Investigations of Bridgegate are ongoing as both sides prepare to go to trial just over two months from now. Prosecutors allege that Christie staged an intentional lane closure and traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 as retaliation against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who refused to support Christie’s 2013 re-election bid.
Two former officials, William Baroni of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Christie’s former chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly, were initially indicted in the case, though Christie himself has yet to be implicated in any conspiracy or wrongdoing.
Investigators are currently searching for the cell phone Governor Christie used nearly three years ago during the time of the bridge closure, which was turned in and examined as evidence in 2013. Christie’s legal team said it “returned” the phone to prosecutors, but prosecutors claim they never had it to begin with.
Of course, it’s the contents of the phone that matter. For an average cell phone that only has a lifespan of two years, however, recovering any evidence of phone calls or text messages to or from Christie during the alleged scandal may be difficult.
“President Nixon’s tapes were not immune from a subpoena,” wrote Baroni’s attorney, Michael Baldassare, in his brief. “Neither is Governor Christie’s phone.”
Investigators claim that revealing text messages between Christie and former Director of the Authorities Unit Regina Egea had been deleted from the latter’s phone before examination, though the defense claims such measures were taken “in the ordinary course of maintaining storage on her personal mobile device.”
Baroni’s attorney called the entire situation “suspicious and outrageous.”
Rumors concerning Christie’s potential role as Vice Presidential running mate to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump have only further fueled attention to the case, which is set to go to trial September 12.
