Bridgegate Plotter to Plead Guilty
David Wildstein, a former ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is set to plead guilty this week, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, suggesting he may be cooperating with prosecutors probing traffic jams he ordered near the George Washington Bridge.
Wildstein is scheduled to appear Friday in federal court in Newark, where grand jurors have heard testimony in secret for months about gridlock over four mornings in Fort Lee, New Jersey, according to the person, who requested anonymity because the matter isn’t public.
He would plead guilty to a charging document known as a criminal information, the person said. It was unclear what the specific charges would be in the plea. The plea was originally scheduled for Thursday, the person said.
A plea by Wildstein, who was a top appointee at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, would be the first conviction for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in an investigation of the September 2013 lane closures. The scandal has hurt Christie’s popularity as the Republican weighs a run for the White House and tests his tough-talking image with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Christie has denied knowledge of a plot to close two of the three local-access lanes to the world’s busiest bridge, which is run by the Port Authority. If Wildstein pleads guilty and cooperates with prosecutors, he could give them an inside view of how the plot unfolded.
Fishman spokesman Matthew Reilly declined to comment. Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, didn’t immediately return an e-mail and call seeking comment on the scheduled plea. Zegas has said “evidence exists” that Christie knew of the traffic jams at the time.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-29/former-christie-ally-david-wildstein-said-to-plan-guilty-plea
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