NEWARK, N.J. — Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie personally discussed how to handle the fallout from the George Washington Bridge lane closures, even agreeing to release a report covering up the incident, according to the admitted mastermind of the political revenge scheme.
Cuomo’s administration — referred to in testimony as “Albany” — told the top official at the bistate Port Authority to “lay off” Christie following the incident, former Port official David Wildstein testified here in U.S. District Court.
Wildstein said he was told of the conversations between the governors of New York and New Jersey by David Samson, the former chairman of the agency’s board, and Bill Baroni, its former deputy executive director and now a defendant in the case.
Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, who was appointed by Cuomo and remains at the agency, had been investigating the September 2013 lane closures.
Cuomo, a Democrat, and Christie, a Republican, agreed that the agency would release a report washing over the incident, saying the lane closures were the result of a traffic study commissioned by officials on the New Jersey side of the agency and that there had been a “failure of communications,” Wildstein testified.
“My understanding was Governor Christie and Governor Cuomo has discussed this,” Wildstein told defense attorney Michael Critchley. “That if there was a report that was issued, that if New Jersey side accepted responsibility, that Mr. Foye would sign off on that.”
That was supposed to “put an end to this,” Wildstein said.
More: Bridgegate Mastermind: Cuomo Agreed To Help Christie Whitewash Scandal
Shame on Christie! Shame on Cuomo!
