abusing their power to hamper interstate commerce and safety without public notice." It also said that based on a review of recent testimony before the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee, it appeared that there was no traffic study underway.^[196][197] Rockefeller also asked the United States Department of Transportation to conduct its own review of the incident.^[198]

The PA's written response to Rockefeller's questions, signed by board secretary Karen Eastman, restated and summarized the December 9, 2013, testimony by Foye and two other PA managers before the Assembly Transportation Committee. It said that the closures had been ordered by Wildstein on September 6 despite various PA engineers expressing their concerns, particularly about more traffic congestion on local streets and no advance notice to Fort Lee officials. Wildstein, the letter said, had ordered bridge officials not to notify Foye of the closures. It also revealed that the PA's board had not approved Baroni's earlier presentation on November 25 before that committee that the closures were part of a traffic study. It showed that PA's procedures for planning and internal notifications for any traffic study were not followed. However, the letter did not reveal any reason why the closures were ordered. It characterized the incident as "aberrational".^[199][200] Rockefeller declared that based on the PA's response, there was "zero evidence" that a "legitimate" traffic study had been planned. He also said that the letter revealed the PA had not followed its own procedures for lane closures.^[201]

Other closure-related probes

The lane-closure scandal also sparked inquiries by the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC and Manhattan DA probes are focusing on the Pulaski Skyway, an elevated highway linking Newark and Jersey City. On June 23, 2014, The New York Times reported that the inquiries are focusing on possible securities law violations caused by Christie's use of Port Authority funds to pay for repairs to the Skyway in 2010 and 2011, using money that was to be used on a new Hudson River rail tunnel that Christie canceled in October 2010.^[202]

Gibson Dunn report

On January 16, 2014, the governor's office announced the hiring of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to assist with an internal review and cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's investigation.^[203][204] The firm also agreed to assist "with document retention and production in connection with the United States Attorney inquiry, and other appropriate inquires and requests for information" and review the governor's office operations and information flow.^[205] The lead attorney was Randy Mastro, a long time associate of Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City, who served under him as Deputy Mayor of New York City and Assistant United States Attorney.^[124]

In February, Mastro requested interviews about the toll lane closures with Wildstein and with Sokolich and Kelly, who all declined and were not interviewed.^[206][207]

The report, released on March 27, found that Christie had no advance knowledge of the bridge "lane realignment," and didn't know why it happened. It blamed Bridget Kelly and David Wildstein for orchestrating the toll lane closures. The report revealed that Wildstein said that he informed Christie of the ongoing lane closures during a September 11, 2013 memorial event, but asserted that Christie did not recall that exchange.^[12][208] It noted that Michael Drewniak said Wildstein appeared "anxious" during a dinner with him on December 4, and that Wildstein "had mentioned the Fort Lee traffic study to the Governor" while the lane closures were taking place. Drewniak said Wildstein told him that the plan to shut the lanes and attribute it to a "traffic study" were Wildstein's idea, and that Kelly and Bill Stepien had "some knowledge."^[209] The report also found "no evidence" that Stepien or Baroni knew of the improper motives for the lane closures, although they were aware that the lanes were to be closed and that traffic patterns were to be changed as a result.^[12]

In an interview on ABC's World News Tonight after the report was released, Christie said he was shocked by the actions of his former aides and that "Sometimes, people do inexplicably stupid things."^[13]

The report said the lane closures were political retribution against Sokolich but did not identify the specific motive, such as that he did not endorse Christie for re-election. However, it noted the day before her infamous "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" message, Kelly confirmed that Sokolich would not endorse Christie. It said she was "irate" and "on fire" when a Christie aide met with Sokolich several days later.^[12]

The report relied on documents provided by the governor's office and interviews with 75 witnesses,^[149] including Christie and others from his administration, but no one interviewed had been at the Port Authority at the time of the lane closings.^[210] The interviews were not under oath.^[211] The report also was based on more than 250,000 documents, many of them emails and text messages.^[210] Transcripts of the interviews and the names of the interviewees were not released at the time the report was made public.^[147] It has been estimated that the tax-payer funded report cost more than $1 million.^[211] A separate section of the report rejected allegations by Hoboken's Mayor Dawn Zimmer that Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, director of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, had linked release of Hurricane Sandy relief funds to approval of a project represented by David Samson's law firm.^[212]

