The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, [1] [2] is a U.S. political scandal in which a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluded to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge. The closures were intended to embarrass or anger Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich who had not supported Christie politically. [3] [4]
Three people were eventually charged by Paul J. Fishman, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) official, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors. Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the PANYNJ, and Bridget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to Governor Christie, were charged with conspiracy and fraud and entered pleas of not guilty. [5]
Fishman also compiled a list of unindicted co-conspirators, parties who were aware of the closures at the time they took place or involved in a possible cover-up but who were not charged, which was not made public. [6] [7] The release of the names of so-called co-conspirators has been a matter of controversy in and of itself. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] and was taken up by Judge Susan Davis Wigenton of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. [14] While the names have been made available to attorneys, they have not been made public pending proceedings. [15] [16] [17] [18] Another list, of others "who may have had knowledge of the conspiracy or took actions that happened to further its goals" but did not join the conspiracy, came to light in judicial proceedings in March 2016. [19] Despite the release of some documents after the trial the names of unindicted co-conspirators were not released. [20] [21]
In testimony given in September 2016, Wildstein said that among those who knew of the lane closures either before or while they were taking place or were made aware of attempts at a cover-up were Governor Christie, political advisors Bill Stepien and Michael DuHaime, and PANYNJ staff David Samson, Pat Schuber, and Philip Kwon. [22]
Person [23] | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|
Port Authority (PA) | ||
Bill Baroni | Deputy Executive Director (Appointed by Christie) | Resigned on December 13, 2013; was David Wildstein's supervisor, has been accused of collaborating in the planning and cover-up of the toll lane closures. |
Patrick "Pat" Foye | Executive director (Appointed by Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo) | Wrote email critical of closures and ordered re-opening of the local toll lanes on September 13, 2013. |
David Samson | Chairman of the PA Board of Commissioners (Appointed by Christie) Partner in Wolff & Samson law firm | Was involved in the aftermath, as shown in a series of subpoenaed written communications; Samson's law practice generated complaints of conflict of interest with his PA role; resigned on March 28, 2014. |
David Wildstein | Director of Interstate Capital Projects (Recommended by Christie; hired by and worked under Baroni) [24] | Ordered PA staff to close the lanes and make no disclosures to Fort Lee officials or the public. Resigned on December 13, 2013. His position was eliminated on February 4, 2014. [25] |
Office of the Governor | ||
Chris Christie | Governor of New Jersey | Claimed no knowledge of his aides' involvement until he read about it in the media on January 8, 2014; a law firm hired by Christie cleared him of involvement, but it has been widely criticized. |
Michael Drewniak | Press Secretary to Christie | Responded to media inquiries at the governor's office and at the PA. Testified before a federal grand jury on April 4, 2014. |
Regina Egea | Director of the Authorities Unit | Received the Foye email on September 13, 2013; was scheduled to replace O'Dowd if his nomination to State Attorney General was confirmed by the NJ Senate. |
Bridget Anne Kelly | Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs | Authored August 13, 2013, email to Wildstein: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee"; fired by Christie on January 9, 2014. |
Charlie McKenna | Chief Counsel to Christie | Ran December 2013 investigation into governor's office's involvement (with O'Dowd); became director of NJSDA that month and was replaced by Christopher Porrino; [26] purportedly the "Charlie" in subpoenaed texts and emails. |
Kevin O'Dowd | Chief of Staff to Christie | Ran governor's office investigation (with McKenna); nominated in December 2013 for State Attorney General; January confirmation hearing was postponed due to potential conflict since he ran Christie's investigation. |
Bill Stepien | Christie's political consultant and election campaign manager (including governor elections in 2009 and 2013); Former Deputy Chief of Staff for intergovernmental affairs (prior to Fort Lee scandal events) | Removed by Christie on January 8, 2014, as political adviser, and nominee for Republican Party State Chairman for NJ, due to the tone of his comments in subpoenaed emails. Stepien then worked for FLS Connect (a Republican voter contact consulting firm in Minnesota with previous ties to Christie), [27] and for GOPAC (a Republican 527 organization). [28] |
State and federal investigators | ||
