Report: Christie accused of breaking grand jury law

Fallout from Bridgegate continues to plague New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who pleaded guilty for his role in the closure of access lanes on the George Washington Bridge, wrote in a sworn statement last week that the governor broke the law by revealing information about a grand jury proceeding he had overseen, The New York Times reported late Sunday.


Wildstein’s statement comes in response to a question in a civil case unrelated to federal prosecution in Bridgegate, in which he wrote that he has more emails and additional “documents to be produced for inspection.” The lawsuit was brought by Gerard Speziale, a former sheriff in Passaic County who was hired by the agency in August 2010.

His statement says that in June 2010, Christie told Port Authority officials to fire Arthur Cifelli and to hire Speziale, noting that Cifelli had perjured himself during past grand jury proceedings.

“Christie told Wildstein and the others that he wanted to get Speziale to drop his re-election bid to help Republicans win the post, and to take Speziale’s campaign war chest,” Wildstein wrote in the statement, dated June 5.

Speziale’s suit alleges that he was harassed when he tried to reveal corruption, which he said was the purpose of his hire.

“This is just the latest legal jockeying in yet another legal proceeding involving Mr. Wildstein, but one thing should be made clear: Anyone suggesting the governor disclosed grand jury information is either lying or mistaken,” Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts told the Times.