In April 2014, U.S. Internal Revenue Service filings disclosed that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher donated $10,000 to the Republican Governors Association, of which Christie is chairman. The contribution was made on March 18, nine days before release of the Mastro report. The firm donated $55,000 to the association from 2009 to 2012, when Christie was not its leader. It made no donations to the Democratic Governors Association from 2012 to 2014.^[213][214]

After Wisniewski gave a deadline of April 11 for providing the interview records, which were part of the basis of the report, or they would be subpoenaed, Gibson Dunn turned over on that date a list of 75 persons interviewed for the report. On April 14, the interview notes were turned over to the committee and U.S. Attorney's office, and publicly released.^[149][150] Gibson Dunn lawyers said that there were no recordings or verbatim transcripts of the interviews, prompting Wisniewski to characterize the conclusions from these interviews as "hearsay".^[215] There were nearly 370 instances in which the persons interviewed could not recall details about events they were asked to address.^[150]

The interview notes contained information that was downplayed or omitted from the original Mastro report, showing a governor's office in which government and political operations were deeply connected. They showed how the governor's office worked to secure Democratic endorsements and coordinated with Christie's election campaign to penalize mayors who did not endorse Christie in his re-election. Christina Genovese Renna, who worked for Kelly, told the lawyers that she believed Stepien kept track of mayors who were not on good terms with Kelly's intergovernmental affairs office. Other intergovernmental affairs employees said they were instructed not to return phone calls from, or arrange meetings with, mayors who had not endorsed Christie for re-election. The notes recount a January 8 conference with Christie, his top staff, and Samson at the executive mansion at which legal counsel for Kelly and Stepien was discussed. The notes indicated that Samson played a role in the Christie administration, in addition to his role as Port Authority chairman, for talking with Cabinet members and a commissioner to discuss their second-term plans if the governor was re-elected.^[150]

Reaction to report

Critics attacked the report as a whitewash, which they claimed read more like a legal defense than an objective investigation.^{[16][18][216]} Critics noted investigators could not interview any of the most important figures in the scandal and Mastro's conflict of interest since his firm was politically tied to Christie based on past work, and advocated Christie reimbursing taxpayers for the probe.^[17][217] Assemblyman Wisniewski and Senator Weinberg, co-chairs of the legislature investigative committee, criticized the report as incomplete and potentially biased since it was prepared by lawyers hired by the Christie administration and reached its conclusions, while not interviewing key figures in the scandal. Baroni, Kelly, Samson, Stepien, and Wildstein were not interviewed based on their refusals.^[13][209]

Newspaper editorials noted that one of the lawyers on the investigation team was a close friend of Christie.^[18]

The report was also criticized for "sexism" for its treatment of Christie aide Bridget Kelly. As an example, although Kelly was never interviewed for the report, it suggested that a recent breakup with Bill Stepien (according to the report, at the "behest" of Stepien) had a substantial emotional impact on her, perhaps affecting her judgement. However, although the report brought up these personal details of Kelly's life, it did not explain how the breakup affected her actions but simply concluded that “events in her personal life may have had some bearing on her subjective motivations and state of mind.”^[218] The attorney representing Kelly said in a statement that the report contained "venomous, gratuitous, and inappropriate sexist remarks". Asserting that the only credible investigation into the lane closings was being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office, he said that if Kelly was to receive safeguards, she would cooperate to provide "truthful and complete answers to any questions" to law enforcement.^[219][220]

