Attorneys for Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, the former associates of Gov. Chris Christie convicted in the Bridgegate scheme of political retribution, argued in filings before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that prosecutors overstepped the law in bringing criminal charges against them.

They said that the fraud statutes used to convict the two members of Christie’s inner circle were not intended to be used to prosecute political corruption.

“Bridgegate is a case of bareknuckle New Jersey politics, not graft,” wrote Baroni’s attorneys in a brief to the high court.

The Supreme Court in June agreed to review the case — just weeks before Kelly was scheduled to report to federal prison. Baroni, who had already begun his prison term, was released on bail after the court agreed to take up the matter.

Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Baroni, who served as the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty in November 2016 of plotting to shut down of several local access lanes to the toll plaza of the George Washington Bridge over four days in 2013 in a bizarre political vendetta that led to massive traffic gridlock in Fort Lee.

Federal prosecutors said the traffic diversion at the world’s busiest bridge had been intended to send a message to the borough’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, after the Democratic official reversed course on an expected endorsement of Christie, a Republican, during the governor’s 2013 re-election campaign.

The plot became widely known as Bridgegate.

“The alleged conduct here was petty, insensitive, and ill-advised. But in our system, political abuses of power are addressed politically,” said attorneys for Kelly. “Prosecutors may try to supplement political blowback with criminal sanctions, especially when public anger reaches a vitriolic peak. But the role of the courts is to ensure that this anger is channeled consistent with the rule of law — to ensure fairness for these defendants and, even more importantly, to preclude mischief going forward.”

They said the rule of law in this case compels reversal of the convictions.

“The court should order just that,” wrote her attorneys, who include Yaakov M. Roth of Jones Day, the counsel of record, and Michael Critchley. They said to allow the verdicts to stand “would readily enable partisans not just to harangue and harass political opponents — but to prosecute and jail them.”

Kelly was the author of the now-infamous “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email, sent shortly before the orange cones went up at the local toll lanes at the bridge. It was a message that prosecutors pointed to as a smoking gun in the case and was a key piece of evidence used against her.

Christie was never charged with any wrongdoing and denied any knowledge of the plan, although the incident loomed large over his failed 2016 presidential campaign.

The question before the court is whether a public official can defraud the government by lying about the real reason for a public policy decision.

In their filings with the court, attorney for both Kelly and Baroni said what happened at the bridge toll plaza was not a federal crime, and that prosecutors were criminalizing routine political behavior.

“The ordinary money-and-property fraud statutes used here do not by their terms cover such conduct, have never before been used to prosecute such conduct, and core principles of vagueness, lenity, and federalism make clear that they may not be expanded by courts or prosecutors to criminalize such conduct,” said Baroni’s attorneys, who include Michael A. Levy of Sidley Austin, as counsel of record.

They said if the government can convict a public official of fraudulently depriving a public agency of money or property simply for employing his agency’s resources “with a concealed political motive,” then the federal government will have free rein to charge and convict officials for all manner of political deals, favors, and rebukes, unless those officials “are brutally candid” about their true political motivations.

“If the government prevails, ‘the room where it happens,’ will become a crime scene,” Baroni’s attorneys wrote, referring to the song in Lin-Manuel Miranda,’s Broadway hit “Hamilton,” concerning a secret, backroom deal between Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for New Jersey, which prosecuted the case, will file its briefs with court next month. No date has been set yet for oral arguments in the case.

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

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