Bridge trial defense attorney tries to discredit government's key witness

NEWARK, N.J. - A defense attorney for a former Port Authority executive charged in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure trial sought to undermine the credibility of the federal government's key witness Tuesday, arguing that he had constantly changed his story in interviews with prosecutors.

Michael Baldassare, an attorney for Bill Baroni, Gov. Christie's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, asserted that the witness, David Wildstein, had told prosecutors at least three different versions of what happened on the third day of the lane closures in September 2013.

Specifically, Baldassare challenged the legitimacy of Wildstein's testimony that at a 9/11 commemorative event that year, it was Baroni who boasted to Christie of traffic jams in Fort Lee, Bergen County, and that the agency was not returning the borough's phone calls. The governor has said he does not recall the conversation and has denied involvement in the lane closures.

Baldassare, reviewing FBI reports that are not evidence in the case, said that during Wildstein's first meeting with the government on Jan. 14, 2014, he claimed to have told Christie "what we were doing at the bridge." Wildstein, a former Christie appointee at the Port Authority, said that was not correct.

Baldassare asserted that only after Wildstein signed a plea agreement in 2015 did he attribute the 9/11 remarks to Baroni. Likewise, Baldassare said, Wildstein initially told prosecutors during their investigation that it was he who picked the first day of school to implement the lane closures. Only later did he pin it on Baroni, Baldassare said.

"Would you agree with me that, under oath, you should tell the jury that you cannot keep your story straight regarding what happened on 9/11" and how the first day of school was chosen?

U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sustained an objection by prosecutors, so Wildstein didn't answer the question.

Wildstein took the stand for the fifth day Thursday in federal court in the trial of Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff. Cross-examination is to continue Friday.

Prosecutors say, and Wildstein has testified, that Baroni and Kelly conspired with him to cause traffic problems in Fort Lee in an effort to punish the town's mayor, who had refused to endorse Christie's reelection campaign. Then they covered it up by promoting a story about a traffic study, according to the testimony.

Wildstein has testified that he ordered Port Authority personnel to close lanes leading from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge from Sept. 9 to 13, 2013, under Kelly's direction and having received Baroni's approval.

Baroni and Kelly are charged with misusing Port Authority resources to punish Mayor Mark Sokolich, wire fraud, and civil rights violations. Wildstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in 2015 and is cooperating with the government, he says, in hopes of receiving a lighter prison sentence. Under sentencing guidelines, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Baldassare also used his cross-examination of Wildstein to portray Baroni as a sympathetic figure who was something of a victim in the world of hardball New Jersey politics.

The defense attorney asked Wildstein if he remembered an occasion when Christie's former chief of staff, Kevin O'Dowd, "screamed at Bill Baroni" for failing to deliver at least $1 million in Port Authority funds to Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo "fast enough."

"Yes, sir, I do," Wildstein replied. (The money was authorized for Essex County parks, not DiVincenzo personally.)

Baldassare noted that O'Dowd would later ask for Baroni's resignation as the bridge scandal unfolded.

Baldassare said O'Dowd again "screamed" at Baroni when Baroni wasn't getting Port Authority money delivered "fast enough" for a Hudson County project favored by State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, a Democrat.

Wildstein said he didn't recall O'Dowd's screaming but did remember "Mr. Baroni telling me that he heard from Mr. O'Dowd, and that this was taking too long to get done."

Steve Fulop, then a Jersey City councilman, had asked Christie to provide the funding so that Cunningham would not run against Fulop in the city's 2013 mayoral race, Wildstein testified.

The funding was ultimately provided. Cunningham didn't run, and Fulop was elected mayor in May 2013.

A spokeswoman for Fulop said the mayor had "no knowledge about any conversations between Christie and Cunningham" and had "no involvement or conversations whatsoever with anyone" regarding grants to the Urban League program.

"It is important to point out, though, that the Jersey City Urban League is a nonprofit that assists the underserved population and solicits grants from multiple entities," spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said.

Neither Cunningham nor O'Dowd responded to requests for comment.

Baldassare tried to cast doubt on the government's allegation that Baroni and Kelly conspired with Wildstein. The attorney pointed to an email that included a link to a news article about the lane closures that Wildstein first sent to Baroni and then, 10 seconds later, sent separately to Kelly.

"You never once email Mr. Baroni and Ms. Kelly in the same email, correct?" Baldassare asked.

"No sir, I did not," Wildstein replied, explaining his "very strong preference was not to create a group of emails, group texts."

Baldassare suggested, and Wildstein denied, that the "true reason" he kept these communications separate was so that he could "tell Mr. Baroni one thing about what was happening and tell Ms. Kelly a different thing."

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