Christie's team kept spreadsheet of favors done for mayors

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. — A national field coordinator for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has described how in 2011 staffers in Gov. Christie’s office drew up a “Dem elected target hit list” of potential endorsements for the governor’s re-election campaign.

The spreadsheet included a list of favors done for elected officials, such as giving their town a piece of steel from the World Trade Center or inviting officials to sit in the governor’s box at sporting events.

Matt Mowers was giving evidence in the trial of two former allies of the governor accused of creating gridlock in Fort Lee, N.J., to punish the town’s mayor, a Democrat, for not endorsing the Republican governor’s reelection.

The jury in federal court in Newark was shown an email from Mowers in 2011, when Mowers was a staffer in the Governor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, in which he said the list would “make sure we can always remind them of how helpful this governor has been.”

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The publicly funded office was supposed to be nonpartisan. Mowers said that staffers did the political work in their free time. All of the emails were sent out of office hours or on personal email accounts.

Mowers subsequently left the office to work on Christie’s gubernatorial campaign and, later, on Christie’s presidential campaign. He joined the Trump campaign a few months ago.

Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly are accused of shutting down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee to punish the town’s mayor for not endorsing the governor’s re-election bid that year. They face nine counts of conspiracy, misusing agency property, wire fraud and violating the civil rights of Fort Lee residents to travel freely.

Baroni, 44, is the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, which owns and operates the bridge. Kelly, also 44, is the governor’s former deputy chief of staff.

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On the spreadsheet next to Sokolich’s name Christie’s staffer listed a number of favors including the purchase of shuttle buses for Fort Lee, which was paid for by the Port Authority, steel from the original World Trade Center and a personal tour of the new World Trade Center, both of which are Port Authority property.

Christie staffers ranked officials on their likelihood of endorsing Christie from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most likely.

Mowers gave Sokolich a 4.

Follow Paul Berger on Twitter: @pdberger