Ex official gives glimpse into fear in N.J. gov's office

TRENTON, N.J. — They were two close friends who slowly drifted apart as they rose through the administration of the most powerful governor in America.

One was a hard-working "straight shooter" who cherished her role in what she called an "amazingly nonpartisan" office reaching out to mayors and officials of New Jersey's 565 towns. The other was a "highly professional" manager who became overwhelmed with the burdens of work, raising four children and divorcing her husband.

Although they had become estranged while working in Gov. Chris Christie's administration, Christina Genovese Renna and Bridget Anne Kelly reconnected in a whirlwind 48 hours in January when news broke that Kelly and other high-ranking officials had a hand in, or knowledge of, a controversial decision in September to slash Fort Lee, N.J., access to George Washington Bridge toll lanes for four days after Labor Day.

Renna, the former director of Christie's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, offered a glimpse into that emotional period in four hours of testimony Tuesday before the state Legislature's Select Committee on Investigation, the first from a former Christie administration official since the panel was formed four months ago.

Renna's testimony on her dealings with Kelly was imbued with all the drama and mystery of a novel, but it is just a portion of a larger story that the joint state Assembly-Senate committee is trying to understand — whether the Christie administration used the governor's office as an arm of his re-election campaign and just who was involved in the September lane closures. Although the committee accepted Renna's assertion that she did not know or have any part in the closures, questions arose on whether she might have broken the law at Kelly's request.

While Renna sought to avoid piling on Kelly, the Christie's former deputy chief of staff, she painted her, as many others have, as a weak manager who was "a little insecure." At the same time, Renna was afraid of Kelly and afraid of losing her own job, further bolstering the view of Democrats and Christie detractors that the Republican governor ran a culture of fear in his office.

On Jan. 7, a day before a trove of documents linked Christie and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials to the lane closures, Kelly met with Renna to go over routine office matters, Renna said. Kelly mentioned that she was happy that "the Fort Lee situation was dying down" and that she had been hiding under her desk any time someone walked into her office with questions.

By Jan. 8, that Fort Lee situation was resurrected and thrust into national view with the release of a trove of documents, and soon Kelly had become known around the country as the author of the e-mail, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Kelly, who was crying, called Renna at her office. She had pulled over to the side of the road and told Renna, "I'm so sorry, Christina." Kelly also later asked Renna to help her delete her Twitter account, Renna said.

Kelly called Renna again the next day, about an hour before the governor would face the press for two hours, in response to the scandal. Kelly, again crying, told Renna she had been fired.

"She was hysterical. She could barely get the words out. I was crying," Renna said.

Kelly apologized, said several times that she didn't know what she was going to do then ended the conversation saying, "You can't trust anyone, Christina."

Renna resigned her post Jan. 31 but said she had considered leaving weeks earlier to explore other opportunities. Renna's lawyer would not comment later on his client's current employment.

Renna's testimony helped move the committee's investigation forward and "certainly fills in a few gaps about who talked to whom, when," said Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck, N.J, a Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the joint committee.

The testimony was not, nor was it expected to be, definitive, said Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski of Sayreville, N.J., the committee's other co-chairman and also a Democrat.

Winsiewski said he saw consistent and disturbing themes in comparing Renna's testimony with Port Authority officials' statements months earlier to the Assembly transportation committee that Wisniewski heads.

"They testified that they went ahead with the lane closures not because they thought it was right, not because they thought the process was correct, but because they were afraid," Wisniewski said. "They were afraid for their jobs."

In the first half of Renna's testimony, she told the committee that Kelly was "a little insecure" and "she would rely heavily on other people, I think, to make decisions for her."

But Renna also said she did not want to cross Christie's former deputy.

In December, when Kelly asked Renna to delete an e-mail that Kelly had sent in September referencing an angry phone call from Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich about the bridge lane closures, Renna slept on it then deleted the e-mail the next morning, she told the committee. But she forwarded a copy of the e-mail to a personal account for preservation because she knew the request was odd and she had never been asked to do anything like that before, she said.

Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty, a Democrat from Washington Township, N.J., south of Philadelphia, pressed Renna on why she did not alert anyone else in the administration to the request.

"You're asked to destroy evidence, basically. I know you said it was odd," he said. "Did you think that it was slightly illegal?"

Renna said she "was scared of overstepping Bridget."

"I thought I'd lose my job," Renna said. "I was fearful."

Some have speculated that the lane closings were retaliation for Sokolich declining to endorse Christie in his re-election. Some e-mails between Kelly and Renna indicated attempts to avoid contact with Sokolich.

Kelly's lawyer, Michael Critchley, panned Renna's characterizations and said they contradict Kelly's 20 years of service in state government.

"Instead of questioning Ms. Kelly's personality and style, perhaps Ms. Renna should more closely examine her own failures and questionable conduct," Critchley said in a statement. "A number of Ms. Renna's answers to relevant questions were, at best, erroneous.

"Anyone who thinks they are going to rewrite history and make Ms. Kelly a scapegoat is gravely mistaken," Critchley said.

A former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive, David Wildstein, ordered the access lane closings, e-mails and text messages have shown. And Wildstein and Kelly both joked about the incident as it was happening.

The governor fired Kelly after her e-mail exchange with Wildstein became public. Wildstein resigned from his post.

At the opening of her testimony, Renna told the committee she was proud of the work of the Intergovernmental Affairs Office, which Christie has dismantled, and that the bridge closures "did not in any way, shape or form exemplify the IGA I know." She later added that the office was "fantastic government" 99% of the time; the George Washington Bridge experience made up the remaining 1%, she said.

Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald, a Democrat from Voorhees Township, N.J., said the problem with the office was that "people, at some point when the election got closer, crossed the line between good government and what was good politics."

Fort Lee's complained to the administration that the lane closures compromised public safety, Greenwald said. And for the four days the lanes were shut down, traffic was gridlocked, causing hours of delays to commuters.

"The lesson in this, whether a crime was committed or not, is that that 1% and the weight of that 1% far outweighs the 99% of getting it right," Greenwald said. "And that's the tragedy."

Dustin Racioppi also reports for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.

Other key points

More from Christina Genovese Renna's testimony:

• Do-not-call list? Renna characterized a list that top officials maintained not as one of mayors with whom Gov. Chris Christie had clashed but mayors that didn't want to associate with Christie, so the governor's office did not actively reach out to them.

• Personal e-mail. Staff commonly used personal e-mail, particularly Gmail, Google Docs and Google spreadsheets for official business because they were easier to share than information in official software.

• Campaign work.Renna and committee members tangoed on when staff would do campaign work. Renna said all campaign work and soliciting of endorsements was done before or after working hours and on weekends. Committee members also questioned Renna on former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien's involvement with her office.

• Top 100. A list of 100 New Jersey town mayors that Stepien sought endorsements from grew to 117 to include towns hit hard in Hurricane Sandy.