Fort Lee council members interviewed by Feds about GWB lane closures

Fort Lee council members were interviewed in recent weeks as part of the continuing federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office issued another subpoena to the Port Authority this week, sources familiar with the events confirmed on Friday.

Investigators had previously interviewed other Fort Lee officials, but this was the first time they spoke with council members — more than a year after news of the closings broke. It was unclear if the latest moves are the last steps of an exhaustive investigation that has drawn in scores of potential witnesses or an indication that prosecutors are still in search of evidence that would solidify a criminal case.

Two council members in Fort Lee described the interviews as informal and brief and said they had not been subpoenaed.

Councilman Armand Pohan said that he and most of his colleagues were interviewed individually at Fort Lee Borough Hall two to three weeks ago and that his meeting lasted 10 to 15 minutes. He would not discuss what was asked but said, “You should judge from the brevity of the interview it was not very consequential.”

Councilman Joseph Cervieri, who was not available when the other officials were questioned, was subsequently interviewed at the West Orange office of Tim Donohue, the borough’s special counsel.

“They just wanted to know what I knew,” Cervieri said. “It was a very quick conversation.Ÿ…Ÿ[The interviewer] was trying to find out who knew what.

“They were asking questions about was there anything different? Was there any interaction with the Port Authority?” Cervieri said. “For me, it was no, no, no, no, no.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is investigating the September 2013 lane closings at the bridge, which gridlocked traffic in Fort Lee on four days. One of the lines of inquiry is focusing on whether the closings were carried out to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who would not endorse Governor Christie, a Republican, during the governor’s reelection campaign.

After the controversy erupted, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat, said meetings with Christie administration officials and then-Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni were suddenly canceled after he, too, made it clear that he would not endorse Christie.

Emails showed that a Christie aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, and a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, were involved in the lane closings, but the governor has denied that he knew about them before they happened. A state legislative panel conducting its own investigation said in December it found no conclusive evidence that the governor was involved.

The U.S. attorney’s subpoena to the Port Authority requested information related to planned meetings between Port Authority officials and Fulop that were abruptly canceled, two sources familiar with the matter said. It also requested E-ZPass records dating to 2010 for Baroni, Wildstein and Kelly, the sources said.