Release of Names in Christie Bridge Scandal Delayed
Judge grants request to temporarily withhold names of people who knew about plan to shut down lanes
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie can get on with his job running Donald Trump’s transition team without any interruptions from that pesky George Washington Bridge Scandal — at least for a while.
A federal appeals court judge granted a request to at least temporarily delay the release of a list of names of people who know about the so-called Bridgegate conspiracy and were not charged with any crimes, The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey reported Tuesday.
The decision by Judge Thomas L. Ambro, of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, granted the request of an anonymous man who said his reputation would be severely damaged if the list were made public, the paper reported. The names will be withheld pending an appeal in which oral arguments are scheduled for June 6, the paper reported.
The fight over the list and other court documents has raised new questions about who in Christie’s inner circle was involved in the 2013 scheme to snarl commuter traffic for political reasons.
[Related: Christie’s Bridge to Nowhere]
Federal prosecutors had already delayed the release a list of people involved in the plan but never charged with a crime, the so-called list of unindicted co-conspirators, the newspaper reported. U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton ruled last week that the names should be made public.
Christie, a Republican, told reporters he did not expect his name to be included on the list. He has insisted that he didn’t know anything about the plan.
[Related: Who Might Trump Pick as VP?]
But the scandal could continue to haunt him. A court filing Thursday acknowledged that defense attorneys in the case have been given a second list of names , disclosing those who knew about the scheme but didn’t report it, the paper said.
[Related: Chris Christie’s Conundrum]
The scandal undermined Christie’s presidential campaign and has plagued his second gubernatorial term. The governor dropped out of the GOP presidential race in February after the New Hampshire primary and soon endorsed Trump . Trump picked his former rival to head of his transition team last week.
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