Nine is the number being considered by the Bridgegate jury. Christie aides Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly face a total of nine counts related to the lane closure on the George Washington Bridge that mushroomed into a scandal that enveloped the state’s highest office. The case has gone to the jury. Though cameras are not allowed in federal court our Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron was. Michael?
Aron: Mary Alice, today’s closing arguments were like two very good sports teams going up against one another.
Michael Critchley, Bridget Kelly’s lawyer, at times shouted, at times whispered. He opened by reminding the jury that sitting in judgment of another human being is a big responsibility.
The prosecution’s rebuttal closing was delivered by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna, who was forceful and methodical.
Critchley said the government’s entire case hinged on a congenital liar, David Wildstein.
“If his lips are moving, chances are he’s lying,” Critchley said.
Critchley called Wildstein the Bernie Madoff of New Jersey politics. Wildstein has pleaded guilty and was the government’s star witness. Critchley accused him of lying for the sake of a lenient sentence.
Prosecutor Khanna in his closing defended Wildstein’s testimony.
“David Wildstein’s incentive to tell the truth is greater than his incentive to lie,” Khanna argued to the jury.
Critchley blamed the entire GWB Fort Lee traffic plot on Wildstein.
Wildstein’s motive, Christie said, was to please Gov. Chris Christie by improving the traffic flow at the bridge and punishing the Fort Lee mayor for his non-endorsement.
“‘Look at me, governor, look at me,” Critchley said, mimicking a Wildstein thought process. “Take me to Washington.”
To which Critchley added, “In Wildstein’s sick mind Christie is going to be happy with all this.”
Critchley also reminded the jury that Gov. Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had discussed the fiasco.
If it’s happening at their level, he suggested, why is little Bridget Kelly taking the fall.
Prosecutor Khanna said, “This is not about Christie or Cuomo or all these other people Mr. Critchley wants to drag into the courtroom. He is trying to distract you because the evidence against his client is devastating.”
Critchley often refers to Kelly as a single mother of four.
Khanna in his closing stressed for the jury that “life circumstances don’t matter” when it comes to assessing innocence or guilt.
Toward the end of his closing Chritchley shouted, “Chris Christie, where are you? Kevin O’Dowd, where are you? Michelle Brown, where are you? They are a coterie of cowards! They want the mother of four taking the fall for them!”
Khanna, an hour later, pointed out the defense could have called any one of those people to the witness stand and chose not to risk it.
Bill Baroni’s attorney gave his closing argument on Friday.
Around 3 o’clock today, the jury began deliberations. They went for about an hour and will resume at 9 a.m. tomorrow.