Bridgegate conspirator was 'protected' by Christie, witness says

NEWARK, N.J. - David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and the government's star witness in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure trial, was "protected" by Gov. Christie, the agency's executive director testified Thursday.

Patrick Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, told jurors that a month after he ordered lanes at the bridge to be reopened in September 2013, he announced an "internal review" of the matter.

Asked by an attorney for Bridget Anne Kelly, a former top Christie aide who is charged in the case, whether Foye had interviewed Wildstein as part of the review, Foye said he had not.

"You made no effort to interview him?" Michael Critchley Sr. asked.

Foye said that was correct.

"He was protected by Chris Christie, correct?"

"Yes," Foye replied.

It was the latest indication that Christie was closer to Wildstein than the governor has said. The two have known each other since high school.

Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty in the scandal, was regarded with fear and loathing by many at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to testimony.

Asked about the testimony that Christie had protected Wildstein, a spokesman for the governor declined to comment on the record.

Foye's account came on the fourth day of the trial of Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, Christie's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority.

Baroni and Kelly are charged with misusing Port Authority resources, wire fraud, civil rights violations, and related conspiracy counts.

Prosecutors say Baroni and Kelly conspired with Wildstein, Baroni's deputy, to cause traffic problems in Fort Lee, Bergen County, to punish the town's Democratic mayor for his refusal to endorse the Republican governor's reelection campaign.

Then they covered it up with a sham story that the lane closures were part of a traffic study, according to prosecutors.

Wildstein, who pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy charges, is expected to testify next week. Attorneys for Kelly and Baroni say Wildstein is a liar and trickster who duped their clients into thinking the traffic study was legitimate.

Foye's testimony ran contrary to the governor's assertions that he was not close with Wildstein.

During a January 2014 news conference, after the bridge scandal erupted, Christie took umbrage with news stories that suggested "an emotional relationship and closeness between me and David that doesn't exist."

And he emphasized that it was Baroni who hired Wildstein in 2010 for the newly created job of director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority, with Christie's permission.

Defense attorneys, in their opening statements Monday, disputed that account, saying the governor sent Wildstein to the agency to be his enforcer, that they met in person to determine whom to fire, and that the governor liked referring to Wildstein as his version of "the Wolf" from the movie Pulp Fiction, the character who instructs two mobsters how to clean up a dead body.

On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said Wildstein and Baroni had "bragged" to Christie about traffic jams in Fort Lee during a Sept. 11 commemorative event in Manhattan.

Foye testified Thursday that he heard later in 2013 that the Christie administration wanted him fired. He said he could not recall who told him that.

In a gift to defense attorneys, government witnesses have continued to hammer Wildstein's credibility. Jurors have heard that Port Authority employees worried that Wildstein was tapping their phones and was a destructive force.

After Wildstein was forced to resign in December 2013, Foye said, he posted photos of Wildstein in every Port Authority facility because he was "concerned about him trying to get access" there.

Wildstein was "abusive" and "terrorized people" at the Port Authority, Foye testified he told Baroni.

Yet Foye's testimony also could damage Baroni and Kelly. He has said the lane closures did not follow proper procedure and were carried out without his knowledge. When he did learn about them and determined that Wildstein was the architect, he said, he ordered the lanes reopened.

Defense attorneys have assailed Foye's credibility, depicting him not as the white knight who saved Fort Lee from further gridlock but as an unrepentant liar who knew about the lane closures earlier than he says he did, approved the release of statements he believed to be false to the media, and stonewalled reporters when they questioned the "traffic study" story.

When a reporter for the Wall Street Journal notified the Port Authority that he had evidence that the traffic study theory was bogus, a media relations employee asked the agency's top officials for guidance.

Asked by Critchley whether Foye, as executive director of a public institution, believed he had the duty to provide accurate information to the press, Foye replied, "Depends on the circumstances."

Critchley also questioned the motives behind Foye's "internal review" - announced at the Port Authority board's October 2013 meeting - which consisted of interviewing three employees.

"So now you don't have to answer any questions about Fort Lee, because now you have the 'internal review' guardrail," Critchley said, raising his hands and shrugging his shoulders to suggest willful ignorance.

Jurors also heard testimony from John H. Ma, Foye's chief of staff. He testified that he learned about the lane closures on Sept. 12, on the fourth day after they began, when a media relations staffer told him that the bridge's general manager had been ordered by Wildstein to close the lanes.

Ma said he met with Foye that afternoon before calling a reporter for the Bergen Record to let the newspaper know, off the record, that he wasn't aware of a traffic study and that Wildstein was the culprit - even as the Port Authority's media department was telling reporters that the lane reductions were in fact part of a study.

Ma said he hoped the reporter would "dig further, ask follow-up questions." Under cross-examination, Ma testified that Foye was aware that he would be calling the reporter.

"With the knowledge he had on Sept. 12, Pat Foye could have stopped the lane realignment from beginning the next morning at 6 o'clock," said Michael Baldassare, Baroni's attorney.

"I suppose it's possible," Ma said.

But it wasn't until 7:41 a.m. Sept. 13 that Foye e-mailed Port Authority officials to reopen the lanes, citing danger to the public, among other things, according to testimony.

Foye testified Wednesday that he learned of the lane closures from a media inquiry Sept. 12 but didn't know about the gridlock they had caused in Fort Lee or Wildstein's involvement until he spoke with two Port Authority employees the next morning.

"Would you agree that by not stopping the lane closures, even with all the information he had on Thursday, Pat Foye allowed all those dangers to be visited upon Fort Lee, for the period of time between" the morning rush and "when he sent his email several hours in?" Baldassare asked.

Ma said he didn't know if he agreed.

aseidman@phillynews.com

856-779-3846 @AndrewSeidman