The aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who sent the infamous “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” e-mail also ordered an underling to delete a subsequent message in which she gloated over the tie-ups, according to testimony Tuesday in the state Legislature’s Bridgegate investigation.
Christina Renna told a legislative panel in Trenton that she deleted the damning e-mail from Bridget Kelly, who wrote “Good” upon learning of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich’s reaction to the traffic jams caused by the deliberate closure of some lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge last September. But Renna said she also forwarded a copy of Kelly’s e-mail to another account: “I did what she asked me to do, but I protected myself as well.”
Renna, formerly in charge of relations between the Christie administration and Jersey’s mayors, also testified that Kelly blew her stack when she learned someone in Renna’s office had met with Sokolich without her knowledge, with Renna assuming “the mayor’s office had done some critical wrong.”
Sokolich, a Democrat, has accused the Christie administration of punishing Fort Lee because he refused to endorse the Republican governor’s re-election bid last year.
Renna said she didn’t believe that Kelly was the “architect” behind the lane closures, adding, “We all have theories, but I don’t know.”
Christie fired Kelly after her “traffic problems” e-mail became public, and Renna later resigned.
Also Tuesday, Christie and Gov. Cuomo said a special panel would consider reforming the Port Authority, whose then-chairman, longtime Christie confidant David Samson, resigned in March amid questions about his role in Bridgegate and alleged conflicts of interest involving his law firm.