Former Christie ally pleads guilty in bridge scandal

A former ally of Chris Christie pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to a politically motivated road closure and two more were indicted, in the first of a series of cases that could severely complicate the New Jersey governor's expected presidential campaign.

David Wildstein, formerly the top New Jersey appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to two counts related to the closure of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge in September 2013.

Mr Wildstein detailed in court how the conspiracy involved Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Ann Kelly, Mr Christie's former chief of staff. The US attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, subsequently announced nine charges each against Mr Baroni and Ms Kelly, who face an arraignment hearing on Monday. Both are expected to plead not guilty.

Mr Wildstein pleaded guilty to two counts. One was conspiracy against civil rights. The other was that he engaged in a conspiracy to obtain by fraud and intentionally misapply property of an organisation receiving federal benefits. Mr Baroni and Ms Kelly face similar charges and an additional allegation that they participated in a wire fraud - a fraudulent act via a communications network.

Mr Fishman said that people in positions such as the three alleged conspirators had obligations to use government resources for "proper government purposes".

"The indictment alleges - and Mr Wildstein admits - that these officials did something completely different," Mr Fishman told a press conference after Mr Wildstein's court appearance.

Mr Fishman said it was likely, based on the current evidence, that the three would be the only people charged in connection with the so-called Bridgegate conspiracy. But he carefully avoided commenting on the progress of other, related investigations known to be under way into other alleged misuse of Port Authority resources.

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One such investigation is looking into the circumstances under which United Airlines - the biggest user of the Port Authority's Newark Airport - came to reinstate a lightly used service to a destination near the holiday home of David Samson, the Port Authority's former chairman.

It also became clear in the emails that led to Friday's charges that Mr Christie's allies held a political grudge against Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, a vendetta that could lead to further charges.

Mr Christie's presidential ambitions have suffered since it emerged that Mr Wildstein ordered closures of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge to punish a Democratic mayor.

Mr Fishman declined to comment on links between Mr Christie and the conspiracy, although Alan Zegas, Mr Wildstein's attorney, reiterated in court there was evidence Mr Christie knew of the politically motivated closures as they occurred.

Mr Christie - Mr Fishman's immediate predecessor as US attorney for New Jersey - insisted on Twitter on Friday that he had known nothing of the conspiracy or the reason for the closures at the time.

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"I had no knowledge or involvement in the planning or execution of this act," the governor wrote. "The moment I first learned of this unacceptable behaviour, I took action, firing staff believed to be accountable, calling for an outside investigation and agreeing to fully cooperate with all appropriate investigations."

Mr Wildstein acknowledged in one of a series of questions put to him in court that the lane closures had been intended to punish Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, for supporting Mr Christie's Democratic rival in the 2013 gubernatorial election. The closures started on the first day of the 2013-2014 school year and caused traffic chaos in Fort Lee for four days.

Patrick Foye, executive director of the port authority, recently told the Financial Times that the scandals had caused "a good deal of damage" to the authority. The organisation, one of the most important public bodies in the greater New York area, runs the area's airports, seaports and Hudson River crossings, as well as operating the Path commuter rail system and owning the World Trade Center.

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