Christie aide: ‘He lied’ about Bridgegate
ASBURY PARK, N.J. — A former aide to Gov. Chris Christie said the governor lied about his knowledge of his administration’s involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closures, according to a new court filing.
Christine Renna, who worked under deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly, texted: “Are you listening? He just flat out lied about senior staff and (former deputy chief of staff Bill) Stepien not being involved.” She added that if emails were uncovered in court discovery, “it could be bad.”
The allegation of lying could be harmful to Christie, who is on vacation this week but appeared on WFAN-660 AM Wednesday morning to co-host the sports-talk show “Boomer and Carton.” Christie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In two separate investigations and in the U.S. Attorney’s continuing inquiry, Christie has not been linked to the traffic scheme that prosecutors say was political payback over the Fort Lee mayor’s failure to endorse him for re-election in 2013. Stepien, who led the now-defunct Intergovernmental Affairs unit before Kelly, was fired by Christie on Jan. 9, after it was revealed Stepien did have knowledge of – but not involvement in – the lane closures. Stepien has not been charged in the case.
As attention to the September 2013 traffic jam heightened, Christie told reporters during a Dec. 13, 2013 news conference that he himself had probed his administration to determine its involvement.
Christie said he had “absolutely no reason to believe” that anyone on his staff or in his administration had knowledge of the closures for political retribution.
“I’ve made it very clear to everybody on my senior staff that if anyone had any knowledge about this that they needed to come forward to me and tell me about it, and they’ve all assured me that they don’t,” Christie said at the time.
That’s when Renna texted Pete Sheridan, who had worked on Christie’s re-election campaign, saying Christie was lying, according to the court documents, filed Wednesday morning by lawyers for former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni. Baroni, along with Kelly, has been charged with federal crimes related to the scheme and is scheduled to go on trial next month.
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In the filing, Baroni’s attorneys seek to throw out evidence they say amounts to a “potpourri of information cobbled together from an investigation that, in the end, could not locate a viable federal prosecution,” such as photographs of Baroni and others at a Sept. 11 memorial service during the access lane shutdown on the Fort Lee side of the bridge.
The prosecution team, meanwhile, “continues to ignore” evidence Baroni’s lawyers say clear him of wrongdoing, such as the texts between Renna and Sheridan. At the time, Renna worked directly under Kelly, who wrote the “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” that prosecutors say triggered the five-day traffic jam. The court filing says Renna deleted the text messages after the Legislature had issued subpoenas in its investigation of the closures and did not mention them in her testimony to the joint investigative panel.
“She testified under oath before the Legislature in a manner not consistent with the existence and deletion of those texts,” lawyers wrote in the filing.
According to the filing, Christie had this exchange during his post-Bridgegate press conference:
Reporter: “Governor, can you say with certainty that someone else didn’t on your staff or in your administration act on your behalf for the lane closures for political retribution?’’
Governor Christie: “Yeah, I have absolutely no reason to believe that, Angie, and I’ve made it very clear to everybody on my senior staff that if anyone had any knowledge about this that they needed to come forward to me and tell me about it, and they’ve all assured me that they don’t.’’
Follow up: “Your campaign chief?’’
Governor Christie: “Oh yeah. I’ve spoken to Mr. (Bill) Stepien, who’s the person in charge of the campaign, and he has assured me the same thing.’’
“Contemporaneously, Ms. Renna had the following text exchange with Mr. Sheridan,’’ the filing says.
Ms. Renna: “Are you listening? He just flat out lied about senior staff and Stepien not being involved.”
Mr. Sheridan: “I’m listening.”
Mr. Sheridan: “Gov is doing fine. Holding his own up there.”
Ms. Renna: “Yes. But he lied. And if emails are found with the subpoena or (campaign) emails are uncovered in discovery...if it comes to that... it could be bad.”