NEWARK-- The governor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs was supposed to be an outreach office--a one-stop shop for mayors, local officials and civic leaders seeking assistance from the state.

But as Gov. Chris Christie's 2013 re-election campaign ramped up, the agency took on another role. It became a virtual arm of the campaign, using public resources to help convince Democratic officials to endorse the governor.

"It lasted until the end of the campaign," testified Christopher Stark, a former regional director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, or IGA.

Stark, called as a witness by federal prosecutors Wednesday in the Bridgegate corruption scandal, worked for Bridget Anne Kelly, the one-time aide to Christie. She is currently on trial with former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni, charged with conspiring to shut down toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 in a scheme to flood Fort Lee with traffic after the borough's mayor declined to endorse the governor.

In his testimony, Stark talked about an operation within the governor's office that sought to build relationships with agreeable Democrats with free passes to the governor's box at MetLife Stadium for Giants and Jets games; tickets to the Prudential Center for Devils NHL games and Seton Hall basketball; breakfasts and dinners with the governor at Drumthwacket, and exclusive access to Ground Zero.

Friends of the governor got their calls returned, grants for their communities, and invitations to special events. Officials that did not appear likely to endorse, or who otherwise found themselves incurring the ire of the governor himself, would ultimately be put in what Stark called a "time out" of sorts. They were put on a list of individuals who were to be "hands off." Their calls were not to be returned.

"We were to have no communication with them. We were not supposed to call them back," he said.

He did not see that they were doing anything wrong. "It was on our free time," testified Stark, now a Trenton lobbyist.

Stark said Kelly and Bill Stepien, who ran the IGA office before becoming Christie's campaign manager, kept track of all the favors and giveaways--anything the administration had done for the targeted elected officials--using electronic spreadsheets.

"Stepien seemed to be governor's right hand man," Stark noted. "Miss Kelly tried to emulate Mr. Stepien.

He said they would provide weekly updates of what giveaways had been offered and grade the likelihood of an endorsement on a scale of 1 to 10. Lists were put together of Democrats who appeared to be in the governor's corner and were sent to Peter Sheridan, then a high ranking director at IGA, along with Kelly and Stepien. They would be the ones to green-light any approach for an endorsement, he testified.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich was on that list. So was Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who suddenly found himself frozen out of any contact with the administration after a long-expected endorsement did not materialize.

"He was playing both sides of the fence," explained Stark. He said Fulop had met with state Sen. Barbara Buono, who was running against Christie.

The hands off list, though, was not limited to Democrats, defense attorneys pointed out to the jury in their cross-examination. Stark recalled the governor's wrath when a Monmouth County Republican freeholder, John Curley, expressed anger and frustration over his perception of the administration's failure in its response to the Superstorm Sandy. He said the freeholder left a curt message directed at Christie and his penchant for holding press events, asking: "Who does that fat (expletive) think he is?"

In one of the more remarkable exchanges of the day, Stark relayed a furious graphic response by the governor, demanding of the freeholder "who the (expletive) do you think you are calling me a fat (expletive)? Are you a (expletive) idiot?" The governor ordered him to be in Keansburg the next day for a press conference.

"If you are not standing behind me at the podium, I will (expletive) destroy you," Stark recalled hearing Christie say.

The governor threatened to run robo-calls against the local official if he opposed him.

Christie added, according to Stark: "You are a (expletive) idiot."

The freeholder was duly standing behind the governor for the event, testified Stark.

Reached by phone, Curley did not deny the exchange, although said the expletive he used had the word "mother" in it. But he said it came in the immediate aftermath of Sandy, when he said everyone was cold and shivering and covered in mud, and members of the governor's cabinet came to the Jersey Shore without Christie. He said he told them "where is that fat [expletive]? Is he out running for president?"

Next day, he said the governor called him and "lit into me in no uncertain terms. I was surprised the governor of New Jersey would use that language. But I did insult him first."

Earlier on Wednesday, the prosecution's key witness in the case, David Wildstein, finally ended his testimony after eight days on the stand. Alternatively whipsawed by prosecutors and defense attorneys, the admitted architect in the bridge lane closures was repeatedly challenged as a liar, while assistant U.S. attorney Lee Cortes sought to show that Baroni and Kelly were willing partners in the lane closures scheme from the start.

Wildstein has pleaded guilty in the case and is awaiting sentencing.

The defense, in its cross-examination, had focused much of its attention on the political dirty tricks Wildstein had played and boasted about over the years, including stealing U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's jacket before a debate, throwing out the petitions of a Republican rival for a township committee contest, and making up a story about a voter suppression effort targeting Democrats in Hillside.

Prosecutors, in response, noted that Wildstein had not been reticent about bragging to Baroni and Kelly about what he had done, and neither seemed bothered by any of it.

Baroni laughed, Wildstein testified. "He thought they were great stories," he said.

"Did he stop speaking with you?" Cortes asked.

"No," he replied.

At the same time, Baroni's attorney, Michael Baldassare, returned to statements Wildstein made about getting Paul Nunziato, president of the Port Authority's PBA, to lie on his behalf, in an effort to take some of the pressure off of him after the lane closure scandal began to come to light.

"I was not in a good place when thinking that out," explained Wildstein, calling it an error in judgment.

The trial continues Thursday before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.