During testimony, he provides more detail on the conversation he said he had with the governor on Sept. 11.
NEWARK -- The prosecution's star witness in the Bridgegate scandal claimed Gov. Chris Christie was told of the traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge in the midst of the gridlock in Fort Lee in September 2013, and laughed when he heard about it.
At the same time, David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to federal crimes associated with the scandal and is now cooperating with the government, testified that not only was Christie aware of the lane shutdowns as they were occurring --so was David Samson, the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as were other members of Christie's closest inner circle.
Wildstein, testifying for the third day in federal court, said the governor's campaign manager Bill Stepien was in the loop before the lanes were actually shut down, that he not only made Samson aware of the lane closures before he told Christie, he specifically told him they were an act of political retaliation against the Fort Lee mayor.
From left, David Wildstein, David Samson, Bill Baroni, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Mary Pat Christie attend a memorial ceremony in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2013. Wildstein testified in federal court on Tuesday that he and Baroni told Christie at the ceremony about the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge which were causing massive traffic jams. Christie has consistently denied he was told about the scheme. (Port Authority file photo) As the scheme began to unravel in November of 2013, Wildstein also told Michael DuHaime, a Christie friend and political strategist, as well as Phillip Kwon, another Christie insider and deputy general counsel at the Port Authority.
Samson was later indicted and pled guilty to shaking down United Airlines to provide a scheduled direct flight from New Jersey to his winter home in South Carolina, but has not been charged in connection with the Bridgegate scandal.
The governor has not been accused of any wrongdoing, nor has DuHaime, Stepien or Kwon.
Now on trial in the case are Bill Baroni, Christie's top appointee at the Port Authority, and former Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly, who are are charged with conspiracy and fraud in connection with the lane closures that were orchestrated by Wildstein in an effort to punish Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, after the Democrat declined to endorse the Republican governor for re-election.
According to Wildstein, he and Baroni "boasted" to the governor about the heavy traffic they had created when they saw him in person at a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York in 2013.
Wildstein said he and Baroni approached the governor and told him there had been a "tremendous amount of traffic" in Fort Lee that morning. "Major traffic jams. You'll be pleased to know Mayor Sokolich is very frustrated," Baroni told the governor, Wildstein told the jury.
A former political blogger who wrote anonymously under the name of "Wally Edge" before he was hired by the Port Authority to a $150,000-a-year position that never before existed, Wildstein said the governor took on a sarcastic tone as he was told about what was happening in Fort Lee.
"Well, I'm sure Mr. Edge would not be involved in anything that's political," he said Christie told them.
"Were you and Mr. Baroni bragging?" asked assistant U.S. attorney Lee Cortes.
"Yes, very much so," Wildstein replied. "We discussed how pleased we were the boss was happy."
But at the State House in Trenton, speaking after a press event related to drug treatment, the governor was unequivocal in his denial.
"I have not and will not say anything differently than I've been saying since January 2014, no matter what is said up there," said Christie, referring to the testimony in federal court in Newark. "I had no knowledge, prior to or during these lane realignments, I had no role in authorizing it, I had no knowledge of it, and there's been no evidence ever put forward that I did."
Christie said "from the moment all this became public, my one job was to make sure that I told the people of New Jersey the absolute truth. I have, I'll continue to, and no matter what else anybody says, that will not change."
An attorney for DuHaime, Marc Mukasey of Greenberg Traurig, said in a statement: "Mike is a potential witness in this case so specific commentary on Wildstein's version of the facts is imprudent. I will simply say that Mike has, at all times, told the truth when he has been questioned about this matter."
In his testimony, Wildstein told jurors that he and Baroni discussed plans the day before the governor's visit to Ground Zero to talk about the scheme.
"We intended to talk to Gov. Christie about the effects of the lane closures," Wildstein said. "Miss Kelly had previously said to me the governor is going to love this."
Kelly was then head of the governor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, an outreach agency Wildstein said had been subverted in a broad effort to coordinate the giveaway of government grants and services to encourage Democratic officials to get on board the Christie re-election campaign.
Bridgegate: A timeline of events
Prosecutors showed jurors a series of photographs of Christie talking to Baroni and Wildstein ahead of the ceremony at Ground Zero. At the time of the discussion, it was the third day of the local access lane closures in Fort Lee that ground the city to a halt, blocking emergency vehicles, school buses and commuters, officials said.
According to Wildstein, Christie and Samson also spoke with Baroni that morning about freezing out Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, whose calls were not being returned by the Port Authority or administration officials after he, like Sokolich, suggested he might endorse the governor, but then changed his mind.
There had long been a belief within the campaign that Fulop, one of the highest profile Democrats in the state, might support Christie.
In his testimony, Wildstein said a year later, after Fulop's decision not to endorse, the mayor had fallen out of favor. A planned day that had been scheduled to allow him to meet personally with members of various state government agencies was canceled, Wildstein said, to "send a message" to Fulop.
"The mayor hadn't endorsed Gov. Christie and he was not going to get any assistance from the state."
The lane closure scheme began to fall apart after Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority, found out and ordered the lanes reopened, over the objections of Baroni.
As reporters from various news organizations began asking questions, and a legislative committee was convened to investigate, Wildstein said he and Baroni concocted a cover story, insisting it was all part of a traffic study.
He said he met with DuHaime, the governor's political consultant, and said he admitted directing the lane closures, and that others in the governor's office had been involved.
"I felt the story was going to go in a very bad direction and it needed to be cut off," he said.
Duhaime, he said, was upset.
"He told me it was a very bad idea," he said.
Staff writer S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.