Jury Hands Down Bridgegate Verdict: Former Christie Allies Guilty

Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni, former allies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, were found guilty in federal court. The officials were accused of shutting down bridge lanes for political retribution. Andrea Bernstein of WNYC has more.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Two former allies of New Jersey's governor Chris Christie are guilty. That's according to a federal court today. This is news. The two allies were on trial in Bridgegate, the closing of some lanes across the George Washington Bridge that leads from New Jersey to New York. We're going to talk about this with NPR member station reporter Andrea Bernstein. She's from WNYC, and she is outside the federal courthouse in Newark. And, Andrea, what exactly were they convicted of?

ANDREA BERNSTEIN, BYLINE: So they were convicted of misusing the property of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge to retaliate against a mayor who had not endorsed Christie for re-election.

INSKEEP: To retaliate - that sounds like a political dirty trick, but I'm trying to figure out why that is a crime. What makes it a crime to close a lane on a bridge?

BERNSTEIN: So what the - what they were charged with and what the jury agreed with is that they misused resources. They used government property improperly to close these lanes, that you're not allowed to do that because of a political vendetta the prosecution argued and that in addition to that they covered it up. They conspired to cover it up and hide their true purposes from the public and the people of New Jersey and to impede the people of Fort Lee, N.J., where the traffic jam took place, of their civil right to move on - impede (ph) it.

INSKEEP: OK, so a civil rights violation here. David Wildstein, one of the people involved, had already become a prosecution witness after confessing the two people convicted today are Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni. They've been convicted now. What about Chris Christie himself? Is he at any risk of criminal prosecution?

BERNSTEIN: Well, I asked the federal prosecutor about this. He said anything is possible, though Christie has not been charged. But he was deeply tarnished. All three testified that he knew about this, either in advance or during it. His star witness said he laughed when he heard about it. And tomorrow, Chris Christie will be in New Hampshire campaigning for Trump. We have now four of his top employees convicted of federal crime for relation - in relation to their work at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

INSKEEP: A reminder that there was a moment when Chris Christie seemed to be in contention to be a vice presidential nominee. This would have been an awkward conviction indeed had he gotten that nomination. Andrea Bernstein, thanks very much.

BERNSTEIN: Thank you.

INSKEEP: She's with our member station WNYC outside the federal courthouse where there's a conviction today in Bridgegate.

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