TRENTON — A leader of the legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closings said today that it will consider granting immunity to witnesses in coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey to move the inquiry forward.

State Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), a co-chairman of the panel, said Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson empowered the Legislature to grant sweeping protections to those subpoenaed for records or testimony in her ruling Wednesday

That power was called into question by the committee last month during a hearing on whether Bridget Anne Kelly, Gov. Chris Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Stepien, his two-time campaign manager, must comply with subpoenas.

Jacobson ruled in favor of Kelly and Stepien and dismissed the panel's request as "exceedingly broad" and in violation of the Fifth Amendment. But she emphasized that the panel could fix its problems by using its power to grant witnesses protection.

“One thing that I thought the judge did was very clearly strengthen the hand of this committee and future committees by clarifying the immunity issue,” Wisniewski said during a meeting with The Star-Ledger editorial board in Newark.

He said the judge made clear that state law provides immunity for anyone who testifies under oath before the committee, but also cautioned that immunity would apply to the widening criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

“The committee has to be very careful who they invite in front of the committee for exactly that reason,” Wisniewski said. “You would not want to invite somebody if you thought they knew of or could testify to the smoking gun”

He said he fears replicating the circumstances of the Iran-Contra scandal, in which Oliver North, a former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, was convicted of charges related to his knowledge of weapons sales to people in Iran in order to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.

The conviction was vacated in 1990 because he was granted immunity for his testimony on the matter before Congress, and an appeals court found that protection extended to witnesses who spoke against him because they may have been tainted by his testimony.

With that in mind, Wisniewski said, the committee and federal prosecutors may have dodged a bullet with the refusal of David Wildstein, a former Christie ally at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to testify under oath when called in January.

“The turn of events worked for us,” he said.

The way to move the legislative inquiry forward, Wisniewski said, would be to work in close consultation with federal prosecutors to ensure the committee does not give anyone protections before U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s inquiry into them is complete.

If prosecutors obtain all of their information from their own sources and document it, the committee could then move ahead and grant immunity without fear of a mix up.

He declined to provide specifics about conversations between the committee’s attorney, Reid Schar, and U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office, but said it was possible for the two to work closely together to preserve both investigations.

He also said the judge provided specific instructions for how the committee could narrow its subpoenas to Kelly and Stepien to receive some records. And, he said, the committee would hold a conference call with Schar to consider appealing all or portions of Jacobson’s ruling.

In an editorial board meeting with The Star-Ledger earlier this week, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said that if the judge ruled against the panel it should consider shutting down the investigation, but he almost immediately recanted and said lawmakers had a different mission and should push forward.

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