NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Two former top aides to Gov. Chris Christie knew they were engaging in wrongdoing when they closed access lanes to the George Washington Bridge to punish a political rival, federal prosecutors said.
The allegation was included in court papers the prosecutors filed late Friday in response to motions made by Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni to dismiss their criminal indictments. Prosecutors said the pair engaged in “lies and deceit” by creating a cover story that the lane reductions were part of a traffic study in Fort Lee.
Baroni is the former deputy executive director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while Kelly served as Christie’s deputy chief of staff. They have argued that the charges should be thrown out because, among other things, they are based on vague federal laws that have been twisted to fit the facts of the case.
They also said that they did not have “fair warning” that a federal statute applied to their actions.
The prosecutor’s 107-page court filing also disputes claims that Baroni and Kelly should not be accused of depriving Fort Lee residents’ right to move about freely because no earlier case law settles the issue of whether creating the traffic jams violated those rights.
Baroni and Kelly “are not absolved because their plan was so callous and audacious that it evidently lacks factual precedent,” prosecutors wrote in their brief. They also claim the scheme didn’t require an outright prevention of travel to meet the legal standard for violating residents’ travel rights, noting it only has to infringe on their rights as a result of an “illegitimate government purpose.”
Lawyers for Baroni and Kelly have until April 4 to reply to the government’s brief.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.