NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A key government witness in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case is back on the stand Monday.
David Wildstein worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that operates New York City-area bridges, tunnels, ports and airports. He pleaded guilty last year to causing traffic gridlock near the bridge to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Wildstein’s former boss, Bill Baroni, and Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, face fraud, conspiracy and civil rights counts. Christie hasn’t been charged.
Both defendants say Wildstein conceived and carried out the scheme in September 2013. The bridge spans the Hudson River and connects Fort Lee, New Jersey, with New York City.
Last week, Wildstein testified that Christie’s office used the Port Authority as a source of political favors for local Democratic officials whose endorsements were sought for his 2013 re-election. Christie wound up winning in a runaway over Democrat Barbara Buono.
Wildstein said Christie and his former campaign manager, Bill Stepien, were among those who discussed the strategy at a meeting about Christie’s re-election.
Stepien and another former Christie aide who testified Friday, Matt Mowers, now work for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign.
Kelly and Baroni have pleaded not guilty and have said the government has twisted federal law to turn their actions into crimes. They also have said other people with more power and influence were involved in the lane closures but aren’t being prosecuted.
Mowers, a former Christie campaign staffer who worked with Kelly in early 2013, testified last week that Kelly’s office kept a spreadsheet noting what favors mayors had received and, on a scale from 1 to 10, their likelihood of endorsing Christie.
Prosecutors say Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, one of the mayors who declined to endorse Christie, was the target of the traffic jam scheme in September 2013.
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