Christie Rejects Testimony He Knew About Bridgegate: I Told ‘Absolute Truth’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie makes a point during his budget address, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, in Trenton, N.J. (Clem Murray/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) insisted on Tuesday that he has told the “absolute truth” about what he knew of the 2013 Bridgegate scandal, hours after a former ally testified in federal court that he’d discussed the politically-motivated scheme with the governor.

“I have not and will not say anything differently than I’ve been saying since January 2014, no matter what is said up there (in Newark federal court),” Christie told reporters outside his office in Trenton, according to NJ.com. “I had no knowledge, prior to or during these lane realignments, I had no role in authorizing it, I had no knowledge of it, and there’s been no evidence ever put forward that I did.”

David Wildstein, a former Christie appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, testified that he and another top official at the agency, Bill Baroni, talked with Christie on Sept. 11, 2013 about the effects of lane closures on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. This alleged conversation took place on the third day of the lane closures, which stranded schoolchildren, emergency vehicles and commuters in what prosecutors allege was an effort to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie’s re-election campaign.

Christie has long maintained that he did not know about the plot until several months later, and that he does not recall the alleged conversation with Wildstein and Baroni at a 9/11 memorial event. He was never charged in the case, either.

“From the moment all this became public, my one job was to make sure that I told the people of New Jersey the absolute truth,” Christie told journalists on Tuesday, according to NJ.com. “I have, I’ll continue to, and no matter what else anybody says, that will not change.”

Wildstein struck a plea deal for his role in planning the lane closures, while Baroni and former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly face federal fraud and conspiracy charges for their own involvement.

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