A Monmouth University Polling Institute poll, released on April 2, found that 30% of New Jersey residents said it was a fair and unbiased investigation, while 52% said it was done to help Christie's reputation. Only 11% agreed with the report's conclusion that only two staff members were responsible for the closures, with 77% saying that others were involved. It found that 32% felt that Christie had been completely honest about what he knows of the scandal, and 61% saying that he did not come clean. The poll also found that despite Christie's exoneration in the report, only 38% believed he was not involved in the decision to close the lanes. It said that 47% believed that he was involved. This was 3 points less than was reported in a similar February poll prior to the report, but remained significantly higher than the 34% who felt he was involved, shortly after the scandal broke in January.^[15] In April 2014, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 56% of New Jersey registered voters viewed it as a "whitewash", while 36% said it was a "legitimate investigation". It said that 64% said Christie did not order the lane closures, but 51% said they believed he was aware of what his aides were doing.^[14]

In May 2014, a lawyer for Bill Stepien demanded a retraction of the report's contention that Stepien lied to Christie.^[221]

Conflict of interest concerns

Six staff members of the governor's office were represented by Mastro and another Gibson Dunn attorney.^[222] Paul Butler, a former prosecutor and criminal law scholar, and others have suggested there can be a potential conflict of interest when an attorney acts both as the investigator and as the representative of some of the subjects of the investigation (who may have acted improperly).^[223][224]

Port Authority lawyers lodged a complaint with the law firm that there would be a potential separate conflict since Mastro and his firm, while representing the governor's office for Bridgegate, are also representing the PA in ongoing disputes over the 2011 toll increases, which has been investigated by Wisniewski, who has subpoenaed their financial records in the past and as part of a separate investigation by the special committee also looking into Bridgegate. A firm's spokesperson denied that there would be any conflicts.^[225] A retention letter, signed by New Jersey Assistant Attorney General Robert T. Lougy, said that the governor's office and law firm did not consider there to be any conflicts.^[205] On February 19, Mastro (but not his firm) withdrew from representation of the PA in a federal lawsuit regarding toll hikes, but potential conflicts reportedly remain.^[226]

On January 24, the PA told Wildstein that it will not pay his legal bills since its bylaws don't permit payments in cases of fraud, malice, misconduct, or intentional wrongdoing.^[227] In a January 31 letter, his attorney, Alan Zegas, asked the PA to reconsider paying Wildstein's legal bills since it had provided no specific reasons or evidence for denying payment. He also questioned its decision since the PA was still reviewing whether to pay the legal bills of Bill Baroni, who had made statements during his November 25 hearing with the Assembly Transportation Committee that were contradicted by sworn testimony by Patrick Foye and other PA officials at a December 9 hearing.^[228]

On April 14, 2014, the New Jersey Attorney General's office announced that it had retained five law firms at $340 per hour to represent at least five current and/or former administration officials.^[229][230] Marino, Tortorella, & Bayle billing for Bill Stepien is covered for his time as deputy chief of staff, but not while Christie's campaign manager.^[230] The law firms known to be representing Christina Genovese Renna (who reported to Bridget Kelly as director of intergovernmental affairs and who resigned in February 2014),^[231] Michael Drewniak (who changed representation from Gibson Dunn to Iacullo Martino), and Evan Ridley (a Christie aide) are also covered. The name of any client for Robert G. Stahl's firm in Westfield is not known.^[229]

Lawsuits

In most cases of government caused traffic delays, lawsuits would not be possible. Under government immunity, governments are usually immune to lawsuits for their actions done in good faith. Secondly, under tort law, generally one can sue for personal injury or property damage, but not for economic loss, as many parties only tangentially related to a case could legitimately claim such losses. Those restrictions usually only apply to negligence. In both situations, restrictions do not apply if the plaintiff could show that the defendants acted in bad faith. New Jersey is also more open to economic loss claims than other states.^[232]

In January 2014, a federal lawsuit, seeking certification as a class action, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, on behalf of six Bergen County residents, claiming that they arrived late for work and lost pay, or suffered other adverse effects, and several businesses, who lost revenue, due to traffic jams caused by the lane closures. The lawsuit alleges that the lane closures were the result of a civil conspiracy and "willful, wanton, arbitrary, and egregious official misconduct".^[233] Christie, Kelly, Wildstein, Baroni, Stepien, the Port Authority, and State of New Jersey are named as defendants.^[234][235]