Paul J. Fishman | United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey | Opened an inquiry in January 2014; in 2009, sworn into his position, which had been held by Christie in 2008. |
Reid Schar | Special counsel to a joint special investigative committee for the New Jersey Legislature | To assist the committee in the legal aspects of their investigation; Jenner & Block, Schar's law firm, represented Assembly Democrats in New Jersey's legislative redistricting battles of 2011 and 2001. [29] |
Loretta Weinberg | Co-chair of a joint special investigative committee for the New Jersey Legislature | State Senate majority leader (Democrat); On January 27, 2014, the New Jersey Senate and Assembly voted to create a joint committee in order to take over the investigation from the Assembly Transportation Committee. |
John Wisniewski | Co-chair of a joint special investigative committee for the New Jersey Legislature and chair of Assembly Transportation Committee | Deputy speaker and Democratic member of the Assembly; started committee hearings in November 2013 and subpoenaed documents that identified key figures and their actions in the toll lane closures and alleged cover-up. |
Client [30] [31] | Legal representatives | Notes and key credentials |
---|---|---|
Port Authority (PA) | ||
Bill Baroni | Michael B. Himmel, [32] a partner at the New York and Roseland, New Jersey offices of Lowenstein Sandler | Himmel was the attorney for Solomon Dwek, who was as an informant in Operation Bid Rig III that brought down several New Jersey politicians [33] |
David Samson | Michael Chertoff, "senior of counsel" at the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington & Burling; Angelo J. Genova, [34] senior partner, chairman, and co-founder of the Newark law firm Genova Burns LLC | Chertoff is a former United States Attorney and Secretary of Homeland Security; his consulting firm received a Port Authority no-bid contract to review its security; Genova had served on the PA Board of Commissioners [35] |
David Wildstein | Alan L. Zegas, a criminal defense attorney, at Chatham, New Jersey-based Law Offices of Alan L. Zegas [36] | |
Philip Kwon | Geoffrey S. Berman, co-managing shareholder of the New Jersey office of Greenberg Traurig, LLP [37] [38] | Berman worked as an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York in the early 1990s and was the associate counsel to the independent prosecutor investigating Iran-Contra for the government during the late 1980s. [39] |
Office of the Governor | ||
Christie's Office of the Governor (and five staff members) | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, including partner Randy M. Mastro, based in the firm's New York office [40] | Hired in January 2014, after disclosure of subpoenaed documents from the New Jersey Transportation Committee, in order to aid in an investigation for the governor's office and respond to "appropriate" official inquiries [41] |
Bridget Anne Kelly | Michael Critchley, Sr., [42] founder of the Roseland, New Jersey-based firm Critchley, Kinum & Vazquez | Replaced Walter F. Timpone, who cited a conflict of interest as Christie's appointed vice-chairman of the Election Law Enforcement Commission [43] |
Bill Stepien | Kevin Marino, [44] a principal and founder of Chatham, New Jersey-based Marino, Tortorella & Boyle [45] | |
Other persons or organizations | ||
Christie's 2013 re-election campaign | Patton Boggs, including partner Mark D. Sheridan, in Newark [46] [47] until that office closes and moves to Florham Park, New Jersey [48] | Official name for re-election campaign was Chris Christie for Governor Inc. |
New Jersey Republican State Committee | Patton Boggs, including partner Mark D. Sheridan | The firm serves as general counsel for the Republican State Committee [46] |
Mark Sokolich | Timothy M. Donohue, a criminal defense attorney and partner at Arleo, Donohue & Biancamano, LLC, in West Orange, New Jersey | Donohue, to be paid by Fort Lee, has represented public officials in state and federal jury trials. Mayor Sokolich acquiesced to the request by the borough attorney and council for this "prudent" arrangement as a contingency. [49] |
On January 21, 2014, Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski and State Senate majority leader Loretta Weinberg, whose district includes Fort Lee, announced that the Senate and Assembly committee investigating the matter would merge into the bi-partisan joint New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation, which they would co-chair and would have 12 members. While the committee initially focused on the Bridgegate scandal, it had the power to investigate other allegations against the Christie administration. [50] [51] On January 24, 2014 the members of the bi-partisan committee were announced; eight Assembly representatives, including five Democrats and three Republicans, and four Senators, including three Democrats and one Republican. At the time, 40% of the members of the New Jersey Legislature were Republican. Besides the two Democratic co-chairs, members included Assemblywoman Marlene Caride (D-Bergen), Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris), Senator Nia Gill (D-Essex), Senator Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex), Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth), Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (D-Bergen), Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen), Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), and an unnamed Republican Senator. [52] On January 27, both houses voted unanimously to combine the investigations, [53] maintaining the partisan balance, and announced Kevin O'Toole's (R-Essex) inclusion [54] despite his mention in a December 5 email from Wildstein to Michael Drewniak. [55] Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty (D-4th Legislative) District subsequently replaced Watson. [56]
