Wildstein testifies at Bridgegate trial: I was the 'bad cop' at P.A.

David Wildstein, the admitted architect of the Bridgegate scandal cast by defense attorneys as an "evil mastermind," spoke publicly for the first time Friday, talking about his role in the 2013 scheme to close toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge.

Taking the stand at the Bridgegate trial in the federal courthouse in Newark, Wildstein described his focus on supporting the agenda of Gov. Chris Christie while he worked as a top political appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"My job was to advance Gov. Christie's agenda. My expectation is that I would be tough," Wildstein said.

He said he had a "one-constituent" rule: "The only person that mattered was Gov. Christie," he explained. "We used that as the barometer by which a decision would be made at the Port Authority."

Making his long-awaited appearance in the trial of Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, once a top aide to Christie, Wildstein testified about the political maneuvering that went on in the offices of the Port Authority.

Speaking firmly and confidently, often turning directly to the jury, Wildstein talked of his plea deal and cooperation agreement with the government.

"My hope is that I will not be sent to federal prison," he said.

He described himself as a "bad cop" at the Port Authority.

Wildstein, 55, who has already pleaded guilty in his involvement in the scheme, is the government's key witness in the high-profile corruption case that weighed down Christie's ill-fated presidential run and may ultimately have doomed it.

The U.S. Attorney's office has charged that Baroni and Kelly—in a plot authorities say was orchestrated by Wildstein— conspired to shut down several local access toll lanes at the bridge to wreak traffic havoc in Fort Lee, in retribution for Mayor Mark Sokolich's refusal to back the Republican governor in his re-election campaign.

Federal prosecutors have acknowledged that Wildstein was no angel and told the jury earlier this week that he was the one who came up with the idea to use the toll lanes to hurt the mayor— whose frantic calls abut the gridlock that had gripped his town over four days in September 2013 were allegedly ignored by Baroni.

But they said Kelly instructed Wildstein to take that action in an email a month earlier, telling him it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," and that Baroni blessed the plan.