On January 13, six Bergen County taxicab companies filed a class action lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court in Hackensack, claiming their cab employees lost money based on lost time and extra gas consumption, and suffered emotional harm due to the deliberately caused traffic jams. The lawsuit named Kelly, Drewniak, Wildstein, Baroni, and Christie's gubernatorial campaign, along with Stepien.^[236]

In a July 2, 2014 decision, Superior Court Judge P. J. Innes ruled in favor of the North Jersey Media Group, publisher of the newspaper The Record, that the state must partially comply with open records request and turn over some information it had previously refused to release regarding current and former state employees' written requests for the state to appoint them attorneys or pay their legal fees resulting from parallel criminal and legislative investigations into the lane closures, though not the names of the employees. The state must pay the media group's legal fees. The media group plans to appeal, to gain fuller disclosure of the documents.^[237]

Christie's responses

On December 2, 2013, Christie said at a press conference that Democrats were just playing politics by holding hearings into lane closures. "Just because [Rep.] John Wisniewski is obsessed with this, and [Sen.] Loretta Weinberg, it just shows that they really have nothing to do," Christie said.^[238] Christie later credited the email documents subpoenaed by the hearings as the first information he had that his staff was involved.^[24] When asked about the closures, Christie dismissively joked "I worked the cones, actually. Unbeknownst to everybody I was actually the guy out there, in overalls and a hat. You cannot be serious with that question."^[239]

Christie questioned the policy of allowing three dedicated lanes, saying "I didn't know Fort Lee got three dedicated lanes until all this stuff happened, and I think we should review that entire policy. Because I don't know why Fort Lee needs three dedicated lanes to tell you the truth," and "the fact that one town has three lanes dedicated to it? That kind of gets me sauced [upset]."^[240] However, members of the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee said at a November 25, 2013, hearing that the Fort Lee entrance has been used by an even greater number of commuters from the surrounding Bergen County towns. PA officials, including Patrick Foye, confirmed that assessment in their sworn testimony at the December 9, 2013 committee hearing.^[40][102] Christie has denied involvement, saying that his staff acted without his knowledge regarding to the planning for the lane closures. He said at an April 2014 town hall meeting: "if anybody told me they were going to do this, I would have stopped it".^[241]

Christie addressed Baroni's claim of a traffic study, saying, "I do believe, and I told Chairman Samson this, that we should look at this policy because I don't know why one town gets three lanes. One lane? Maybe. Three lanes, for one town, I don't quite get it."^[23]

On December 12, 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported^[242] that Christie was said to have called New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to complain about Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority and a Cuomo appointee, in an apparent attempt to shut down Foye's investigation of the lane closures.^[243][244] On December 13, 2013, Christie denied such a call, saying, "The story is categorically wrong. I did not have that conversation with Governor Cuomo in any way, shape or form."^[245] In his January 9, 2014 press conference, he also denied any such conversation.^[24] Heather Haddon of The Wall Street Journal still stood by the report on February 19.^[246]

At a press conference on December 13, Christie announced the immediate resignations of Baroni and Wildstein.^[23][247] Nevertheless, Christie said the closure was "absolutely, unequivocally not" political retribution.^[248]

Christie added: "I've made it very clear to everybody on my senior staff that if anyone had any knowledge about this, they needed to come forward to me and tell me about it. And they've all assured me that they don't."^[249] Christie said: "The chief of staff and chief counsel assured me they feel comfortable that we have all the information we need to have."^[23]

In a nearly two-hour press conference on January 9, 2014, Christie apologized for the toll lane closures and said that he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the behavior of his staff. Christie claimed he first learned of his staff's involvement via news media reports on January 8. The governor announced that he had fired Bridget Kelly, calling her "deceitful", claiming her lack of disclosure about her actions and emails caused him to mislead the public.^[24][250] Christie admonished his two-time campaign manager Bill Stepien and said he had asked Stepien to withdraw his name from the Republican State Party Chairman race, and to cease his consulting role for the Republican Governors Association.^[251] Christie promised that he and his staff would cooperate with any government investigations, including those by the New Jersey Legislature. When asked what he would do if subpoenaed to testify on the matter, Christie said, "I'm not going to speculate on that".^[24]

