The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will not pay the legal bills for the former agency executive at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandal, The Bergen Record reported on Friday.
Citing a “Port Authority source familiar with the decision,” the Record reported that the Port Authority informed former executive David Wildstein of its decision Friday morning.
The notification to Wildstein reportedly said his request to have his legal bill picked up “would not be warranted” under the agency’s bylaws. Those bylaws state that current and former employees will be provided with legal representation if the action in question fell within their job duties, but not if there was fraud, malice, misconduct, or intentional wrongdoing.
Wildstein announced his resignation from the Port Authority last year, as questions mounted about the reasons for the lane closures, which caused a multi-day traffic jam in the town of Fort Lee, N.J. Earlier this month, Wildstein invoked his 5th Amendment rights and refused to answer questions about the closures from a New Jersey Assembly committee investigating the scandal.
