U.S. | Fri Oct 21, 2016 | 2:36pm EDT

Christie told of NJ 'Bridgegate' closures month before: defendant

By Joseph Ax | NEWARK, N.J.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was told about the lane closures that led to the "Bridgegate" scandal a month before they occurred, a former aide testified on Friday, contradicting Christie's statements that he only learned about them afterward.

Bridget Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, told jurors in federal court in Newark that she discussed the plan to shut down access lanes at the George Washington Bridge with Christie in August 2013, and again in September as it was ongoing.

Kelly, who is on trial for her alleged role in the plot, said she believed at the time that the closures were a legitimate traffic study, not a politically motivated scheme, and described it as such to Christie.

Prosecutors have charged Kelly and former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive Bill Baroni, Christie's highest-ranking political appointee at the transportation agency, with creating massive traffic gridlock in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as payback after the town's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, refused to back Christie's 2013 re-election campaign.

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