Gimme Christie phone — lawyer

A LAWYER representing a former Chris Christie crony against Bridgegate scandal charges said a single piece of evidence might have all the answers.

“I want the governor’s phone,” defense lawyer Michael Baldassare told reporters after a 90-minute hearing on pretrial motions.

Then, Baldassare grabbed a reporter’s cell phone to emphasize that he wants physical possession of the New Jersey governor’s phone to see if it contains evidence to help his case.

Baldassare is defending former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni against charges for his alleged role in the Bridgegate scandal.

The lawyer said he needs more documents and material from the governor’s office to help him defend his client.

Baroni (inset), former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, and Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, are each charged in a nine-count federal indictment in connection with a scheme to create traffic prob- lems near the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing the governor for reelection. Christie has not been charged. Baldassare said he also wants the cell phones of any other Christie staffers that were turned over to the governor’s lawyers.

Baldassare says that recently received evidence bolsters the case that Baroni and Kelly shouldn’t have been charged.

Baroni told a committee investigating the scandal in 2013 that the lane closures, which caused massive traffic jams in Fort Lee, were part of a traffic study.

Meanwhile, Kelly’s attorney Michael Critchley Jr. said Kelly should never have been accused of a crime.

“All we’re talking about here is inconvenience and traffic,” Critchley said. Not even a run for President could put enough distance between Christie and the lane closure scandal.

The issue dogged Christie for much of his failed campaign before the governor bailed out and endorsed Donald

Trump.