TRENTON, N.J. — Republican Gov. Chris Christie wasn’t charged by federal prosecutors in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case and wasn’t held responsible by other investigations into the political revenge plot, but he’s now been ensnared again in the legal fallout because of a misconduct complaint.
On Thursday, a New Jersey judge in Hackensack allowed the complaint against Christie to move forward. Christie’s office said he will appeal and described the person as a “serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the system.”
The complaint, filed by retired Teaneck firefighter William Brennan, alleges Christie “knowingly refrained from ordering that his subordinates take all necessary action to reopen local access lanes” from Fort Lee that had been “closed with the purpose to injure Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich” for not endorsing Christie’s re-election bid.
The complaint claims residents were “deprived the benefit and enjoyment of their community.”
Brennan, who ran a failed campaign for the Assembly as a Democrat in 2011, disagreed with the characterization of him by the governor’s office. He said in a telephone interview Thursday that he’s pursuing the complaint on behalf of the public.
The judge’s decision comes during the trial of two former Christie appointees who are accused of orchestrating the lane closures in September 2013 as retribution against Sokolich, a Democrat.
The prosecution’s star witness, David Wildstein, testified that several members in the governor’s inner circle knew about the plot beforehand or soon after and that Christie himself was told about the traffic jams on the third day of the four-day lane closures.
Christie has denied that happened, and spokesman Brian Murray said Thursday: “The simple fact is the governor had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening.”
The governor’s misconduct case next goes to the Bergen County prosecutor’s office in Hackensack, which will decide whether it will lead to an indictment. Christie appointed the prosecutor in that office.