Christie to elected official: 'I'm the f-ing governor'
NEWARK, N.J. - In an expletive-laden exchange, Gov. Christie threatened to "destroy" a Monmouth County freeholder after the freeholder criticized Christie's job performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, according to testimony in federal court here Wednesday.
NEWARK, N.J. - In an expletive-laden exchange, Gov. Christie threatened to "destroy" a Monmouth County freeholder after the freeholder criticized Christie's job performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, according to testimony in federal court here Wednesday.
"Who does that fat fuck think he is? He's done nothing but press conferences," Freeholder John P. Curley, who, like Christie, is a Republican, said in a voicemail to Christopher Stark, then a staffer in the governor's office, Stark testified. "We're out here doing all the work."
Stark, testifying Wednesday in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure case, said he passed the message up the chain of command and later learned that Christie had called Curley to respond.
The governor confronted Curley about the name-calling and said, "I'm the fucking governor of the state," Stark said, adding that he heard about the episode secondhand. Then Christie threatened Curley's political career, saying that if Curley did not attend an event in Keansburg, he would send robocalls to every Republican in Monmouth County telling them not to vote for Curley, according to Stark.
Curley did not return a call seeking comment, but confirmed the exchange - with slightly different expletives - in interviews with other media.
"You feel a lot of frustration when you see people who are that devastated. I was just happy and pleased that I stood and was representing the people who elected me," Curley told Bloomberg News on Wednesday. "I hold no malice toward the governor."
For a period of time, Stark testified Wednesday, Curley was considered by the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs - led at the time by Bridget Anne Kelly - to be a "hands-off" elected official. That meant "we were to have no communication with that elected official," Stark said, explaining that such orders were delivered by Kelly and Bill Stepien, her predecessor.
Stark discussed the "hands-off" policy as he described how Kelly's office treated Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat. When Stark asked Kelly in 2013 whether he could reach out to Fort Lee, she told him no, that "we're doing enough to mess with them," according to the testimony.
Under cross-examination, Stark testified that he did not always know why certain officials were considered hands-off - some, he later learned, had been under criminal investigation. And the administration even began communicating with Curley at some point, Stark said.
Prosecutors allege that Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, Christie's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, conspired to close lanes at the bridge in September 2013 in order to punish Sokolich for his refusal to endorse Christie's reelection campaign that year.
Kelly and Baroni are each charged with nine felonies, including conspiracy and misuse of Port Authority resources.
David Wildstein, a former Christie appointee at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in 2015 and completed his testimony Wednesday after taking the stand for eight days.
For days of cross-examination, defense attorneys depicted Wildstein as a liar who carried more clout in Christie's orbit than their clients - and had direct access to top aides such as Stepien, press secretary Michael Drewniak, and political consultant Mike DuHaime.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes sought to blunt that argument Wednesday. On Sept. 9, the first day of the weeklong lane closures, Baroni received an email that Sokolich had called regarding an "urgent matter of public safety." Baroni forwarded the message to Wildstein, who forwarded it to Kelly - but not to Stepien, Drewniak, DuHaime, or Christie.
856-779-3846
@AndrewSeidman