Trump campaign aide, like Christie, looms over Bridgegate trial

Bill Stepien wasn't charged as part of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal, and he has consistently maintained he had nothing to do with it.

But like his former boss, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose conversations and actions have been chronicled in titillating detail, Stepien has been frequently invoked at the trial of two Christie allies for a bizarre plot known as Bridgegate, though he hasn't actually been there.

Witnesses have described Stepien, now a top aide to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, as a gifted political guru who was both brilliant and brutal. As an official in the Christie administration who helped him win two elections, he oversaw an effort to woo Democratic officials to enhance the Republican governor's image as a bipartisan star and strong presidential candidate. And he enforced the freezing out of Democrats who declined to endorse Christie, witnesses said.

The government's star witness, David Wildstein, said he told Stepien about his plan to close access lanes and snarl traffic near the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 to punish the mayor of nearby Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie's re-election. Wildstein, who admitted he came up with the idea, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme.

When asked what Stepien, the national field director for Trump's campaign, knew of the plot, his attorney, Kevin Marino, said, "Despite what Mr. Wildstein apparently feels compelled to say now, Mr. Stepien had no role in planning, approving or concealing his ill-advised scheme to close access lanes to the GWB."

Rather, Marino said, Stepien explicitly told Wildstein that he was running Christie's campaign and didn't want to be involved with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which owns the bridge.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Stepien hasn't appeared as a witness at the trial of Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Bill Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority. Prosecutors expect to conclude their case in Newark federal court as soon as Thursday, and defense lawyers have promised Kelly and Baroni will take the stand in their own defense.

As a deputy chief of staff for Christie, Stepien ran the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, which was supposed to advise local officials about state government. But the office also helped dole out gifts and favors to induce Democrats to endorse Christie, according to witnesses and evidence introduced at the trial. IGA employees used the Port Authority as a "goody bag" of gifts to distribute to Democratic officials, such as steel remnants from the wreckage of the World Trade Center site and flags that flew over it, Wildstein and other witnesses said.

Stepien also decided who got punished for disappointing Christie, such as Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. He referred to Fulop as "quite the snake," said he deserved "radio silence" and urged colleagues to "continue to ice him," according to emails shown to jurors.

When Stepien left in the spring of 2013 to run Christie's re-election campaign, Kelly replaced him as deputy chief of staff. One IGA worker, Christopher Stark, testified that Stepien and Kelly were close professionally, and she tried to emulate him. A law firm hired by Christie's office to investigate the bridge plot, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, concluded their relationship had turned romantic that summer, before Stepien broke it off. Their alleged romance hasn't come up at the trial.

Wildstein, a former small town mayor and political junkie, said he and Stepien had a "very close personal friendship." They met during a 2000 congressional campaign, and stayed in touch as Wildstein anonymously wrote a political blog and Stepien worked on national campaigns.

Wildstein, who admitted on the witness stand to numerous lies and political dirty tricks, told jurors that he regarded Stepien as his protégé and was proud of his accomplishments. Together, they mused about Christie's possible election as president, Wildstein said.

Stepien was managing Christie's campaign when the plan to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, which is adjacent to the bridge, was put in motion. In August 2013, Kelly sent Wildstein an email that said: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein said he then told Stepien "that I had heard from Miss Kelly to close the Fort Lee lanes, and that I was moving forward to do so."

Wildstein told jurors, "Stepien asked what story we were going to use. And I explained to Mr. Stepien that I was going to create the cover of a traffic study."

Wildstein said he first told Stepien in 2011 about the possibility of using the bridge access lanes as a "leverage point" with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. The Gibson Dunn report on the lane closings said Wildstein came to Stepien with an idea about a traffic study. But Stepien dismissed it as "one of Wildstein's '50 crazy ideas.' "

As the scandal slowly came to light in the fall of 2013, pressure grew on Wildstein, Kelly, Baroni and Stepien. Wildstein and Baroni resigned under pressure in late 2013. But Stepien's fortunes improved, at least initially.

On Jan. 7, 2014, Christie appointed him chairman of the state Republican party, saying no one understood better how to communicate the party's message and win elections. Stepien had also begun work as a consultant to the Republican Governors Association, which Christie then ran.

"Bill Stepien is the best Republican operative in the country," Christie said at the time.

The next day, Kelly's "time for some traffic problems" email became public, as did a separate email in which Stepien referred Sokolich as an "idiot."

Kelly was fired, and Christie cut ties with Stepien too. The governor said he had lost confidence in him.

Bloomberg's David Kocieniewski contributed.