Christie said "I have had no contact with David Wildstein in a long time, a long time, well before the election." Christie was re-elected Governor on November 5, 2013.^[252] During the third day of the closures, Christie, Wildstein, Samson and Baroni were photographed together on September 11, 2013 at the site of the World Trade Center during a commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.^[22]

In the press conference, Christie described his earlier efforts to determine his staff's involvement, saying: "I brought my senior staff together I think about four weeks ago tomorrow. And I put to all of them one simple challenge: If there is any information that you know about the decision to close these lanes in Fort Lee, you have one hour to tell either my chief of staff, Kevin O'Dowd, or my chief counsel, Charlie McKenna."^[253]

The governor's office issued a statement on January 31 that denied the allegations about Christie that were contained in a January 31 letter, which was made public, from Alan Zegas, Wildstein's attorney, to the PA. The letter questioned the accuracy of various statements made by Christie about his client, without providing any specific references, and claimed that there is evidence of Christie being aware of the toll lane closures at the time that they were closed. The governor's office said that Christie stood by his position that he: "first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press".^[228][254] Christie previously said in his December 13 press conference that this was well after the toll lanes for local traffic were reopened.^[255]

During his monthly talk radio appearance on February 3, Christie said he was cooperating with subpoenas from the state legislative committee and the U.S. Attorney to his governor's office, which began turning over documents to the legislative committee earlier in the day and would continue to do so as the requested items were located.^[256]

On April 17, Christie enacted two recommendations of the Mastro report. He eliminated the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, which had been headed by Bridget Kelly. He named Patrick E. Hobbs, dean of Seton Hall University School of Law, Christie's alma mater, as a part-time ombudsman to address complaints about misconduct, enhance ethics training and accountability, and improve electronic communications in the governor's office. Hobbs will retain his Seton Hall post.^[257][258] Critics noted that Christie's staff and others had used personal emails to avoid public scrutiny.^[257] Hobbs asserted that Christie had given him "full authority and independence" and would leave the job if he felt impeded. The United States Ombudsman Association recommends, however, that ombudsmen be appointed by entities outside of their jurisdiction, preferably by a legislature, to avoid any questions about independence.^[258] In 2006, as U.S. Attorney, Christie approved Bristol-Myers Squibb's endowment of an ethics chair at Seton Hall's law school in a controversial prosecution settlement.^[258][259] After a controversy arose over this agreement, Hobbs wrote a letter in 2006 to the editor of The Wall Street Journal praising Christie. Hobbs said he has had a 15-year professional relationship with Christie, and denied the Bristol-Meyers-Squibb arrangement would compromise his role as ombudsman.^[259]

On April 24, Christie denied creating a "culture of divisiveness" or that perceptions about his attitude may have led others to plan and allow the lane closures to occur as retaliation. "If in fact I created a culture where people were going after each other, then how did we do all these things together with Republicans and Democrats?" Christie asked during a Brick, New Jersey town hall meeting.^[241][260] The Star-Ledger editorial board answered that Richard Nixon had cut deals with Democrats, but had still abused power, and that despite Christie's early bipartisanship, he has thrown himself into several partisan standoffs, and that his personal style had always been "vindictive and aggressive", and concluded that Christie "created the culture that inspired" the lane closures.^[261]

Political impact

New Jersey Democratic political leaders lambasted Christie and the lane closings. Sokolich called them "a petty political vendetta,"^[262] while Barbara Buono contended that a culture of intimidation and retribution engendered by Christie and his staff hampered funding of a challenger even though the state was mostly Democratic.^[263] The Democratic National Committee released a video in December 2013 that raised questions if "Christie's political payback" was behind the toll lane closures.^[264] It released a satirical video, timed to coincide with the January Assembly hearing, about what questions still needed to be answered.^[265] At the beginning of February, it released an online video ad with a Super Bowl 48-inspired, football game theme.^[266][267] It was followed soon after by a video that parodied Facebook's popular "Look Back" videos.^[268]

