Witness: Christie told of closures

NEWARK, N.J. — Republican Gov. Chris Christie was told during the George Washington Bridge lane closures that a Democratic mayor expressed concern that the resulting traffic jams in his city were political retribution, a former aide to the governor testified Monday.

Ex-aide Bridget Anne Kelly testified in her criminal trial that she told Christie about Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s concerns and Christie told her it was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey project and to “let Wildstein handle it,” referring to David Wildstein. Wildstein, an executive at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to punish Sokolich for not endorsing the governor’s re-election effort.

“I said, ‘He’s talking about government retribution,’” Kelly testified. “(Christie) said, ‘It’s a Port Authority project. Let Wildstein handle it.’”

Christie has consistently denied any knowledge of the plot.

Kelly maintains she believed the September 2013 lane closures were part of a traffic study, but she testified Monday that she became confused on their final day after Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered the lanes reopened even though Wildstein said the study was a success.

“None of that made any sense to me,” she said. “This was totally contrary to anything he was telling me. I didn’t understand it at all.”

Kelly is accused of plotting with Wildstein and another former Christie ally, Bill Baroni, to close lanes on the bridge, which connects Fort Lee and New York, as revenge against Sokolich. Kelly and Baroni have pleaded not guilty and have said the government has twisted federal law to turn their actions into crimes. was an off-the-record or an on-the-record,” Jackie said. “I was naive.”

Jackie said she remembered “feeling upset” when she found out her story was going to be the central focus and was concerned that Rolling Stone was going to paint Eramo in a negative light. A few weeks before publication, a friend of Jackie’s expressed Jackie’s concerns to Erdely in a text message, but Erdely responded “there’s no pulling the plug at this point — the article is moving forward.”

“I remember feeling scared and overwhelmed and unsure of what to do,” Jackie said. She added: “I felt like I was getting a lot of pressure from a lot of people to do things I didn’t want do.”