The federal government could announce indictments as early as next week in the Bridge-gate scandal that has delayed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's presidential plans.
Paul Fishman, U.S. attorney for New Jersey, is expected to bring indictments under a rarely used provision of a fraud statute, sources told
The New York Times. His investigation began 15 months ago.
Under the law, prosecutors would be able to argue that the George Washington Bridge, or the agency that runs it, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was used for "a purpose other than its intended one," the Times reports.
Regarding the bridge, the issue would be whether the closings that tied up traffic were meant to punish Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid in 2013.
As for the Port Authority, prosecutors could seek indictments on whether Christie used the agency for political gain, the Times reports. This could include whether the governor used the authority's money to balance his own budget for the state.
Three local access lanes leading to the toll booths of the George Washington Bridge at Fort Lee were closed without notice for five days in September 2013. The situation slowed school buses and emergency workers, including those responding to a call of an unconscious 91-year-old woman who later died at a Fort Lee hospital.
Christie fired two aides linked to the closings and denied any knowledge of their planning or execution. An internal report in March 2014 found no evidence that the governor knew about the plan.
In addition, the
New Jersey Legislative Select Committee announced in December that it had found no evidence linking Christie to the closings. The panel's Republican members slammed the investigation as "a shiftless, broken political vehicle" driven by partisan Democrats.
But the report did appear to attack Christie by saying that the aides he fired, Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, acted with "perceived impunity" when they staged the traffic debacle.
Documents have shown that Wildstein, a top Port Authority official at the time, and Kelly, a senior Christie aide, arranged the closures as retribution against Sokolich.
In one email, Kelly wrote to Wildstein, saying, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
According to the Times, federal investigators have questioned potential witnesses about moves by Christie officials to cover up the political motives behind the closures, explaining them as a traffic study.
They also have interviewed Fort Lee officials, and have subpoenaed records from Port Authority officials and Christie's 2013 campaign regarding Jersey City.
Christie's staff canceled meetings in Jersey City after Democratic Mayor Steven Fulop said he would not support Christie's re-election bid, the Times reports.
"Those records could be used to establish a pattern of punishing local officials," according to the report.
Both Kelly and Wildstein could be among many former Christie and Port Authority officials who could be indicted by Fishman, the Times reports.
But Kelly's attorney alluded to a wider network involved in a statement to the newspaper last May.
"Anyone who thinks they are going to rewrite history and make Ms. Kelly a scapegoat is gravely mistaken," the attorney wrote.
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