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- The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, is a U.S. political scandal in which a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, colluded to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge. The closures were intended to embarrass or anger Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, who had not supported Christie politically. Three people were eventually charged by Paul J. Fishman, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) official, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors. Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the PANYNJ, and Bridget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to Governor Christie, were charged with conspiracy and fraud and entered pleas of not guilty. Fishman also compiled a list of unindicted co-conspirators, parties who were aware of the closures at the time they took place or involved in a possible cover-up but who were not charged, which was not made public. The release of the names of so-called co-conspirators has been a matter of controversy in and of itself. and was taken up by Judge Susan Davis Wigenton of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. While the names have been made available to attorneys, they have not been made public pending proceedings. Another list, of others "who may have had knowledge of the conspiracy or took actions that happened to further its goals" but did not join the conspiracy, came to light in judicial proceedings in March 2016. Despite the release of some documents after the trial the names of unindicted co-conspirators were not released. In testimony given in September 2016, Wildstein said that among those who knew of the lane closures either before or while they were taking place or were made aware of attempts at a cover-up were Governor Christie, political advisors Bill Stepien and Michael DuHaime, and PANYNJ staff David Samson, Pat Schuber, and Philip Kwon. (en)
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| rdfs:comment
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- The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, is a U.S. political scandal in which a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, colluded to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge. The closures were intended to embarrass or anger Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, who had not supported Christie politically. (en)
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