Testimony in the Bridgegate trial has given jurors a rare glimpse into the governor’s office as the scandal unraveled. As pressure mounted, things got personal. Cameras are not allowed in federal court. But NJTV News Correspondent David Cruz was in the gallery.
Cruz: At the end of week three of the trial, things did get personal.
Christina Renna — the former director of the governor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs — faced Bridget Kelly’s attorney Michael Critchley.
Most of the testimony centered on the arc of the relationship between the two women.
They worked together in IGA but, as the governor’s re-election campaign and then the GWB scandal heated up, the once close friends went from work buddies to enemies, with Renna admitting at one point that she said she hated Kelly.
In the spring of 2013, Kelly was about to be promoted to deputy chief of staff.
And Renna — texting with her close friend and Christie campaign staffer Pete Sheridan — complains that she was about to be passed over for a promotion as Kelly’s number two.
Here’s Renna reading from the email: “I’m upset. I’m super pissed off and I’m a grudge-holder, which is a problem for [Bridget].”
Critchley asked, “When you say you’re a grudge-holder, what do you mean by that?”
Renna responds, “I was, you know, beer muscles. I was just angry.”
Critchley says, “When you say you were a grudge-holder … what were you trying to convey when you say it was a problem for [Bridget Kelly]?”
Renna says, “I was saying that if we quit it would be a problem for Bridget.”
Critchley tried to show that Kelly could not have been the architect of the GWB scheme.
Here he’s asking Renna about her thoughts on Kelly’s leadership style:
Critchley: “You said she was not a decision maker.”
Renna says, “She was not a person who could make decisions on her own. She seemed like someone who always needed guidance.”
Critchley says, “She would not challenge somebody.”
Renna says, “Yes.”
Critchley then got Renna to testify that she and Sheridan plotted to — in his words — sabotage Kelly.
In several emails Sheridan talks about getting IGA staffers to “turn their backs” on Kelly.
Here’s Renna reading: “He says, ‘Since I can’t work on the campaign I want, this is the one I will focus on, and I will win.'”
Critchley asked, “Did you understand it to mean ‘Yes, I will win and will be successful at sabotaging Bridget Kelly’?”
Renna responds, “You could read it that way.”
Critchley says, “Do you read it that way?”
Renna says, “I responded with yes, I like this approach.”
Critchley then goes on to say, “When you said ‘I like this approach’ what did you mean?”
Renna says, “I meant it was a good approach on Peter’s part.”
Critchley says, “Good approach to what?”
Renna says, “To have people turn their backs on Bridget.”
Critchley: “To sabotage her?”
Renna: “To turn their backs on her.”
Critchley used the word “sabotage” more than a dozen times in that exchange.
Prosecutors didn’t object once.
It’s hard to imagine that it didn’t register with jurors.