Trump preview: Two ex-Chris Christie aides found guilty on all charges in Bridgegate trial

nitro

nitro

Two ex-Chris Christie aides found guilty on all charges in Bridgegate trial
Jacob Pramuk | @jacobpramuk
33 Mins AgoBreaking News
Chris Christie aides were convicted Friday on all counts in the lane-closure plot known as "Bridgegate."


The New Jersey governor's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and his former top Port Authority official Bill Baroni were found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in the 2013 plot, a use of George Washington Bridge traffic as a means of political retribution. They are convicted of working with David Wildstein, a former Christie ally who previously pleaded guilty, to get retribution on the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie's re-election.

The verdict comes after more than a month of proceedings and an attempt by the defense to declare a mistrial. Sentencing is set for Feb. 21, 2017.

Wildstein served as a star witness for the prosecution.

Christie has denied having any knowledge of the 2013 plan, in which some of the George Washington Bridge was blocked, until after it happened. But some of the testimony in the case implied Christie was aware of the plot before it took place.

Christie, who previously had presidential ambitions, heads Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's transition team. He plans to campaign for Trump in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania this weekend.

In a statement Friday, Fort Lee mayor Mark Sokolich said "it is now proven this was retribution aimed at me."

"There was a complete disregard for thousands of others put in harm's way. This can never happen again. This trial shed a very bright light on a sad set of circumstances in NJ. If reform does not come from this, we should all be ashamed," he said.

— NBC News and the Associated Press contributed reporting

This story is developing. Please check back for further updates.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/two-...uilty-on-all-charges-in-bridgegate-trial.html
 
WgrkpzL.png
 
No one cares if Christie can't be in Trump's administration if he wins. It would actually be much better for everyone if Rudy Giuliani heads the Justice Dept. so the Clintons can have their day in court.
 
Yeah . . . but first Rudy Giuliani needs to go to a dentist and have his teeth cleaned and he must make sure to use a toothbrush regularly.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1258448363281952768

In a unanimousruling that further chips away at the nation’s public corruption case law, the justices concluded that the two defendants — Bridget Ann Kelly and Bill Baroni — did not defraud the government of its “property” by closing off two local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge over three days in September 2013.

The traffic-snarling political stunt was designed to punish a Democratic mayor who had refused to endorse Christie, a Republican, for reelection as New Jersey governor.

Justice Elena Kagan said the kinds of decisions Kelly and Baroni made — and their less-than-candid explanations for them — could not be prosecuted as fraud under federal law.

“If U. S. Attorneys could prosecute as property fraud every lie a state or local official tells in making such a decision, the result would be … ‘a sweeping expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction,'” Kagan wrote. “In effect, the Federal Government could use the criminal law to enforce (its view of) integrity in broad swaths of state and local policymaking. The property fraud statutes do not countenance that outcome.”
 
Last edited:
nitro said:
Two ex-Chris Christie aides found guilty on all charges in Bridgegate trial
Jacob Pramuk | @jacobpramuk
33 Mins AgoBreaking News
Chris Christie aides were convicted Friday on all counts in the lane-closure plot known as "Bridgegate."


The New Jersey governor's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and his former top Port Authority official Bill Baroni were found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in the 2013 plot, a use of George Washington Bridge traffic as a means of political retribution. They are convicted of working with David Wildstein, a former Christie ally who previously pleaded guilty, to get retribution on the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie's re-election.

The verdict comes after more than a month of proceedings and an attempt by the defense to declare a mistrial. Sentencing is set for Feb. 21, 2017.

Wildstein served as a star witness for the prosecution.

Christie has denied having any knowledge of the 2013 plan, in which some of the George Washington Bridge was blocked, until after it happened. But some of the testimony in the case implied Christie was aware of the plot before it took place.

Christie, who previously had presidential ambitions, heads Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's transition team. He plans to campaign for Trump in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania this weekend.

In a statement Friday, Fort Lee mayor Mark Sokolich said "it is now proven this was retribution aimed at me."

"There was a complete disregard for thousands of others put in harm's way. This can never happen again. This trial shed a very bright light on a sad set of circumstances in NJ. If reform does not come from this, we should all be ashamed," he said.

— NBC News and the Associated Press contributed reporting

This story is developing. Please check back for further updates.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/two-...uilty-on-all-charges-in-bridgegate-trial.html
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/u...egate-convictions/ar-BB13K5WA?ocid=spartandhp

U.S. Supreme Court reverses Bridgegate convictions

Two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie who were convicted for their roles in the Bridgegate traffic jam scandal nearly four years ago and were facing prison terms are not going to jail after all.

In a dramatic ruling today in Washington, D.C., the United States Supreme Court overturned the 2016 guilty verdicts in Newark federal court of Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and William Baroni, the former governor’s top political appointment at the Port Authority.

With all nine justices voting unanimously, the court threw out Kelly’s and Baroni’s convictions, thus setting them free to go on with their lives which had been in limbo since the scandal burst into the public spotlight with Kelly's infamous email: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top