New Jersey legislators expanded their probe into Bridgegate and issued new 18 subpoenas — and a challenge to two of Gov. Chris Christie’s closest former advisors on Monday.
The joint committee voted along party lines to declare its demand for key documents from former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien was “necessary, proper and relevant.”
Kelly and Stepien have refused to comply with subpoenas, saying it could violate their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.
But the committee voted on Monday that their objections were “invalid.”
State Rep. John Wisniewski, a Democrat who heads the panel, said the members would set a deadline for Kelly and Stepien’s compliance.
Stepien’s attorney Kevin Marino said, “We have provided the Committee with a detailed explanation of our constitutional and common law objections to the subpoena. If the Committee asks a court to enforce that subpoena despite its legal infirmities, we will bring those objections to the court’s attention.”
The committee added 18 new subpoenas on Monday to the 20 it issued last month.
It was believed that some of the information being sought related to whether Christie took a helicopter ride near Fort Lee in September around the time of lane closings of the George Washington Bridge created traffic chaos with longtime ally David Wildstein. The governor’s office has denied that Christie was ever in a helicopter with Wildstein.
Among those subpoenaed were the custodian of records of the State Police aviation unit and of the Port Authority and senior aides to Kelly, Wildstein and former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni.
Kelly is regarded as crucial to the investigation because she sent an e-mail in August to Wildstein saying “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”