Update: Summations mysteriously delayed

NEWARK --After nearly six weeks of testimony in the trial against Gov. Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and Bill Baroni, the governor's top appointee to the Port Authority, jurors will begin to hear closing arguments today.

Federal prosecutors who allege Kelly and Baroni broke federal laws in connection to their alleged roles in the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures scandal will be the first to make their closing arguments Thursday morning.

The closings come after final testimony by Kelly on Wednesday and after U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton charged the jurors in the afternoon.

Before charging the jurors yesterday, the judge had a closed-door session with prosecutors and defense attorneys on Tuesday and told the prosecutors they needed to convince the jury the pair conspired to misuse the Port Authority's resources at the time of the closures.

She said whether Baroni and Kelly intended to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid when they allegedly played a role in shutting down local access lanes to the bridge should not be considered as part of the conspiracy charge.

"It appears that the overall objective was obviously misusing Port Authority resources, and the end result goes more to motive as to whether it related to Mayor Sokolich and punishing Mayor Sokolich for not endorsing Governor Christie," Wigenton said.

She continued: "And so that aspect of it, I do not think, needs to be part of the charge because it goes beyond what the object of the conspiracy is."

The judge's decision appeared to flummox defense attorneys, according to a court transcript of the closed-door sessions.

Michael Critchley, Kelly's defense attorney, attempted to push back against the judge, arguing, "I thought that's what we were doing (here) for the last six months."

"I thought I was defending a charge that, at its core, beginning to end, was an allegation that Bridget Kelly and Mr. Baroni entered into activity to intentionally punish Mayor Sokolich for not endorsing," he said. "Now, I don't know what I'm defending."

But jurors in the federal trial were told Wednesday to find a verdict on, among other charges, whether Baroni and Kelly misused Port Authority property, an authority that received at least $10,000 in federal aid in 2013.

Kelly and Baroni were charged in a nine-count indictment with conspiracy against civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, wire fraud, conspiring to "intentionally misapply property of an organization receiving federal benefits" and related charges in connection with a scheme of political retaliation targeting the mayor of Fort Lee over his refusal to endorse the governor for re-election.

When the indictments were announced in May 2015, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman made note of the misuse of public property charge.

"Public officials must use government resources for proper government purposes," he said. "The indictment alleges, and Wildstein admitted, that the three defendants used Port Authority resources to exact political retribution against a public official who would not endorse the Governor for re-election, and concocted and promoted a bogus cover story to execute their plan and to cover their tracks."

In a final day of testimony, prosecutors continued to methodically chip away at Kelly in her fourth day on the stand, focusing on the inconsistencies with what seven other witnesses told the jury.

"All of them testified falsely?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna asked Kelly Wednesday morning.

"All of them have a different recollection," she responded "Their livelihoods all depend on Chris Christie."

The case hinged on the testimony of David Wildstein, a Republican operative and $150,000-a-year patronage appointee to the Port Authority, who has pleaded guilty and served as the key witness for the prosecution. He said he was the one who came up with the plan to create traffic jams in Fort Lee as leverage against Sokolich, and went ahead with the operation after getting approval from Baroni and Kelly.

Wildstein made no apologies for his role as a so-called "enforcer" at the Port Authority, and said he was there to serve the interests of his only constituent -- Chris Christie.

Prosecutors made clear Tuesday they didn't intend to call Christie to testify in the trial.

Despite his absence from the courtroom, Christie has loomed large in the trial of his former associates.

In the biggest New Jersey corruption scandal in recent memory, federal prosecutors began their case by claiming the governor knew about the gridlock as it was happening. Similarly, Kelly's defense focused in large part on the governor being aware of a traffic study in Fort Lee prior to, and during, the traffic jams.

Kelly testified Christie signed off on the study and that they discussed it several times after their initial conversation.

Closing arguments are slated to last two days and jurors are expected to begin deliberations on Monday.

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

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