Indicted Ex-Christie aide: ‘Bridgegate’ accuser ‘a liar’
Bridget Anne Kelly, one of the two allies to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) indicted in connection with the “Bridgegate” scandal, hit back at the charges against her on Friday.
“I will no longer allow the lies that have been said about me … to go unchallenged,” Kelly said, according to CNN. “David Wildstein is a liar.
“For the indictment to suggest that I was the only person in the governor’s office who was aware of the George Washington Bridge issue is ludicrous,” she added.
{mosads}Wildstein is the former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official who pleaded guilty on Friday to charges in the case. He implicated Kelly and another former Port Authority executive, Bill Baroni in the scandal.
Kelly and Baroni were indicted on nine counts, including conspiracy and wire fraud.
The case revolves around the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which caused traffic jams in Fort Lee, N.J. after the city’s mayor declined to endorse Christie’s re-election efforts.
Kelly wrote an email to Wildstein after the mayor made his decision saying it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
She said Friday that she had meant those comments to be sarcastic.
“I realize that my offhanded attempts at sarcasm and humor were not as witty as they were intended to be,” she said.
Christie has denied any involvement in the scandal — which could put his presidential ambitions at risk — and on Friday said that the charges showed he had not been aware of the closures at the time they occurred.
He fired Kelly as the scandal become public.
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