Rudy Giuliani, a Christie ally and defender, said that if Christie is "not telling the truth, he's ruined." While Giuliani has claimed that he is not acting as a surrogate for Christie, many of the media inquiries for interviews with Giuliani have gone to the governor's office and are forwarded to Giuliani by Maria Comella, Christie's Communications Director.^[126][222]

Former Republican New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, a longtime mentor and supporter of Christie, said in January 2014 that he believed Christie when he said he didn't know his aides were involved in the lane closures until incriminating emails were revealed on January 8. Kean said that there were still unanswered questions about the atmosphere in the governor's office and "whether or not there are more than two or three people involved."^[269] In an April 2014 interview with The New Yorker, Kean questioned whether Christie "created an atmosphere in which some of those people thought they were doing his will because they were getting back at people." Kean said he had reconsidered his support of Christie as a potential presidential candidate, and that if Christie was not telling the truth, "then he's finished. As governor, too."^[270]

Public opinion

National polls

In January 2014, there was a wide range of opinion about the long-term impact of this scandal on a potential Christie 2016 presidential bid.^{[30][271][272]} By early February, national polling^[28][29] showed a substantial erosion in his political standing and 2016 presidential campaign prospects.^[31][273]

A Quinnipiac poll, published January 21, showed that the Fort Lee scandal had hurt Christie's national standings, including his potential run for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election. The poll showed him trailing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 46% to 38%, which is a downturn from two previous polls that showed Christie and Clinton about even, after Christie had gained considerably in the polls against her since March 2013. The December 2013 poll had shown Christie at 42% with Clinton, who is the leading potential Democrat candidate, at 41%. Nationally, peoples' view of his presidential capabilities had gone down with 35% agreeing and 36% disagreeing that he would make a good president. This was down from 49% agreeing to 31% disagreeing in a November poll. For the people, who had heard of the Bridgegate scandal, 50% said this scandal would hurt Christie's presidential hopes, and made 34% of all those polled less likely to vote for Christie. His favorability rating declined to only 33% viewing him generally as favorable with 30% unfavorable. This is down from his highest rating of 47% favorable to 23% unfavorable in December 2013. The poll did show that Christie still polled the best against Clinton among the current leading potential Republican candidates, even though he had gone from the leading potential Republican candidate in December to a statistical tie with three others.^[274]

New Jersey polls

A Rasmussen poll of New Jersey resident, published January 10, showed that 56% believe Christie should resign "if it is proven that he approved of retaliation against an elected official who refused to support him." Only 29% disagreed. A majority believed it was at least somewhat likely that Christie was aware that the September toll lane closures were retaliation for the mayor of Fort Lee's refusal to support his re-election.^[275]

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll, published January 24, showed that the Fort Lee scandal had hurt his standings among New Jersey residents. Christie's favorability rating, as governor, was shown to be 46%, down 22 points from just before his landslide re-election victory in November 2013, with 43% having an unfavorable view. While the majority of residents still approve his overall performance as governor, his 53% job approval was down 15 points from November. A majority, 56%, said that it was "very unlikely" or "somewhat unlikely" that Christie's top aides acted without his knowledge in the Fort Lee scandal. Only 20% said they fully believed Christie's explanation about this topic, while 42% did not believe his version at all and 33% only partially believed him.^[276]

A Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll, published February 24, showed Christie's job approval ratings in New Jersey at 50%, which was down 9% since January and 20% from 12 months prior. Other results showed 61% believed the governor was not completely honest about what he knew about the toll lane closures, and 50% (up from 34% in January) thought Christie was personally involved in the decision to close the toll lanes.^[277][278] A similar poll, released on April 2, showed his approval ratings to be nominally, but not significantly better than the February poll, remaining 14 points lower than December, before the Bridgegate scandal broke. It said that 62% said that Bridgegate and Hoboken's Sandy relief aid issues hurt his presidential prospects for 2016, up from 51% in January.^[15]

Media coverage

The first story in the media about the lane closures, and the first to bring politics into the mix, was reported by The Record's John Cichowski in his September 13, Road Warrior column that there was speculation that Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich was punished "either for failing to endorse Governor Christie's election bid or for pushing through a $500 million, 47-story high-rise housing development near the bridge, or for failing to support the Port's last toll hike."^[76][279]