In some cases the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey asked the Legislative Select Committee on Investigation to delay in calling witnesses in connection with its own investigations in the lane closures and other matters. [57] [58]
Governor's Office staff subpoenaed by the Joint Legislative Committee [30] [59] [60] | ||
Office of the Governor | Custodian of Records | Also subpoenaed by US Attorney [61] [62] |
Jeanne Ashmore | Director of Constituent Relations | |
Maria Comella | Communications Director | |
Nicole Crifo | Senior Counsel to the Authorities Unit | Requested by US Attorney Office to postpone taking testimony [58] |
Michael Drewniak | Spokesman, Governor's Office | Testified May 13, 2014 [63] Testified April 4, 2014 in US Attorney Office investigation [64] |
Regina Egea | incoming Chief of Staff | Testified July 17, 2014. [65] [66] [67] [68] |
Rosemary Iannacone | Director of operations | |
Bridget Anne Kelly | former Deputy Chief of Staff | 5th amendment |
Paul Matey | Deputy Chief Counsel | |
Charles McKenna | former Chief Counsel to the Governor | Requested by US Attorney's Office to postpone taking testimony [58] |
Kevin O'Dowd | Chief of Staff | Testified June 9, 2014 [69] [70] [71] |
Barbara Panebianco | Executive Assistant to Bridget Anne Kelly | |
Christopher Porrino | Chief Counsel | |
Colin Reed | Spokesman | |
Christina Genovese Renna | Director of Departmental Relations, Governor's Office | Testified May 6, 2014 [72] [73] [74] |
Evan J. Ridley | Aide, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs |
Governor's Office staff subpoenaed by the Joint Legislative Committee [30] [59] [60] | ||
Christie for Governor, Inc | re-election campaign | |
Michael DuHaime | political adviser to Christie | [75] [76] |
Nicole Davidman | GOP fundraiser | [77] |
Matt Mowers | Campaign staff Former Aide, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs | Testified May 20, 2014 [78] |
Bill Stepien | former Campaign Manager for Christie Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor | 5th amendment |
PANYNJ officials interviewed/subpoenaed by the NJ Legislature committees [30] [59] [60] | ||
Bill Baroni | Deputy Executive Director | Interviewed (not under oath) November 25, 2013 Assembly Transportation Committee [79] [80] Video and testimony documents subpoenaed by US Attorney January 2015. [81] [82] |
Matthew Bell | Special assistant to Baroni | |
Steve Coleman | Deputy Director of Media Relations | |
Phillipe Danielides | Senior Adviser to Chairman | [83] Requested by US Attorney Office to postpone taking testimony [58] |
Gretchen DiMarco | Assistant to Baroni | [83] |
Robert Durando | General manager GWB | Testimony (not under oath) December 9, 2013 Assembly Committee on Transportation [84] |
Pat Foye | Director | Testimony (not under oath) December 9, 2014 (not under oath) Assembly Transportation Committee [84] [85] Testimony Select Committee on Investigations postponed at request of US Attorney [86] [87] |
Cedrick Fulton | Director of Bridges, Tunnels and Terminals | Testimony (not under oath) December 9, 2013 Assembly Committee on Transportation [84] [88] |
Philip Kwon | Deputy General Counsel | Requested by US Attorney Office to postpone taking testimony [58] Subpoenaed by US Attorney [37] |
Cristina Lado | Director for Government and Community Affairs | |
John Ma | Chief of Staff to Foye | |
Mark Muriello | Assistant director of Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals | |
Paul Nunziato | PA police officer and PBA president | Requested by US Attorney Office to postpone taking testimony [58] |
David Samson | Chairman | Initially complied with release of some documents later cited Fifth Amendment [89] [90] [91] |
William “Pat” Schuber | Commissioner | Testified June 3, 2014, Select Committee on Investigations [92] |
Arielle Schwarz | Special assistant to David Wildstein | |
David Wildstein | Director of Interstate Capital Projects | Documents submitted December 19, 2013 [93] Testimony January 9, 2015 Assembly Transportation Committee citing Fifth Amendment [94] |
William E. Baroni Jr. is an American Republican Party politician and law professor. He represented the 14th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. In 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named Baroni to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Christopher James Christie is an American politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he was the United States Attorney for New Jersey from 2002 to 2008 and a Morris County commissioner from 1995 to 1997. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024.
