Christie Ally Expected to Plead Guilty in Bridge-gate Scandal

A former Port Authority official and friend of Gov. Chris Christie is expected to plead guilty Friday to charges stemming from the Bridge-gate scandal.

David Wildstein, a high school friend of Christie's ordered the closing of several access lanes to the George Washington bridge in September 2013,  was expected to plead guilty although to what charges remains unclear.

The court proceeding involving the 2013 traffic jams is set for Friday morning, prosecutors said.The investigation has loomed over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as he considers a presidential run,

The U.S. Attorney's Office also is expected to announce indictments stemming from the16-month investigation of whether lane closings were motivated by a political vendetta.

An 11 a.m. court hearing is scheduled at the Martin Luther King Jr. Building and U.S. Courthouse, and the U.S. attorney's office will hold a news conference at 1 p.m.

The office, which Christie led before stepping down in 2008 to run for governor, has not said who will appear in court or released any other details.

Two of the three access lanes to the bridge in Fort Lee were shut down for four mornings in September 2013, causing massive delays.

The simmering scandal erupted a year ago when an email from Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, to Wildstein, the port authority official and Christie loyalist, was revealed. It read, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein's reply was, "Got it."

By the time that email was made public, Wildstein had already resigned, as had Bill Baroni, Christie's top appointee to the Port Authority. The governor fired Kelly and cut ties with Bill Stepien, his two-time campaign manager, amid the scandal.

Since then, investigations over whether the lanes were closed for political retribution have been looming over Christie.

After disappearing from the public view briefly, he re-emerged in his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and was the chief face and fundraiser for a successful election season for his party across the county.

Christie has launched a political action committee that allows him to pay for travel and a staff, but he has not formally declared himself a candidate for president.