Bob Jordan

@BobJordanAPP

One of the lawyers who issued a much-maligned, nearly $10 million report that cleared Gov. Chris Christie of any wrongdoing in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump to become chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Debra Wong Yang, a partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is on the short list for the regulatory SEC post, according to multiple media reports.

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Yang, a former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, is better known in New Jersey as a member of the Gibson, Dunn legal team that cleared Christie of any blame in the Bridgegate scandal and cover-up attempts.

The firm’s Christie-commissioned investigation, however, has been criticized for both its high cost, tactics and conclusions. Several witnesses at the recent trial of two former Christie allies, both convicted on corruption charges, testified that Christie was aware of the lane closings as they happened.

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State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, who served as co-chair of the legislative committee that investigated Bridgegate, has urged the U.S. senators representing New Jersey and New York to block Yang’s nomination.

“Ms. Wong Yang’s law firm billed New Jersey taxpayers over $9.5 million for what was marketed as an impartial investigation, but was revealed by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton to be more of a cover-up,’’ Weinberg said in her letter to Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Sens Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, all Democrats.

That was a reference to Wigenton’s December 2015 comments from a pretrial hearing where she blasted Yang’s firm’s tactics for chronicling lawyer interviews of subjects as part of their inquiry.

A dozen lawyers from Gibson, Dunn did a combined 106 interviews with 75 witnesses and intentionally didn’t take any written notes, transcripts or recordings, instead producing what the team said were interview memoranda summarizing “the discussion that reflects counsel’s mental thoughts and impressions.”

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Weinberg also wrote, “Just as bad from an ethical standpoint, Ms. Wong Yang personally sat in on all of the interviews with Governor Christie – even though she was a longtime friend, their families had vacationed together, her daughter had served as an intern in his Governor’s Office, and he had steered a lucrative multi-million dollar contract to her while serving as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. She later held a $2,200-per-person fundraiser in Los Angeles for Governor Christie’s failed presidential campaign.’’

A spokeswoman for Yang declined comment on the prospects of a nomination, but Randy Mastro, a Gibson, Dunn partner, in a statement called Weinberg’s letter “a partisan political attack, not a fair assessment of the Bridgegate investigation that our firm conducted for the State of New Jersey.’’

“Weinberg conveniently leaves out of her letter that the state legislative committee investigation she co-chaired reached the same conclusions as our firm did in every material respect. I led our firm's investigation, not Deb Yang, and Weinberg's criticisms are way off base. Moreover, anyone who actually knows Deb Yang knows her to be an exceptional attorney, a person of the highest integrity, and an honorable public servant,’’ Mastro said.

As for the report’s costs, Mastro said “our firm substantially cut its bills, charging the same reduced hourly rates as the national firm retained by the joint state legislative committee to conduct its parallel investigation.’’

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Yang was among six attorneys to whom then-U.S. Attorney Christie awarded federal monitoring contracts in 2007 as part of his investigation into companies that made replacement hips and knees. Christie and Yang have never hid their friendship since. Yang introduced Christie at a 2011 event in New York in glowing terms, describing him as her “very dear friend’’ and “truly the real deal.”

Reports that Wong Yang was being considered by Trump have circulated for weeks and stepped up in recent days. Asked if Yang is the leading contender, a Trump senior transition official told CNN, “She is up there.”

Menendez spokesman Steven Sandberg said “the senator doesn’t typically comment before a nomination is actually made.’’ Booker spokesman Thomas Pietrykoski said: “As he's done with previous nominees, the senator is going to withhold comment until there is an actual nomination.’’

Christie’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

During the presidential campaign, Trump said he thought Christie had Bridgegate involvement, contrary to Gibson, Dunn’s findings.

Christie has denied being involved in any Bridgegate wrongdoing and wasn’t criminally charged. When Christie was a rival for the Republican nomination, Trump said Christie “totally knew about’’ the scheme.

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Christie is named — but has not been charged — in a criminal complaint filed by a local activist in Bergen County who alleges the Republican governor participated in official misconduct in the 2013 lane diversions.

Roy McGeady, the presiding judge for Bergen County municipal courts, found probable cause that Christie engaged in official misconduct. Official misconduct is considered a second-degree offense in New Jersey and carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison upon conviction.

A lawyer for Christie has taken steps to have a Superior Court appeal heard on McGeady’s determination on Jan. 11.

Bob Jordan bjordan@gannettnj.com