William Stepien is an American political consultant who served as the campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign beginning in July of that year. A member of the Republican Party, he was the White House Director of Political Affairs in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018.
William "Pat" Schuber is an American Republican Party politician who served as Mayor of Bogota, represented the 38th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly and served 12 years as the Bergen County Executive
David Samson is an American lawyer who served as New Jersey Attorney General under Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey from 2002 to 2003. He served as the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) from 2011 until his resignation on March 28, 2014 in the aftermath of the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Samson is a partner and founding member of the law firm Wolff & Samson from which he resigned in April 2015, and had been an ally of Governor Chris Christie.
The George Washington Bridge Plaza, also known as GWB Plaza or Bridge Plaza, is the convergence of roads and highways around the George Washington Bridge toll plaza in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States. The plaza is located north of and parallel to Fort Lee's Main Street. The surrounding busy area is characterized by a mix of commercial and residential uses and an architectural variety that includes parking lots, strip malls, houses, gas stations, mid-rise office buildings and high-rise condominiums. Just to the east is Fort Lee Historic Park, Palisades Interstate Park and the bridge's western tower.
Chris Christie took office as the 55th Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010, began his second term on January 21, 2014, and left office on January 16, 2018.
The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, better known as Bridgegate, was a political scandal in the U.S. state of New Jersey in 2013 and 2014. It involved a staff member and political appointees of then-governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.
David Wildstein is an American businessman, former Republican Party politician, and the founder and editor-in-chief of the New Jersey political news website New Jersey Globe. A former mayor of Livingston, New Jersey, he served as a senior official in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey during the administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie until 2013, when Wildstein resigned in the midst of a scandal involving traffic lanes closures. On May 1, 2015, he pleaded guilty to two federal felony counts of conspiracy as part of a plea agreement, but his conviction was later overturned.
Bridget Anne Kelly is the former deputy chief of staff to the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, known for her participation in the Bridgegate scandal.
Regina M. Egea served as the chief of staff to the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. She was appointed in December 2013 and resigned in April 2016. She is the president of Garden State Initiative, a public policy think tank based in Morristown, New Jersey, which was founded in 2017.
Charlie McKenna is the former Executive Director of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority and former Chief Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey.
Kevin O'Dowd is a New Jersey public servant and political figure who served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie. He was considered, but not formally nominated, for the position of Attorney General of the State of New Jersey.
Michael Drewniak was press secretary to the Governor of New Jersey. He was appointed by Governor Christie to New Jersey Transit and started on April 1, 2015, at a newly created position. He has extensive management and strategy experience. In May 2016 he was named acting director of the agency.
Alan L. Zegas is an American criminal defense attorney. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, received a Bachelor of Science degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1974, an MBA from The Harvard Business School in 1978, and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 1981. He said that he became a lawyer to defend the “little, powerless person against the powerful forces of government.”
Philip Kwon is deputy counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a previous nominee for the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Walter Francis "Wally" Timpone is a former Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, having been sworn on May 2, 2016. He was nominated to the Supreme Court by Governor Chris Christie and confirmed by the New Jersey Senate in April 2016. He resigned on August 31, 2020.
Deborah Gramiccioni is a lawyer based in New Jersey who has worked in the administration of Governor Chris Christie and as the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She sits on the Ocean County Family Court.
William J. Brennan, known as Bill Brennan, is a former firefighter, lawyer, and activist. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey in the 2017 election.
Kelly v. United States, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the 2013 Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as "Bridgegate". The case centered on whether Bridget Anne Kelly, the chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was running for reelection at the time, and Bill Baroni, the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, improperly used lane closures on the George Washington Bridge to create traffic jams as a means of retaliation against Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, when he refused to support Christie's reelection campaign. While lower courts had convicted Kelly and Baroni on federal fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions in its May 2020 ruling, stating that such charges could not apply as "the scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property", and remanded their cases back to the lower courts.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Mr. Fishman's requests focused heavily on Port Authority officials. He asked the committee not to speak to the agency's executive director, Patrick Foye, a New York appointee who ended the lane closures when he discovered them, and Nicole Crifo, the governor's counsel in a unit devoted to public authorities. Mr. Fishman had also said the committee needed to wait on the Port Authority's deputy executive director, Deborah Gramiccioni; Philip Kwon, the agency's deputy chief counsel who helped officials prepare for questioning from lawmakers; Philippe Danielides, a senior adviser to the authority's former chairman David Samson; and the agency's police union president, Paul Nunziato.