The New Jersey mayor at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane closing scandal won’t cooperate with lawyers representing Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) office, The Newark Star-Ledger reported on Monday.
In a letter sent Monday to the defense attorney leading the Christie administration’s legal team, an attorney for Fort Lee, N.J. Mayor Mark Sokolich declined to have his client sit for an interview or voluntarily turn over documents related to the lane closures. Some democrats in New Jersey have for months suggested that the lane closures were retaliation against Sokolich, a Democrat who declined to endorse Christie’s re-election last year.
“While the mayor has gone out of his way to be fair to all parties in this matter, he wants to make sure that he respects the legal proceedings that are ongoing,” Sokolich’s attorney, Tim Donohue, wrote in his letter, according to the Star-Ledger. “In light of the parallel investigations being conducted at the same time regarding the same subject matter, I do not believe it would be appropriate for the mayor to be interviewed by you or to produce any documents.”
Christie’s office hired attorney Randy Mastro to help produce documents for the multiple investigations into the lane closures, but also to help with an independent internal review of the incident. Sokolich’s decision not to be interviewed by Mastro or his team follows a similar move by Hoboken, N.J. Mayor Dawn Zimmer.