At Bridgegate Trial Closings, Two Views of Wildstein Emerge

At closing arguments Friday in the six-week Bridgegate trial in federal court in Newark, a prosecutor disputed representations by William Baroni Jr. and Bridget Anne Kelly that they were misled into participating in the politically motivated lane closures. Later, a defense lawyer attacked the credibility of David Wildstein, the star witness who pled guilty to charges in the case and testified for the prosecution.

Baroni and Kelly were barely acquainted with each other and never crossed paths prior to the lane closures that tied up traffic in Fort Lee to extract retribution against the borough’s mayor. But while Wildstein “acted as the middleman,” Baroni and Kelly each played a critical role in carrying out the weeklong closures in September 2013, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes Jr. told jurors. Although Wildstein had the idea for the lane closure scheme, it was Kelly that put the plan in motion with her e-mail directive, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Cortes said. And Baroni’s willingness to maintain silence when he was deluged with calls and e-mails about the traffic jams was a critical part of the scheme, Cortes said.