Former Christie ally pleads guilty to ‘Bridgegate’ charges

A former ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) pleaded guilty Friday morning to charges related to the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge in 2013, while two others were indicted in the case.

David Wildstein, a former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official and a high school classmate of Christie’s, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to two counts of conspiracy in the scandal that became known as “Bridgegate” and threatens to imperil Christie’s presidential ambitions.

The first charge is for “Conspiracy to Obtain by Fraud, Knowingly Convert, and Intentionally Misapply Property of an Organization Receiving Federal Benefits.” He is also charged with a civil rights violation.

Two other aides to Christie and the Port Authority were also indicted.

“People in those kinds of positions have an obligation to use government resources, our resources, for proper government purpose,” U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul Fishman said.

At a Friday press conference, Fishman would not deny that his office was still gathering evidence in the case — but said other indictments should not be expected at the moment.

“Based on the evidence that is currently available to us, we’re not going to charge anybody else in this scheme,” he said.

Christie has denied a role in the closures.

Wildstein also implicated Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Bill Baroni, who was the deputy executive director of the Port Authority, saying the three came up with the cover story of a traffic study to close the lanes to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., for refusing to endorse the governor’s reelection bid, causing a massive backup of traffic in the city.

Kelly and Baroni were charged on Friday for their alleged role in the bridge plot. A nine-count indictment alleges that the two committed conspiracy and wire fraud, among other charges.

Alan Zegas, Wildstein’s lawyer, said outside the courtroom that his client “deeply regrets” the bridge closure. He also repeated Wildstein’s claim that Christie “knew of the lane closures as they occurred,” according to The New York Times.

He said that Wildstein was “prepared to testify” and was still working with investigators.
“There is a lot more that will come out,” he said.

Since Wildstein is cooperating with prosecutors, he will be released on a $100,000 bond, according to reports.

Fishman said that although Wildstein’s sentencing was set for August, he would likely not be sentenced until after he appears at any trials where the government requires his testimony.

Though Fishman repeatedly declined to comment or speculate on any details of the investigation not included in the indictments, he did provide one detail of how the investigation had unfolded. He said that no attorney hired for the office by Christie, his predecessor, had worked on the case — and that that had been done deliberately.

Officials stood strongly behind their indictment on Friday, even as the press demanded more details about what Christie may have known.

“This case should serve as a wake up call and a warning to those public servants who might consider abusing their positions for their personal benefit or the benefit of others,” said Michael Nestor, the Port Authority’s inspector general.

Ben Kamisar contributed.

This post was last updated at 3:02 p.m.