The prosecution's closing argument
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NorthJersey.com: In a summation lasting about four hours, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes said that Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, and Baroni, the governor’s former top executive appointee at the Port Authority, “shared an intense commitment to the political success of Governor Chris Christie...They saw themselves as his loyal lieutenants who were free to use their government jobs to launch political attacks and who never attempted to separate politics from their jobs in public service..."
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Loyal lieutenants so intensely committed to Christie, they deliberately kept their loyalty a secret from him, LOL!
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With so much riding on Wildstein’s testimony, Cortes emphasized that Wildstein’s...agreement with prosecutors depends upon him testifying truthfully.(They) will request leniency when Wildstein, who faces up to 15 years in prison, is sentenced. Cortes added that much of what Wildstein told the court was corroborated by documents, emails, text messages, phone records and testimony.
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Glad to hear about the corroboration, since the jury could decide not to believe a single thing Wildstein says simply because they don't like him. But in turn, that certainly doesn't mean that the defendants are telling the truth by default!
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Politico.com: Cortes cited...Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (who) called, emailed and texted Baroni asking for help...as first responders struggled to deal with a missing child and a cardiac arrest...Baroni's motivations are made clear by what he didn’t do — respond to Sokolich...and (by) his subsequent testimony...in Trenton, which prosecutors have cast as an elaborate attempt to cover up the plot.
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Actually, what Baroni chose to do was obey Christie's orders: no point tipping him off about what he already knew -- especially since it was exactly was what he wanted.
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NorthJersey.com: ...Cortes said..Kelly portrayed herself as a cog in the Christie machine, fearful of the governor’s temper...But (she) was “one of the 10 most senior advisers to the governor” and a protégé of Bill Stepien, Christie’s former campaign manager, who played hardball with political opponents.
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Protégé, not social secretary. And don't forget that Kelly and Stepien also had a romantic relationship: so much for her frail, helpless, damsel-in-distress routine.
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Both defendants, Cortes said...“had a higher responsibility...and that responsibility was to make...decision(s) in the best interests of the people of New Jersey...not what they believed was in the best interests of Bill Baroni or Bridget Kelly or Chris Christie.”
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The best interests of Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly WAS the best interests of Chris Christie. Remember, it's the illegal things they did, not the reasons why they did them. So it's very clever of Cortes to place Christie squarely on top of the pyramid (a metaphor, not a weight joke) even though he was never charged or called as a witness.