--- title: Chris Christie Ally David Wildstein Pleads Guilty in Bridge Scandal description: The scandal could threaten Christie's presidential ambitions canonical: https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-01T16:31:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-17T16:52:19.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Ally Pleads Guilty in NJ Bridge Scandal og:description: The scandal could threaten Christie's presidential ambitions og:url: https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e292a69188a53a9/6987edebcd1bbad07f6f940d/chris-christie1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2749 og:image:height: 1546 og:image:alt: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlton on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Ally Pleads Guilty in NJ Bridge Scandal twitter:description: The scandal could threaten Christie's presidential ambitions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e292a69188a53a9/6987edebcd1bbad07f6f940d/chris-christie1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Christie Ally Pleads Guilty in Bridge Scandal, 2 Aides Indicted > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Jan 17, 2024 4:52 PM UTCPublished: May 1, 2015 4:31 PM UTC  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlt\`on on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlt\`on on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia.Olivier Douliery—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Jan 17, 2024 4:52 PM UTCPublished: May 1, 2015 4:31 PM UTC An ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responsible for closing approach lanes to the George Washington Bridge before his 2013 reelection pleaded guilty Friday, with indictments unveiled against a pair of former top Christie aides. David Wildstein, the former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official who supervised the lane closures, [entered a guilty plea](https://www.scribd.com/doc/263774970/Wildstein-David-Information) at the Newark, N.J., federal courthouse on a pair of conspiracy charges after an 18-month investigation. Nine-count indictments against Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, were unsealed after the plea. Wildstein, who is cooperating with prosecutors, was charged with conspiracy to knowingly misapplying property that receives federal funds and conspiracy to violate civil rights. The lane closures were allegedly in retribution for Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s refusal to endorse Christie’s reelection bid. Kelly and Baroni were charged with similar conspiracy charges, as well as multiple counts of wire fraud as part of the scheme. Christie has denied knowledge of the lane closures, and for months afterward mocked the notion that the lanes closures were anything but a traffic study. But a legislative investigation revealed emails and text messages from Wildstein and Kelly—then one of Christie’s top aides—about the lane closures, including the now infamous note from Kelly, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” The scandal sent Christie’s presidential ambitions into a tailspin that he is only just emerging from. Christie began a series of town halls in New Hampshire just weeks ago in an attempt to revitalize his prospects. The indictments threaten to set his hopes back yet again. [Wildstein, David Information](https://www.scribd.com/doc/263774970/Wildstein-David-Information) by [Zeke Miller](https://www.scribd.com/zeke%5Fmiller) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/"},"headline":"Christie Ally Pleads Guilty in Bridge Scandal, 2 Aides Indicted","datePublished":"2015-05-01T16:31:24.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-17T16:52:19.000Z","description":"The scandal could threaten Christie's presidential ambitions","url":"https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/","keywords":["Chris Christie","2016 Election","New Jersey"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e292a69188a53a9/6987edebcd1bbad07f6f940d/chris-christie1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e292a69188a53a9/6987edebcd1bbad07f6f940d/chris-christie1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlton on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia.","caption":"New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses VA Consumer Electronics Association during a Leadership Series discussion at the Ritz-Carlton on May 1, 2015 in McLean, Virginia.","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/chris-christie/","name":"Chris Christie"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3843430/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-david-wildstein/","name":"Christie Ally Pleads Guilty in Bridge Scandal, 2 Aides Indicted"}}]}] ```