Judge Delays Release Of Co-Conspirators List In Bridgegate Case
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- At least one of the people involved but not criminally charged for their role in the politically motivated 2013 lane closures of the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey wants to keep a list of unindicted co-conspirators from becoming public.
A judge has delayed the release of a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case. The judge had previously ordered federal prosecutors to make the list public by noon Friday.
The new deadline is set for Tuesday, May 17 at noon, according to an order from Judge Susan D. Wigenton.
Someone included on the list filed a court motion late Thursday asking to intervene anonymously to block its release, arguing it would unfairly brand them a criminal.
The motion says the man, only identified as "John Doe," will be "publicly branded a felon without due process of law, causing him immediate and irreparable reputational harm.''
Wigenton denied the request Friday afternoon, ruling the person failed to show his rights would be violated by being identified. The person in turn appealed Wigenton's decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Friday evening.
Bruce Rosen, an attorney for the media companies including The Associated Press that successfully fought for release of the document, said they will oppose the motion. He said the person is looking to deal with the same issues already dismissed by Wigenton. It wasn't immediately clear if Wigenton would rule on the motion before the documents were released.
The U.S. attorney's office, which brought the indictment against two former aides to Gov. Chris Christie, had opposed the release of the names over individual privacy concerns. But Wigenton said it was in the public's interest to release the list limited to those "whom the Government has sufficient evidence to designate as having joined the conspiracy.''
Bridget Kelly, Christie's then-deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a top Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that operates the bridge, face federal wire fraud and civil rights charges and are scheduled for trial this fall.
They are alleged to have engineered the lane closures to create traffic jams in nearby Fort Lee, whose mayor had declined to endorse Christie for re-election. Both have pleaded not guilty and have sought to have the charges dismissed.
Former Port Authority official David Wildstein pleaded guilty last year and is expected to testify against Kelly and Baroni.
Christie has not been charged and has denied knowledge of the closures.
On Wednesday, Christie said he thinks it is "highly doubtful" that he will be included on the list of unindicted co-conspirators. As to who might be on the list, Christie refused to talk about it.
"I'm not going to speculate on any list that none of you know anything about, and I don't know anything about," he said.
If Christie's name is on the list, it could affect his chances of working with GOP front-runner Donald Trump, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
Thursday night's motion came on the same day the organizations asked federal prosecutors to release a separate list which reportedly shows the names of people who may have known about the conspiracy but weren't criminally charged.
Rosen said he has requested a copy of the second list, which was created by federal investigators. He said the organizations will seek a court order to release the document if prosecutors don't provide it.
Kelly's attorney, Michael Critchley, initially requested the names in a filing in early March, a few weeks after a footnote in a government filing referred to individuals "who may have had knowledge of the conspiracy or took actions that happened to further its goals'' but did not join the conspiracy.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment Thursday on the media request.
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