Gov. Chris Christie aides found guilty for their involvement in Bridgegate scandal

The governor and head of Donald Trump's transition team faced immediate backlash on Twitter

By Taylor Link

Published November 4, 2016 4:24AM (EDT)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, center, sits with her attorney Michael Critchley, left, and defense team member attorney Edmund DeNoia, right, during a hearing Tuesday, March 11, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Attorneys for Kelly and former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien were in court to try to persuade a judge not to force them to turn over text messages and other private communications to New Jersey legislators investigating the political payback scandal ensnaring Christie's administration. (AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Chris Pedota, Pool) (AP)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, center, sits with her attorney Michael Critchley, left, and defense team member attorney Edmund DeNoia, right, during a hearing Tuesday, March 11, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Attorneys for Kelly and former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien were in court to try to persuade a judge not to force them to turn over text messages and other private communications to New Jersey legislators investigating the political payback scandal ensnaring Christie's administration. (AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Chris Pedota, Pool) (AP)

Two former officials who worked under New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were found guilty of all charges in connection to the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Prosecutors accused Bridget Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, of undertaking the scheme to punish a Democratic mayor who wouldn't endorse the Republican governor's 2013 re-election.

Christie denied any knowledge of the plot. But Kelly, Baroni and a third official who pleaded guilty all testified that Christie was informed about the lane closings either before or while they were going on.

After the verdict was rendered, Christie, the ardent Donald Trump supporter who is in charge of the GOP nominee's transition team and led chants of "Lock her up" at the Republican National Convention, was hit with intense scrutiny from political reporters and commentators on Twitter:

Christie released a statement in response to the guilty verdicts:

The Associated Press contributed to this story.


By Taylor Link

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