U.S. Attorney Issues Subpoenas in Bridge Query-Ted Mann and Jennifer Smith
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Federal Prosecutors Demand Christie Re-Election Campaign, Republican Committee Documents
Federal prosecutors have demanded documents from Gov. Chris Christie’s re-election campaign and the New Jersey Republican State Committee, an attorney representing both entities said on Thursday.
The subpoenas were issued by Paul Fishman, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey who is investigating the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge last September that have mushroomed into a political scandal for Mr. Christie and his administration.
The subpoenas for documents come after a previous round of subpoenas was issued to the campaign and many of the governor’s staff and associates by a legislative committee that is investigating the lane closures.
Mark Sheridan, an attorney at Patton Boggs LLP, which is representing the campaign and the Republican committee in connection with the legislative and federal investigations, confirmed the federal subpoenas, which are in addition to a subpoena that the campaign received from the legislative committee.
“All three subpoenas focus on the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge,” Mr. Sheridan said in an email. “The campaign and the state party intend to cooperate with the U.S. attorney’s office and the state legislative committee and will respond to the subpoenas accordingly.”
A Christie campaign official declined to comment on the subpoenas. A spokesman for the New Jersey Republican State Committee didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Christie didn’t take questions from reporters at an event in Camden, N.J., where he announced a new after-school program.
The lane closures were ordered by a Christie associate working at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and triggered major traffic jams for five mornings in Fort Lee, N.J., the town at the western end of the bridge, one of the busiest in the world.
A Christie campaign spokesman once called “crazy” the rumors that the closures were ordered as a political gesture, perhaps intended to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, who didn’t endorse Mr. Christie for re-election.
But Mr. Christie has since apologized for the incident and said it appeared to have been part of a “political vendetta.” Those remarks came after documents subpoenaed by the legislative committee showed Mr. Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, wrote to the Port Authority associate days before the closures with the message: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
Mr. Christie has denied any knowledge of their plans and said earlier this month that he learned of the traffic jams in Fort Lee from news reports.
“Our office can neither confirm nor deny any specific investigative actions,” a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said in response to an inquiry about the subpoenas.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been interviewing Hoboken officials in the wake of allegations by Mayor Dawn Zimmer that the Christie administration withheld superstorm Sandy funding to the city because she didn’t back a development supported by Mr. Christie’s allies, according to people familiar with the conversations.
At least four city officials were interviewed, and they concurred that Ms. Zimmer discussed being pressured by state officials last May, one of those people said.
Juan Melli, a spokesman for Hoboken, declined to confirm that Hoboken officials had been interviewed by the FBI. Gerald Krovatin, a lawyer retained Wednesday night to represent the city in the investigations, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Christie administration has firmly denied Ms. Zimmer’s allegations, saying they are illogical and accusing the Democrat of changing her story to wage a partisan attack.
—Heather Haddon contributed to this article.
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