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After learning of the September 2013 traffic jams caused by forced lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, U.S. Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck began attending public meetings of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Weinberg persuaded state Assembly John Wisniewski to take an interest, after which he issued subpoenas for Port Authority officials.
Last month, Christie wanted Weinberg and Wisniewski — both longtime foes — to release emails after Wikileaks published hacked emails with Weinberg's name on them.
The first Jewish woman to run for statewide public office in New Jersey, Weinberg was accused of using "DNC-crafted language" to attack the governor's decision to to become GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's transition planning chief.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a Christie-appointed Port Authority official on charges of closing GWB access lanes over a stretch of five mornings to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich -- a Democrat, like Weinberg and Wisniewski -- for not endorsing the governor's re-election bid that year.
David Wildstein, another Christie appointee to the authority, already pleaded guilty.
Federal prosecutors say the three conspired to commit fraud by illegally exploiting Port Authority resources for political ends -- and that Christie knew about it.
Christie said he didn't know approve or authorize the move -- and that he found out about them in a Wall Street Journal story only after Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered the lanes reopened.
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