Ex-Port Authority Official Reportedly To Plead Guilty In GWB Lane Closure Scandal
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A guilty plea could soon come from the man who ordered the controversial lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
David Wildstein, a former Port Authority director and a close associate of Gov. Chris Christie, could soon reportedly plead guilty to criminal charges in Newark federal court, where grand jurors are hearing testimony on the scandal, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
Sources told CBS2 Wildstein was set to appear in U.S. District Court in Newark at 11 a.m. Friday, though no details of what would happen at the court hearing were available.
The September 2013 lane closures appear to be part of a political retribution plot against Fort Lee Mark Sokolich, who did not support Christie's re-election bid. Christie, however, has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the lane closures before they happened.
Ex-Port Authority Official Reportedly To Plead Guilty In GWB Lane Closure Scandal
The governor fired Bridget Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, over the scandal. Wildstein, who was appointed by Christie, resigned.
The four days of traffic jams were apparently triggered by an email from Kelly to Wildstein saying, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
"Got it," Wildstein replied.
Wildstein pleaded the Fifth Amendment last year in front of state lawmakers investigating the lane closures, but indicated he'd talk to prosecutors in exchange for immunity.
He also turned over more than 900 pages of documents to the investigative committee.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who co-chairs the committee, said he hopes a plea from Wildstein and the U.S. attorney's investigation will start to answer questions about the lane closures.
"What was the mechanism that allowed that to happen? What was the political or governmental goal that they thought they were going to achieve? And most importantly, how do we stop that from happening again?" Wisniewski told WCBS 880's Levon Putney.
Wisniewski Hopes Possible Plea Leads To Reform
Once those questions are answered, lawmakers can try to put reforms in place, said Wisniewski, who wants to end the governor's sole appointment power to the Port Authority.
"To change the governance structure of the Port Authority has to be one of the critical elements of any true reform," he said.
Christie spoke about the investigation Wednesday.
"That matter will take its natural course and will be dictated by the folks who are investigating it, and I have nothing to do with that," the governor said. "So I certainly can't allow it to affect me, and I have seen no indication that it affects anything having to do with other state issues."
If Wildstein pleads guilty and cooperates with prosecutors, he could give them an inside view of how the plot unfolded.
"I can't speculate as to what may happen or not happen but we'll see, whenever anything does occur we'll react to it, but I know what the truth is so I'm not the least bit concerned about it," Christie said.
It is unclear what criminal charges Wildstein may be pleading guilty to.
There has been no comment from Wildstein's lawyer and the New Jersey U.S. attorney's office.
