Bridgegate: Former aide takes back comment that Christie 'flat out lied'

NEWARK, N.J. — The former aide to Gov. Chris Christie who twice wrote text messages that he had “lied” about his staff’s involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closures took back her “poor choice of words” in testimony Thursday, saying that she had “no knowledge” of what the governor knew.

Christina Renna also provided an intimate view into the final working days of her ex-friend and boss, Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie who wrote the infamous email that it’s “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Kelly is standing trial in federal court in Newark with Bill Baroni, the Port Authority’s former deputy executive director, accused of conspiring to close the lanes. They have pleaded not guilty.

Renna testified that Kelly called her the night of Dec. 12, 2013, one day before Christie said during a news conference he had been assured that no one on his senior staff was involved in the closures, which crippled traffic in Fort Lee on five consecutive mornings in September 2013. At first, Renna said, Kelly seemed business-like on the phone, assuring her that she “didn't know anything” about the closings.

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Then the call was dropped. When the two reconnected, Renna said, Kelly had become “very nervous” and had “a very different demeanor.” She kept repeating that Baroni, appointed to the agency by Christie, would resign the next day. And, Renna said, Kelly told her she had been hiding from Christie and was under a lot of stress because she was “getting grilled” by his chief of staff, Kevin O'Dowd.

At one point, Renna testified, Kelly said, “If someone tells me something is OK, who am I to question them?”

“I answered her by saying, ‘Right, if Bill, meaning Bill Stepien, or David, meaning David Wildstein, told you something ... I wouldn't question them either,” Renna recounted. “She cut me off and said, ‘I don't need your vindication, Christina.’ ”

Wildstein, a Christie appointee to the Port Authority who has admitted his role in the lane-closing scheme, completed eight days of testimony earlier this week as a witness for the prosecution. Stepien is Christie’s former campaign manager who has not been charged.

It was after those phone calls that Renna texted Peter Sheridan, a close friend who had worked with her in the governor's office. “Top secret,” she wrote. “B just called (we are friends again all of a sudden).”

Renna also told Sheridan what Kelly had said about Baroni’s imminent resignation.

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Christie did in fact announce Baroni's resignation at a news conference the following day, but the governor also dismissed the idea that the lane closures had been political payback and told reporters he was going to “turn the page.” He said he had been assured by Stepien that he wasn't involved in the scheme and that no other staff were involved.

Renna then texted Sheridan again. “Are you listening?” she asked. “He just flat out lied about senior staff and Stepien not being involved.”

When Sheridan responded that Christie was doing well in the news conference, she texted him back, “Yes. But he lied.”

Asked by a federal prosecutor, Lee Cortes, why she had said that, Renna said Thursday “it was clear” to her that the information Kelly had shared with her “was not communicated to Governor Christie.”

“She made it clear to me that although she sort of talked around it, she knew information about the lane closures, she mentioned David (Wildstein) and the traffic study,” Renna said. She added, “It was a poor choice of words. I had no knowledge of whether or not the governor was lying.”

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In some ways, Renna's testimony stood in contrast to the many days of testimony by Wildstein and others detailing expletive-laced tirades by Christie and grand schemes to gather a host of endorsements for the governor’s 2013 re-election — a precursor to his eventual 2016 White House campaign. But in other ways, Renna's retelling of her time working for Christie fit a pattern in which rewards were given for loyalty and punishments were doled out for bucking the governor.

Renna explained that the Intergovernmental Affairs Unit — which Kelly headed and where Renna worked — kept track of elected officials likely to endorse Christie so that staff would know who to entice with sports tickets and meetings at the governor's mansion. But she said it also had a list of officials who were “hands off” or put in the “penalty box.” Both terms meant the same thing, she said: “mayors that for whatever reason were not in favor with the administration.”

Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who prosecutors say was the target of the lane closures, was one such mayor, Renna said. But why he was out of favor was not clear to her, she said.

In August 2013, Kelly asked Renna in an email for her thoughts on whether Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno should accept an invitation to speak to the Fort Lee Chamber of Commerce; Renna worked for the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey before coming to the governor's office and is now its vice president. Renna said she told Kelly that Fort Lee had a “good” chamber, but Kelly questioned whether the lieutenant governor should attend “in light of the mayor.”

“I understood that he would be one of these hands-off mayors,” she said. “I did not know why.”

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Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, another Democrat, also had been shunned by the Republican administration. Renna said she “had heard there was issues with Mayor Fulop,” but, again, did not know details. On July 30, 2013, Renna asked Kelly in an email if a press release concerning Jersey City could be issued. Kelly asked: “Is it Fulop issuing or us?” Renna said it was the state Department of Community Affairs.

“She responded to me by saying, as long as Fulop is not mentioned,” Renna said.

On Jan. 7, 2014, Renna said she met with Kelly in her State House office for about 90 minutes, when they discussed their futures and their staff. In an off-handed remark, Renna said, Kelly told her “she was glad the Fort Lee situation was dying down because she had been hiding under her desk any time the governor walked into her office.”

The next morning, The Record reported that Kelly had written the email that prosecutors say set off the scandal. She was promptly fired by Christie, setting her on a path that led to the courtroom in Newark.