NEWARK, N.J. (CN) — Making the case Friday to convict Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly of orchestrating traffic for political vengeance, a federal prosecutor urged jurors to see through the costumes both donned on the stand when they presented themselves as hapless bureaucrats deceived by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's henchman.
Calling Baroni and Kelly the governor's "fierce lieutenants," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes argued in summation this morning that the pair had used public resources to punish one of Christie's political enemies.
"That's what makes this a federal crime," Cortes said.
Baroni and Kelly are charged with fraud and misuse of government resources for lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the bridge is one of the busiest in the world — connecting the Garden State with New York City.
The bridge has a reputation for congestion, but New Jersey commuters received their fill of it in September 2013 when three access lanes reserved for the city of Fort Lee became one.
Just before the four-day lane shutdown, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich had declined to endorse Republican Christie's re-election.
Facing pressure over the emergency vehicles and school buses snarled in gridlock traffic, Port Authority officials initially blamed the closed lanes on a traffic study. When that traffic study proved to be a cover-up for political retribution, the Port Authority forced the resignations of Baroni and fellow Christie appointee David Wildstein.
"Let's be clear," Cortes told the jury this morning, "there was never an intent to do a legitimate traffic study."
As part of a guilty plea, Wildstein spent eight days on the stand in Baroni and Kelly's trial, testifying that they were in on the plot.
Cortes told the court this morning that Wildstein's testimony is enough for them to convict, but that the damning electronic evidence against the defendants cannot be overlooked.
As the prosecutor spoke, a slideshow playing for jury repeatedly flashed to the infamous email Kelly sent just before the lane shutdown.
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Kelly wrote, the text of her email to Wildstein magnified on the courtroom screen.
Kelly insisted on the stand this week that she had just been using shorthand, telling Wildstein to begin the traffic study. The mother of four had been a deputy chief of staff in Christie's office at the time.
Cortes urged the jury to see through Kelly's explanation.
"These words are clear," Cortes said. "These words are definite."
"These words do not say 'time for a traffic study,'" he added.
The prosecutor employed a similar style when focusing on Kelly's co-defendant, playing a clip for the jury of Baroni testifying to the New Jersey Assembly about the lane closures.
"The intent of Mr. Baroni's words are clear," Cortes said. "The intent of Mr. Baroni's words are definite."
Baroni told lawmakers on Nov. 25, 2013, that there was an innocent explanation for why the Port Authority let Sokolich spend days during the lane closures pleading for help with no reply.
Emails entered into evidence reveal that Wildstein had advised Baroni to initiate "radio silence" with Sokolich, a Democrat, but Baroni told lawmakers that there had been a breakdown in communications.