New Jersey won’t pay legal bills for Bridget Anne Kelly in GWB case

Bridget Ann Kelly, texting, with Governor Chris Christie and Michelle Brown at Seaside Park fire, September 12, 2013 photo credit, Phil Stilon, Ocean County Signal

TRENTON, N.J.—New Jersey won’t pay for Bridget Anne Kelly’s legal bills. That decision followed a months-long fight by her attorney who argued she was being treated differently from other state employees who, like her, all believed it was a traffic study that caused the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. The details… Read the rest of this entry »

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Even the lawyers now have lawyers at the embattled Port Authority

The Port Authority’s top lawyer, his deputy and at least one staff attorney are among 15 people whose legal bills are being paid by the agency in connection with investigations that have surfaced in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal. “The Port Authority today confirmed that it is providing legal counsel to… Read the rest of this entry »

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Bridgegate prosecutors want to keep secret 1.5 M pages of documents

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GWB probe: Trial of two former Christie aides delayed until November

Bridget Ann Kelly, texting, with Governor Chris Christie and Michelle Brown at Seaside Park fire, September 12, 2013

HACKENSACK, N.J. — The trial of two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accused of using the George Washington Bridge in a political retribution scheme has been pushed back until November. The timing of the case against Christie’s previous deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and former Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill… Read the rest of this entry »

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Bridgegate scandal: Kelly, Baroni enter not guilty pleas in federal court

Bridget Ann Kelly, texting, with Governor Chris Christie and Michelle Brown at Seaside Park fire, September 12, 2013

NEWARK — Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni — central figures in the Bridgegate scandal that has dogged the Christie Administration — pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that they conspired to create traffic jams in Fort Lee on the first day of the 2013 school year. Kelly, a former Christie deputy chief of staff and… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie has a credibility problem

Only 23 % of New Jersey residents think Governor Chris Christie has been completely honest regarding his involvement in and knowledge of the Bridgegate affair, according to a Monmouth University Poll released this morning.  69%, including 52% of New Jersey Republicans, think Christie is being less than completely honest.

“The governor has maintained that he was not involved in the lane closures nor did he know about them as they were happening. Most New Jerseyans don’t buy it,” said Patrick Murray, Executive Director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Half of New Jersey residents, 52% of registered voters, think Christie was personally involved in the George Washington Bridge Lane closures during his reelection campaign in September of 2013.  Only 34% think he was not personally involved.

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Despite Arraignments, ‘Bridgegate’ Closure Likely to Come Only in Court

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Bridget Ann Kelly: David Wildstein is a liar

A poised and confident Bridget Ann Kelly ended 16 months of silence today to answer the charges against her related to the Bridgegate scandal.

Governor Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff who was indicted for her alleged role in Bridgegate, asserted her innocence and declared that David Wildstein, the former Director of Capital Projects who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for his role in Bridgegate, is a liar.

Kelly and her attorney, Michael Critchley, address the press at his office following the press conference held by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman this afternoon.

Critchley said with certainty that Kelly will be found innocent of the charges against her.  He pledged to exposed what really happened regarding the George Washington Bridge lane closure at trail.

A video of Kelly’s press conference, courtesy of NJTV, appears below the fold.

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7 notable Paul Fishman quotes from the Bridgegate press conference

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman

NEWARK — In between variations of ‘no comment,’ U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul J. Fishman made a handful of notable comments during the Friday afternoon Bridgegate press conference. On Friday, former Port Authority director of interstate projects David Wildstein pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy. Indictments were then unsealed against another former Port Authority… Read the rest of this entry »

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Governor Christie: Today’s Charges Make Clear That What I’ve Said From Day One Is True

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman: Based On The Evidence That Is Currently Available To Us, We’re Not Going To Charge Anybody Else In This Scheme

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie’s Office released the following statement in response to today’s guilty plea by David Wildstein, the indictments of former Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni and Bridget Ann Kelly, Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, as well as U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s press conference:

Governor Christie has said from day one that he had no knowledge or involvement in the planning, motivation, authorization or execution of the decision to realign lanes on the George Washington Bridge.   After fifteen months and three independent investigations, including those conducted by a partisan, Democratic-led joint committee and an outside law firm, that conclusion remains unchanged.   

• The key facts that came to light in the first quarter of 2014 have not changed in any material way, more than a year later.  The individuals alleged to be responsible and facing charges today are David Wildstein, Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, and they were all separated from the Port Authority and the Governor’s Office more than 15 months ago.

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