Christie Crime Digest-Volume IV

[Laxman]

47. Another Day Of Testimony From Wildstein....

and the hits just keep coming.

Bridgegate trial: Wildstein testifies former Bergen County executive was told of plan before lane closures

David Wildstein said he told commissioner William “Pat” Schuber — a former Bergen County Executive and a Republican — about the plot to punish Fort Lee mayor Mark Sokolich at a breakfast meeting in late August 2013. The lanes were closed in mid September.

Schuber is one of six Port Authority commissioners appointed by Governor Christie. Christie himself has become a centerpiece of the trial, as testimony continues to place the governor's office and aides at the center of the scheme to close access lanes to the world's busiest bridge.

“I viewed Mr. Schuber as a loyal member of Governor Christie’s team,” Wildstein said.

He added that he told Schuber that the order for the lane closures “came from the governor’s office.”

GWB scandal archive: Click here to read all of The Record's past coverage

“Mr. Schuber said he understood,” Wildstein said.

Wildstein is a prosecution witness in the political conspiracy trial of two former allies of the governor in federal court in Newark.

Wildstein said that he informed Schuber of the plot because Schuber was from Bergen County and he would most likely receive complaints once the closures took effect.

Monday was the sixth day of the trial and the second day of Wildstein’s testimony.

Earlier, Wildstein had recounted how in 2011 he identified local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as a “potential leverage point” against the Fort Lee mayor.

Wildstein said that in 2011, he shared his idea about the lanes with two top aides to the governor, Bill Stepien and Bridget Anne Kelly, and with Bill Baroni, the governor’s top executive appointee at the Port Authority, which owns and operates the bridge.

In the summer of 2013, in the run-up to Governor Christie’s re—election, Wildstein said he told the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Kelly, “that if she wants the Port Authority to close down those Fort Lee lanes and put some pressure on [Fort Lee] Mayor Sokolich that that could be done.”

At the time, Wildstein was Christie’s second highest-ranking executive appointee at the Port Authority.

His former boss, Baroni, as well as Kelly, are accused of closing two of three access lanes to the bridge in September 2013 to punish Sokolich, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie’s re-election that year.

Read the rest here: http://www.northjersey.com/news/bridgegate-trial-wildstein-testifies-former-bergen-county-executive-was-told-of-plan-before-lane-closures-1.1666870

There's still more to come! He'll be back on the stand tomorrow.