A Star (Witness) Is Born
Before delving into the testimony of the star witness, this would be handy to know:
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NYMag.com: (As a U.S. attorney circa 2005) Christie...arrests...Charles Kushner...a major Democratic contributor, who ultimately pleads guilty to making illegal campaign contributions and retaliating against...his brother-in-law...
Charles's son Jared Kushner...(purchased) media properties...in New York (and) New Jersey...Wildstein...(who)...attend(ed) Kushner’s wedding to Ivanka Trump...agrees to sell (controlling interest in) his website PoliticsNJ...on condition...that he (continue to run it) anonymous(ly)...
Christie (was) on the ballot...(for) the 2009 governor’s race...(Jared) harbors a deep antipathy toward the prosecutor who locked up his father...and (Wildstein) knows how his new boss wants the race to be covered...When Christie wins, though, the governor is forgiving: He has a job for (Wildstein) (as) an agent at the Port Authority. When Wildstein defects, sources say, the Kushners are furious. Someone leak(ed) his true identity...
Why would Christie want to turn David Wildstein into a power broker? The Port Authority may look like a boring bureaucracy, but it’s really a self-propelled patronage machine...The governors of New York and New Jersey jointly control the authority, and the two sides clash eternally...
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Why would Christie want to turn David Wildstein into a power broker? Maybe because Wildstein "earned" the Port Authority job by only
pretending to be against Christie and for Kushner!
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NorthJersey.com: Taking the stand at the Bridgegate trial in the federal courthouse in Newark, Wildstein described his focus on supporting the agenda of the governor while serving as a top political appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...
Wildstein said his job was to “advance Governor Christie’s agenda” at the agency and being a “very aggressive” person that meant taking on the role of “bad cop when it was necessary to move something forward.” Baroni “didn’t like playing bad cop; he liked to be the good cop,” Wildstein said. “It would be helpful to him … to have somebody there to be strong and tough...”
He had a "one-constituent" rule: "The only person that mattered was Governor Christie...We used that as the barometer by which a decision would be made at the Port Authority."
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While bridges and tunnels continued to deteriorate and traffic continued to clog. And I guess we'll have to wait until Stepien testifies to find out who gave orders to HIM.
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Wildstein recounted how ...Washington Township asked the Port Authority if it had any surplus vehicles to donate to the town’s emergency squad. Jurors were shown emails in which Wildstein asked Kelly whether she wanted this done. Kelly responded that “the mayor has always been good. I don’t see a problem.” ...In another email, Wildstein forwarded Kelly a request from (a Democrat) assemblywoman to tour the Holland Tunnel. Kelly responded: “No rush to do this.” Wildstein said: “No rush meant, ‘Nah, don’t do it.”
In yet another email...Wildstein wrote to Kelly that he would also talk to her “about other things in the Port Authority goody bag.” Asked...what he meant by “goody bag,” Wildstein explained: “All the things that the Port Authority had available to the governor’s office that would be helpful to Governor Christie.”
The emails between Wildstein and Kelly were sent from personal accounts. Wildstein explained that early on at the Port Authority he was told by high-ranking officials that personal accounts were a “preferable way of communicating” because they were not “discoverable in FOI [freedom of information] or open public records requests.”
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High-ranking officials? Only two officials ranked higher than Wildstein, and they both report directly to Christie -- the same Christie who's been giving Hillary grief about having a private e-mail server! According to him, conducting public business on private email servers is impeachable -- goody goody!
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He said there was a deliberate strategy as far back as 2010 to court as many Democrats as possible seeking endorsements for a governor who already had national aspirations... Surplus Port Authority trucks and millions in grants and other aid...(were) put into play..."The Port Authority was asked to play a role in securing those endorsements." ...Former Christie campaign manager and top aide "Bill Stepien gave that order..."
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Kelly worked for Stepien, Stepien -- and Baroni -- reported directly to Christie. Didn't Richie do a song about every road leading to you?
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Wildstein, who faces up to 15 years in prison, was asked by a prosecutor what he expects will happen if he fulfills his side of the bargain to testify truthfully.
“I have no expectation, I have only a hope. My hope is that I would not be sentenced to prison,” he said.
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And I think that's as completely honest a statement that we're going to get out of him. If Wildstein has any saving grace, it's that he's brave enough to read the writing on the wall: He accomplishes nothing by protecting Christie because it's becoming crystal clear that there's no way Bridge(t)-Gate could have happened without Christie's blessing. The defendant who implicates Christie directly is the one who has any hope of getting a lot less than 15 years.
Stay tuned for part two...