The lane closure controversy has received substantial attention from the New York area and national media, especially from MSNBC. The cable network's ratings reached their highest point since the Boston Marathon bombings when it covered Chris Christie's apologetic press conference on January 9, 2014.^[280] MSNBC's intensive coverage was criticized by Christie, who was formerly close to MSNBC, calling it a “partisan network” that is “almost gleeful in their efforts attacking” him.^[281] Comedian Bill Maher also chided MSNBC.^[282]

On September 17, Ted Mann of The Wall Street Journal wrote a story about what could have possibly prompted the Port Authority to close toll lanes to local traffic without public notifications. Citing anonymous sources, he reported that "the decision to close the traffic lanes caused tension" since "the lane closures came as a surprise to some high-ranking officials at the bi-state agency." He said that the toll lanes were reopened to local traffic based on an order from Executive Director Patrick Foye, "who argued that the abrupt shift in traffic patterns caused a threat to public safety and should have been advertised to the public ahead of time."^[283]

On October 1, his newspaper report was the first to address the contents and quote some of the text from Foye's September 13, 2013 email to PA officials ordering the toll lanes to be reopened, while denouncing the closures as an "abusive decision" and pledging to investigate "how PA process was wrongfully subverted and the public interest damaged" without Foye's knowledge. The email said that there were potential violations of state and federal laws. PA insiders disputed that there was a traffic study. All of this reinforced the reported rumors that the toll lanes might have been closed by political surrogates of Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, as an alleged act of political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie in his 2013 re-election campaign.^[284] The Record, The Wall Street Journal, and other news media continued to investigate the matter in comprehensive reporting over the next few months, using sources and requests for public records.

The scandal broke in full on January 8, 2014, with an online story by Shawn Boburg of The Record^[285][286] that Christie's deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly was involved in the planning of the toll lane closures. That revelation catapulted the story into a national political event. The Record continued with details of the dialogues in the troves of emails and texts supplied to the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee by David Wildstein. The Record described "vindictive lane closures" that were intended to cause massive traffic jams in Fort Lee. Related news with quotes from the emails and texts were subsequently published the same day in other news media.^[8][115]

During his January 9 press conference about the scandal, Governor Christie cited The Record as breaking the pivotal story on January 8.^[24]

See also

• List of people involved in the Fort Lee lane closure scandal
• Controversies and investigations in the Governorship of Chris Christie
• Crime in New Jersey
• List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
• Politics of New Jersey

References

External links

• Visual aids
  • Composite aerial images of GW Bridge traffic flow around the upper-level toll plaza (illustrations with one and three toll lanes opened at the affected Fort Lee entrance)
  • NJ DOT map showing jurisdictions of highways leading to the bridge (affected Fort Lee entrance to upper-level toll plaza shown at "Kelby St" label on the map)
• News coverage about GW Bridge lane closure scandal from:
  • NJ.com (especially latest news from The Star-Ledger and NJ Advance Media)
  • NorthJersey.com (especially latest news from The Record) plus a ten-minute documentary video of their coverage, and their interactive The GWB Files presentation
• Key players, according to:
  • NJ.com (NJ Advance Media)
  • NorthJersey.com
  • WNYC-AM/FM (New York) and New Jersey Public Radio with one-year audio retrospective
• Timeline of events, according to:
  • Milowent (includes background history and detailed Bridgegate chronology. references news reports and documents released by New Jersey Transportation Committee.)
  • The Record, plus their updated graphical timeline
  • The Star-Ledger, as of March 2014, and updated in September 2014.
  • USA Today
  • WNBC-TV4 (New York)
  • WNYC-AM/FM (New York) and New Jersey Public Radio
• Official documents
  • Subpoenaed documents released by New Jersey Legislature
  • Transcript of Christie's January 9, 2014, press conference
  • Mastro's investigation report commissioned by the Office of the Governor of New Jersey (released on March 27, 2014, and updated on April 14 with lawyers' memoranda summarizing each of 75 interviews)