A defense lawyer in the ongoing Bridgegate trial insinuated for a second time on Friday that NJ Gov. Chris Christie had prior knowledge of the politically vindictive George Washington Bridge lane closings.
“Were you aware that [then-Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly] had conversations with the governor before the lane closures and during the lane closures?” Kelly’s lawyer, Michael Critchley, asked while cross-examining Christie’s former top lawyer.
“No,” answered the witness, Charles McKenna.
Earlier this week in the Newark federal trial, Critchley asked a similar insinuating question of former Christie aide Deborah Gramiccioni, who also answered, “No.”
“Did you know that Bridget Kelly and the governor had discussions about the governor’s knowledge of the lane closures before they occurred?” Critchley had asked Gramiccioni.
Lawyers’ questions are not evidence, so the queries have no weight in and of themselves — but they offer a tantalizing clue to the Christie-firebombing testimony Critchley may elicit from his client on the stand as early as next week.
Also Friday in the four-week-old trial, McKenna — testifying on behalf of co-defendant and former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni — claimed repeatedly that for more than a year, he really, really believed the 2013 lane closings were part of a traffic study, rather than a vendetta against Fort Lee’s mayor for not endorsing the governor.
“The Office of the Inspector General opening an investigation, didn’t that raise some concerns?” Critchley asked McKenna.
“No, because it was Port Authority business” and not his concern, McKenna said.