Ex-ally: Gov. Christie seemed happy about bridge gridlock

Newark, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie was told about the epic 2013 traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge while it was underway, seemed happy about it and joked sarcastically that there was nothing political going on, a former loyalist testified Tuesday in the scandal that helped destroy Christie’s White House ambitions.

David Wildstein, a former executive at the agency that oversees New York-area bridges and tunnels, took the stand for the prosecution at the trial of two one-time Christie allies accused of engineering the four days of gridlock to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie. Wildstein has pleaded guilty.

Wildstein’s account was the first testimony to suggest Christie knew about the scheme as it was unfolding.

Christie has repeatedly denied that and has not been charged with a crime.

On Tuesday, the Republican governor said: “All kinds of stuff is going on up in a courtroom in Newark. I want to be really clear: I have not and will not say anything different than I’ve been saying since January 2014. No matter what is said up there, I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments.”

Bridget Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, are on trial, charged with conspiracy, fraud and civil rights deprivation in the alleged political revenge plot.

Wildstein, a former high-ranking official at the Port Authority, testified that he was present when Christie was told about the traffic in Fort Lee on the third day of the gridlock during a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York.

Wildstein said Baroni told Christie there was “a tremendous amount of traffic in Fort Lee” that morning and that Mayor Mark Sokolich was “very frustrated” he wasn’t getting his phone calls returned. Baroni then told the governor that Wildstein was watching over the situation, Wildstein testified.

“Well, I’m sure Mr. Edge would never be involved in anything political,” Christie responded sarcastically, and then laughed, according to Wildstein. “Wally Edge” was a pseudonym Wildstein used while running a New Jersey politics website.