Defense attorneys representing former Christie allies in the Bridgegate scandal want access to documents withheld by the U.S. Attorney's office as privileged, including emails between Christie staffers and representatives of the Port Authority during the lane closures.
NEWARK -- In the first defense motions challenging the evidence in the George Washington Bridge scandal, lawyers for two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie late Tuesday complained the government failed to produce "critical facts essential to their ability to prepare for trial."
They also said that the mountain of documents produced by the government against Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor, was essentially impossible to review. The "document dump" they received was not electronically searchable, while thousands of other pages were redacted.
"The indictment fails to provide Ms. Kelly with the most basic information needed to conduct an adequate pre-trial investigation," said attorney Michael Critchley in a brief.
MORE DETAILS: Read the defense motions
He also said the documents failed to identify other alleged co-conspirators referenced in the indictment.
Baroni's attorney, Michael Baldassari said the government placed the identities of the unnamed "conspirators" directly at issue in the case.
"The participation of those people is alleged in every single count," he wrote, arguing for disclosure of just who is cooperating. "There are no allegations of violence or the use of weapons. Neither Mr. Baroni nor Ms. Kelly has a criminal record. This is a white- collar/political corruption case. No one is in danger."
Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor, were indicted May 1 in connection with the abrupt shutdown of local access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. They were charged with conspiring to tie up traffic in Fort Lee as political payback after Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee declined to back Christie in his 2013 re-election bid.In the briefs, which offered the first look at how the defense intends to challenge the government's case, the defense attorneys also questioned why prosecutors have not identified any witness they intend to call at trial.
Baroni's attorney, in fact, called for a change of venue in the case, saying neither defendant could receive a fair trial in New Jersey.
"The media coverage of Mr. Baroni and the bridge scandal is not only widespread, but also sensationalistic and so 'grossly unfair' that viewers cannot be reasonably expected to put it out of their minds," wrote attorney Michael Baldassare. "Considering the extensive and prejudicial nature of the pre-trial publicity in this case as well as the characteristics of the jury pool, Mr. Baroni would not receive a fair trial in the District of New Jersey."
In addition, both attorneys sought access to documents withheld by the U.S. Attorney's office as privileged, including emails between Christie staffers and representatives of the Port Authority during the lane closures.
"A number of emails to and from Gov. Christie at his personal email address were redacted on the basis of the deliberative process privilege," wrote Baldassare. "The privilege log entries for some of these redactions indicate that the redacted information relates to 'campaign strategy.' A campaign team is not a government agency for purposes of the deliberative process privilege and, thus, these redactions are invalid on their face."
RELATED: Bridgegate trial pushed back
Baldassare additionally charged that the government was still producing documents the defense has yet to review for trial, including a 13 page single- spaced letter sent on Tuesday.
"It is unclear why, seven months after Mr. Baroni was indicted, the government is still organizing discovery and producing it to him," wrote Baldassare in his brief. "That is particularly troublesome given that the government had an 18-month investigation during which this could have been accomplished."
He also revealed that David Wildstein, the former high-level Port Authority patronage appointee who has already pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, implicating both Baroni and Kelly, stole Baroni's computer hard drive before he left the Port Authority. Wildstein is cooperating with prosecutors.
"He kept it and at some unspecified point in time later, gave it to the government," Baldassare wrote." The government says that Wildstein says he never accessed the hard drive after he stole it. The government has produced no evidence to demonstrate that Wildstein did not tamper with the hard drive during his secret possession of it."
Prosecutors say they amassed more than 1.5 million pages of documents in the case, including computer data, recordings, telephone records, emails, texts, financial records, materials obtained through search warrants, as well as the affidavits in support of those search warrants, after a nearly 16-month investigation.
The U.S. Attorney's office has until Nov. 24 to respond to the filings.
The defense motions came, coincidentally, on the night of the latest Republican presidential debate, where Christie, who is seeking the GOP nomination, is still trying to convince voters that the Bridgegate scandal is behind him.
Christie, who first made light of the lane closures when they occurred, has since said he had nothing to do with the lane closures and fired staff members he believed to be accountable after some of his aides were implicated in January 2014.
The governor has not been charged with any wrongdoing, nor has his former campaign manager, Bill Stepien, whose name had surfaced during the investigation in subpoenaed emails.
His presidential drive, though, has been a bumpy ride. While once an early frontrunner, Christie was dropped Tuesday night from the primetime Republican debate in Milwaukee, banished from the main event to the earlier undercard because of sagging national poll numbers.
COVERING UP
According to the indictment, Baroni plotted with Wildstein and Kelly to concoct a story of a phony traffic study to hide the real motive for the lane closures.
The plan, which deliberately narrowed the traffic patterns on approaches from two local Fort Lee streets and cut the number of tollbooths dedicated to local traffic on the span, paralyzed the Bergen County community for days, as cars, trucks and buses backed up into local streets, with the gridlock delaying school children, commuters and ambulances.
Documents released earlier by a state legislative committee investigating the shutdowns before the indictments were handed down revealed that the scheme was launched after Kelly learned that Sokolich was not going to endorse Christie, as the campaign had expected.
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee, " she told Wildstein in a now infamous e-mail some have labeled the smoking gun in the case, sent on Aug. 13--four weeks before the shutdown.
"Got it, " he replied.
On Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, Wildstein ordered the bridge's general manager to carry out the shutdowns, and he e-mailed Kelly the next day. "I will call you Monday to let you know how Fort Lee goes," he wrote in the e-mail.
"Great," she responded.
Prosecutors say they deliberately chose not to execute the plan during mid-August, which is typically a light traffic month, and instead until the first day of school in Fort Lee to "ratchet up the injury" to the town and its mayor.
Baroni's attorney, though, said the indictment is wrong in its allegations that a meeting with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop was cancelled because he also was not going to endorse Christie for re-election.
"Gov. Christie told the government that he did not want the Fulop meetings to take place because it might strain the governor's relationship with Sen. President Steve Sweeney," Baldassare wrote. "The decision to cancel meetings to maintain political relationships is not wrong, let alone a federal crime."
The long-delayed trial, which has been repeatedly rescheduled over requests by defense attorneys for more time to review the evidence, is now set for April. Judge Susan D. Wigenton, who will preside over the trial, issued the latest order for a postponement on Oct. 30, based on a request by the defendants' lawyers for more time to review documents.
The request was unopposed by the U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
