Bridgegate

Bridgegate Testimony: Christie Threatened to “Fucking Destroy” a County Official

Written by SK Ashby

Former Port Authority executive David Wildstein has completed his testimony, but the Bridgegate trial is the gift that keeps on giving.

The next person in line to testify at the Bridgegate trial is former Christie staffer Chris Stark who shared a story about Governor Christie threatening to "destroy" a local county official.

Monmouth County Freeholder John Curley allegedly called Governor Christie a "fat motherfucker" because, according to Curley, Christie was only concerned with posing for cameras after Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 rather than actually helping Monmouth County.

Christie responded with a rant of his own in which he threatened Curley with political retaliation.

"Tell us what you understood," pressed Michael Critchley, defense attorney for Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff,who with Bill Baroni, once a close associate and deputy executive director of the Port Authority, are charged with nine counts of conspiracy, fraud and related charges in connection with the September 2013 toll lane shutdowns at the bridge.

Stark responded: "All right. From what I understood of the conversation, the governor told Mr. Curley: "Who the (expletive) do you think you are calling me a fat (expletive)? I'm the (expletive) governor of this state. If you're not in Keansburg standing behind me tomorrow at the podium, I will (expletive) destroy you. I will have a robo-call sent out to every Republican in Monmouth County before Election Day telling them not to vote for you."

The idea that Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni were thrown under the bus by Chris Christie is central to their defense and it appears that their attorneys are doing a fairly good job of establishing that Christie knew about the Bridgegate lane closure and may have even sanctioned them. Stark's testimony furthers the notion that Christie is a vindictive bully who is fully capable of punishing his political opponents.

With that said, we can't read the minds of the jury who may or may not see it differently, but there's still plenty of testimony from other witnesses left to share.