‘Bridgegate’ still a ‘stain’ on New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy says

The “Bridgegate” scandal remains a “stain” on New Jersey, despite the Supreme Court ruling that reversed the convictions of two former allies of ex-Gov. Chris Christie, according to his successor.

“It’s a stain, no matter how you slice it, in the history, at least the modern history of our state,” Gov. Phil Murphy said, according to nj.com.

Murphy, a Democrat, also said public disgust over the political-payback scheme that snarled traffic on the George Washington Bridge likely led to his own crushing 2017 victory over Christie’s lieutenant governor, Republican Kim Guadagno.

The former banking executive suggested he was elected because voters were “sick and tired of the way things have been working in this state for too long.”

“And I’m not saying that to be holier than thou or because we’ve got it all figured out,” he said, according to nj.com.

“But this was a big dent in the reputation in our state, in the trust our people have in the way the state works, and you could argue that we’re still digging out of it in some respects.”

Murphy made his remarks during a daily briefing Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions of Bridget Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former Christie appointee to the Port Authority.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote that their 2013 plan to punish Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for refusing to endorse Christie’s re-election didn’t violate federal fraud laws because they “did not aim to obtain money or property.”