The activist and former firefighter who filed a citizen’s official misconduct complaint against Gov. Chris Christie over the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal plans to run for New Jersey governor in 2017.
William Brennan made the surprise announcement Monday as he also railed about a judge’s ruling that no special prosecutor is needed to handle the case he brought against Christie.
“We are dealing with rampant criminality in the office of the governor of New Jersey. It is unprecedented, the level of deceit that has gone on,” said Brennan in announcing his longshot bid to succeed Christie.
“I have decided to clean house from the top down. Effective immediately, I am a candidate for the office of the governor of the state of New Jersey.”
He’d be running against John Wisniewski, the longtime state assemblyman who co-chaired the legislative inquiry into the bridge scandal, ex-Goldman Sachs exec Phil Murphy and former U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement Jim Johnson in the Democratic primary.
Brennan also filed a new court motion asking Judge Bonnie Mizdol to reconsider appointing a special prosecutor in his citizen complaint regarding the lane closure scandal.
“This is an absurd, astonishingly improper turn of events here, where the rights of a concerned citizen, which was recognized as a role for me to play, has been limited to that of a citizen who cannot address his concerns with respects to a conflicted prosecutor,” Brennan said outside Police headquarters in Wayne, NJ, while a dozen supporters stood behind him chanting “lock him up,” and waved signs that read “impeach him” targeting Christie.
“Now, we want you to rule on the question that was asked. Is there a conflict, and if so what is the cure.”
In October, Brennan, who also holds a law degree, got the OK to proceed with his citizen’s complaint against the governor arguing that Christie should be criminally prosecuted for his failure to end the closures — a second-degree misconduct charge punishable by five to 10 years in prison.
Brennan based his complaint on testimony from David Wildstein, the star witness in a Newark federal court case involving two of Christie’s former aides, who testified that Christie learned about the lane closures while they were happening — and laughed.
Christie was scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Hackensack, on Nov. 23, but Mizdol put off oral arguments until Jan. 11.
On Nov. 4, a federal jury convicted Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the governor’s appointee at the Port Authority, as part of the biggest political corruption scandal to rock New Jersey in years.
They were found guilty of all seven charges against them, including conspiracy to misuse Port Authority resources and infringing on citizens’ civil rights, and face up to 20 years prison when sentenced.