By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
Bridget Kelly spent another day on the witness chair defending her role in Bridgegate and implicating Gov. Christie.
Like her co-defendant Bill Baroni, Kelly said she believed the lane closures on the Fort Lee approach to the George Washington Bridge were all about studying traffic flow and not about political retribution.
The lane closures took place in the second week of September 2013.
Kelly last Friday said she told the governor about the planned traffic study weeks before it happened. Today she said the governor was using a secret State House passageway that ran through her office on Sept. 12 and they discussed the bridge.
“I told him Mayor Sokolich had reached out about the traffic problem and we hadn’t reached him yet,” Kelly said. “Do you want IGA [her intergovernmental affairs unit] to do anything about it?”
“It’s the Port Authority’s project,” she said Christie answered. “Let Wildstein handle it.”
David Wildstein, of course, is the admitted mastermind of the scheme and the government’s star witness against Kelly and Baroni.
The following week, Kelly testified, Press Secretary Michael Drewniak asked to meet her in her office.
The Wall Street Journal, he said, was asking what the Governor knew about the lane closures.
“His first question was, ‘did the Governor know?'” Kelly testified.
“Yes, Mike, I told him about the traffic study three times on Aug. 12, Sept. 11, and Sept. 12,” Kelly testified.
These dates are significant because Christie told the press on Dec. 2 — months later — he knew nothing about the Fort Lee lane closures.
On Dec. 13, he again denied knowledge or participation by his senior staff. It was not until Jan. 9 that he said he’d learned about Kelly’s involvement the day before. Christie’s office last Friday said the governor continues to stand by his version of events.
Kelly continued to paint a picture today of Christie as a volatile and demanding boss. She said her job took 90 hours a week and was 24/7.
Her defense attorney Michael Critchley wrapped up his six-hour direct examination by asking:
Critchley: Did you ever engage with anyone to shut lanes at the Bridge as a means of retribution?
Kelly: Absolutely not.
Critchley: Did you agree in any way to punish Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Chris Christie?
Kelly: Absolutely not.
Critchley: Do you even know Sokolich?
Kelly: I never met him.
Critchley: Are you innocent of the charges against you?
Kelly: Yes.
Critchley also preempted the government’s attempt at impeaching Kelly later this week by asking why she sent Wildstein a message during the traffic nightmare that asked: “Is it wrong that I’m smiling?”
Kelly said today it was a poor choice of words and she was just smiling because Wildstein’s traffic study seemed to be working well. Traffic seemed to be improving but kids were being made late to school, she added and as a single mother, she said, that’s really what bothered her.
The government began its cross-examination of her shortly before court recessed today. The case could go to the jury late this week.