NEWARK, N.J. _ A commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was informed of the plan to create gridlock in Fort Lee by closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge weeks before the plot was set in action, according to the government's star witness in a federal trial.
David Wildstein said he told commissioner William "Pat" Schuber _ a former Bergen County Executive and a Republican _ about the plot to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich at a breakfast meeting in late August 2013. The lanes were closed in mid September.
Schuber is one of six Port Authority commissioners appointed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Christie himself has become a centerpiece of the trial, as testimony continues to place the governor's office and aides at the center of the scheme to close access lanes to the world's busiest bridge.
"I viewed Mr. Schuber as a loyal member of Gov. Christie's team," Wildstein said.
He added that he told Schuber that the order for the lane closures "came from the governor's office."
"Mr. Schuber said he understood," Wildstein said.
Wildstein is a prosecution witness in the political conspiracy trial of two former allies of the governor in federal court in Newark.
Wildstein said he informed Schuber of the plot because Schuber was from Bergen County and he would most likely receive complaints once the closures took effect.
Monday was the sixth day of the trial and the second day of Wildstein's testimony.
Earlier, Wildstein had recounted how in 2011 he identified local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as a "potential leverage point" against the Fort Lee mayor.
Wildstein said that in 2011, he shared his idea about the lanes with two top aides to the governor, Bill Stepien and Bridget Anne Kelly, and with Bill Baroni, the governor's top executive appointee at the Port Authority, which owns and operates the bridge.
In the summer of 2013, in the run-up to Christie's re-election, Wildstein said he told the governor's deputy chief of staff, Kelly, "that if she wants the Port Authority to close down those Fort Lee lanes and put some pressure on (Fort Lee) Mayor Sokolich that that could be done."
At the time, Wildstein was Christie's second highest-ranking executive appointee at the Port Authority.
His former boss, Baroni, as well as Kelly, are accused of closing two of three access lanes to the bridge in September 2013 to punish Sokolich, a Democrat, for not endorsing Christie's re-election that year.
The two face nine counts of conspiracy, misusing agency property, wire fraud and violating the civil rights of Fort Lee residents to travel freely.
Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges last year, is testifying for the government in the hope of a more lenient sentence. He faces up to 15 years in jail.
Wildstein testified that on Aug. 13, 2013, Kelly sent him an email that read: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Wildstein responded: "Got it."
He told the court he was "a little surprised" that Kelly wanted to use the bridge as leverage less than three months before the election.
Wildstein said that he told Baroni about the plan and that Baroni was also "a little surprised it was coming this late."
Later that day, Wildstein spoke to Kelly by phone to tell her that Baroni was "on board as well."
Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney, Lee Cortes, why he believed Kelly wanted the lanes closed, Wildstein said: "Kelly told me that Mayor Sokolich was not endorsing Gov. Christie."
He added: "She told me the reason was to send Mayor Sokolich a message."
Although Sokolich was a Democrat, he had a good relationship with Christie during the governor's first term, even supporting some of the governor's actions and initiatives. Sokolich and his town also received favorable treatment from the Port Authority.
Wildstein said that Kelly wanted to shut down the lanes so that Sokolich understood "that life would be more difficult for him in the second Christie term than it had been in the first."
Wildstein said that in August 2013 he also called Bill Stepien, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, who was at that time working on Christie's re-election campaign, to tell him about the plan to shut down the lanes. Today, Stepien works on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
"Mr. Stepien asked about what story do we use," Wildstein said. "And I explained to Mr. Stepien I was going to create the cover of a traffic study."
Wildstein said Kelly and Baroni approved of the traffic study cover story.
Wildstein added that he discussed with Kelly and Baroni not notifying Fort Lee in advance of the closures so that the town would be taken by surprise. "The purpose was to create as big a traffic jam as possible," Wildstein said.
He said that Baroni pointed out to him that traffic was typically light in August. "The next week had Labor Day and Mr. Baroni asked me when is the first day of school," Wildstein said.
Wildstein told Baroni that the first day of school was Monday, Sept. 9. Baroni "smiled and said, 'Fantastic,'" Wildstein recalled.
He said that he also discussed with Baroni and Kelly that once the lane closures began, all calls from Fort Lee to the Port Authority regarding the traffic problems should be referred to Baroni's office. The idea was for Baroni not to respond to them, in a policy the three referred to as "radio silence." Wildstein said.
According to Sokolich, who testified last week, the closures, over five days during the morning rush hour, caused the worst traffic jams in the town since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when the bridge was shut down completely.
School buses and commuters were snarled in what Sokolich described as "concrete gridlock." Police, fire and ambulance vehicles struggled to respond to emergencies.
Wildstein's testimony continues.
