Payback plot for bridge traffic was 'cruel,' prosecutor says
Source: Associated Press
Payback plot for bridge traffic was 'cruel,' prosecutor says
David Porter, Associated Press
Updated 12:31 pm, Friday, October 28, 2016
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Prosecutors in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case used their closing arguments Friday to again display for jurors the infamous email at the heart of the case as they sought to prove that two former allies of Republican Gov. Chris Christie purposely created gridlock in a political payback scheme.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes showed a screen to the court displaying Bridget Kelly's "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email from a month before the September 2013 lane closures.
Kelly and her co-defendant, former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive Bill Baroni, testified they believed the lane closures were part of a legitimate traffic study conceived by former Port Authority official David Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty.
Wildstein, the recipient of Kelly's email, testified both Baroni and Kelly were fully aware of the plot to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat whose endorsement had been sought unsuccessfully by Christie's office.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/After-delay-jurors-to-hear-closing-arguments-in-10419040.php