One of the defendants in the case stemming from the “Bridgegate” scandal is reupping his bid to get $4 million in legal fees paid for by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, sued his former employer two years ago seeking payment for his legal fees. He’s looking to amend the complaint, and his attorneys sent a letter to the federal court on Wednesday pointing out that his codefendant, Bridget Anne Kelly, got her own legal costs paid for by the state of New Jersey.
Baroni appears to be the only Bridgegate defendant who had to pay his own legal fees.
Separately, the state of New Jersey has paid approximately $25.9 million in Bridgegate-related legal costs so far, according to public record requests and information provided by the state attorney general’s office.
The Port Authority also appears to have paid legal fees for other employees involved in the scandal, including David Wildstein and David Samson, the former chairman.
Baroni, Wildstein and Samson were working for the Port Authority in September 2013 when the Port Authority Police Department, at Wildstein’s request, blocked several lanes to the George Washington Bridge for four days, causing a massive traffic jam. Wildstein would later testify that the traffic jam was meant to punish the Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing Republican Gov. Chris Christie for re-election.
He also testified that Christie knew about the scheme, but no charges were ever filed against the former governor, who has denied involvement.
Christie is expected to announce his second presidential campaign next week, nearly a decade after the most notorious scandal of his governorship.
Baroni and Kelly were tried and convicted of fraud in federal court, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned those convictions in 2020.
“Not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the unanimous decision. “Because the…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply