When the high-profile trial of two former pals of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kicks off Monday, their fate will be in the hands of a food blogger who dislikes Christie and an alternate juror who called the Garden State head “irrational.”
The seemingly odd jury picks make perfect sense, however, for a defense team that will be seeking to convince the jury that ex-Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly and former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni are mere scapegoats, experts said.
“If the jury comes away convinced that they were doing what they were told, it’s possible for the jury to say they were not the ones responsible — it was Christie,” said Seton Hall University political-science professor Matthew Hale.
“The real culprit is going to be not just Christie but hardball NJ politics,” Hale said.
It’s a risky strategy but one that might work with New Jersey residents who are still fuming over the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures, which prosecutors said were politically orchestrated to punish the mayor of Fort Lee.
“They can, if they do it carefully, make it look like a verdict of not guilty is a strong signal that the government is going after the wrong person,” said Dan Wenner, a partner of the Day Pitney law firm.
Other high-profile names that could get smeared during the six-to-eight-week trial include Christie’s former top advisor Bill Stepien, who is now helping run Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Christie and Stepien parted ways in 2014 after e-mails emerged suggesting he knew about the plot.
Jury selection seemed to confirm the defense strategy.
In addition to the food blogger who said she dislikes Christie, the defense OK’d an alternate who called Christie “irrational,” and said he comes from a family of educators — a reference to Christie’s battles with public school teachers.
“Only time I ever see him, he is jumping down people’s throats,” said the former KPMG consultant.
Kelly and Baroni stand accused of misusing Port Authority resources to create traffic problems, including issuing press releases to say that the lane closures were for a non-existent traffic study.
Baroni’s former boss, ex-Port Authority’s deputy executive director David Wildstein, will testify against Kelly and Baroni on behalf of the government.
They face as much as 45 years in prison if convicted.
Opening arguments start Monday.