Lawyers for a former Chris Christie appointee facing charges in the Bridge-gate scandal claim that the New Jersey governor's office has refused to release some emails and documents dating from early in the case — despite the prosecutor's statements that all the relevant information is "now in the record."
Lawyers fighting criminal charges against appointee Bill Baroni in the corruption case say in a court filing they "newly discovered" Christie's office withheld "critical documents" on the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September 2013 that gridlocked traffic,
the Guardian reports.
Claims made by Christie's lawyers for why the data should be withheld don't "pass the red face test," the lawyers argue in the filing, the Guardian reports.
Among the documents are emails between Christie's press secretary Michael Drewniak and David Wildstein, a state official who's pleaded guilty to conspiracy, that were withheld on the basis of attorney-client privilege — though neither are lawyers.
"We want the government to do its job, and to comply with the law the way they expect everybody else to," said lawyer Michael Baldassare, who represents Baroni, a former Port Authority deputy executive director.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney David Feder said Christie's office "had waived privilege with respect to any documents, or any information relevant to the lane and toll booth reductions as alleged in the indictment...
"That information is now in the record," Feder continued.
Lawyer Randy Mastro, whom Christie hired to do his own investigation of the matter, adamantly denied any documents have been withheld.
"There is nothing more to be provided by our firm or the governor’s office relating to the GWB lane realignment, beyond the many documents previously produced to the U.S. Attorney’s Office pursuant to a federal grand jury subpoena, which criminal defense counsel presumably already obtained from that office," Mastro said in a statement to Newsmax.
"Moreover, contrary to the claims made by criminal defense counsel, the Governor's office did not withhold and log as privileged any documents relating to the GWB lane alignment, so there are no other documents to produce in that regard."
Mastro's investigation concluded
Christie was not involved in the traffic-jam plot.
Baroni's new claims come as Christie faces a crucial test of his GOP presidential candidacy in Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire.
"This was not a murder," Christie said at a campaign event in Iowa last week. "This was a traffic jam," adding that he's been
formally exonerated several times, the Guardian reports.
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