New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s “fixer” at the Port Authority was “hated by hundreds, thousands of people,” but he could not be easily removed because he was “protected” by the governor, it was revealed at the Bridgegate trial Thursday.
David Wildstein, the admitted mastermind of the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures, was “abusive to employees and he terrorized people,” Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye testified.
“He was hated by hundreds, thousands of people at the Port Authority,” Foye added.
When asked why he didn’t just fire Wildstein, Foye initially punted, saying “it was complicated.”
Later, Foye said Wildstein, who even Newark federal prosecutors say engaged in “dirty tricks,” was shielded by Christie.
“He was protected by Chris Christie, correct?” asked defense lawyer Michael Critchey.
“Yes,” Foye said.
Foye made the comments at the trial of Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former top Christie aide. They’ve been charged with helping Wildstein arrange the lane closures in order to punish the mayor of Fort Lee with a crushing traffic jam for failing to endorse Christie.
Wildstein, the government’s star witness in the case, could take the stand as soon as Friday.
Foye — who ordered the lanes re-opened on the fourth day — so disliked Wildstein that he had his picture posted in every Port Authority facility when the political operative left in 2013 to make sure he couldn’t sneak back in.
“Given what I knew about his personality it was a concern,” Foye said.
Port Authority community liaison Tina Lado also took the stand to say Baroni threatened her when she asked if she could call Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich regarding his complaints about the lane closures.
“He said to me that they had been looking at phone bills and found we had high charges on outgoing phone calls and that we had to be careful of making unnecessary calls,” Lado said.
“What I took it as was, he did not want me to call back Fort Lee.”