Christie staffer says she left bridge inquiry to others

Posted: Thursday, July 17, 2014, 3:09 PM

TRENTON - The New Jersey legislative panel investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures pressed a senior Christie administration official on Thursday to explain why she didn't aggressively pursue allegations that the resulting traffic jams involved possible wrongdoing.

In what may be the panel's last chance to square off with the administration, legislators focused their questioning on a Sept. 13 e-mail composed by Pat Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which alleged that the lane closures were illegal.

Foye sent the e-mail to several Port Authority officials, including Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director, who was appointed by Gov. Christie. Baroni forwarded the e-mail to Regina Egea, director of the Authorities Unit in the governor's office.

Egea said her responsibilities include overseeing the state's 53 authorities and commissions and to make sure they comply with state law.

'Bill and I spoke about the allegations, which are serious,' Egea told legislators on Thursday. 'He indicated that he disagreed with the assessment of the executive director.'

Baroni, Egea said, indicated that the lane closures were part of a traffic study led by the New Jersey side of the Port Authority.

Since then, legislators have subpoenaed documents that cast doubt on the traffic study theory. Rather, the documents show Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Port Authority official David Wildstein coordinating an apparent plot to create 'traffic problems' in Fort Lee, Bergen County.

In addition to the legislative inquiry, federal prosecutors are investigating the lane closures. The U.S. Attorney's Office has asked the panel to at least temporarily hold off on calling more witnesses.

Christie's chief of staff, Kevin O'Dowd, and three other administration officials already have testified before the legislative committee.

Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said in his e-mail that he would 'get to the bottom of this abusive decision,' and Egea said Thursday that she told Baroni to cooperate with Foye's review.

Egea said she didn't ask Foye about his claims because she didn't have a relationship with him.

Lawmakers appeared confounded that Egea didn't speak with Foye or take the allegations to her superiors.

'These were pretty serious allegations. This is the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey making allegations that laws were broken,' Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D., Bergen), co-chair of the committee, said during the hearing.

'You did not think it was part of your responsibility to speak to the executive director?'

Egea responded that she expected Baroni to cooperate with Foye. She also rejected the suggestion that she didn't take Foye's allegations seriously. Rather, Egea said, she wanted to see proof of wrongdoing before pressing further.

Egea, who is set to become Christie's next chief of staff, added that it was common for Foye and Baroni to have 'areas of disagreement,' such as on personnel decisions and the advancement of projects.

Egea said she read the e-mail in this context. Others who have testified before the panel also have noted tension between the New York and New Jersey sides of the Port Authority.

Legislators also asked Egea about her role in helping Baroni prepare for a Nov. 25 hearing before the Assembly Transportation Committee, which was investigating the lane closures at the time.

It was during that hearing that Baroni publicly stated that the lane closures were part of a traffic study. Foye would later dispute that explanation, and many legislators now believe the lane closures were politically motivated.

Egea said Thursday that Baroni and then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson had asked her to help edit Baroni's opening statement to make it 'as clear and concise as possible.'

The statement, she said, was meant to explain the purpose of the traffic study, explain that communications with local officials were not handled well, and to 'apologize and indicate it doesn't happen again.'

Legislators appeared interested in whether Egea had influenced Baroni's testimony.

As for the traffic study, Egea said: 'They did not communicate well. They did produce data.'

aseidman@phillynews.com

856-779-3846

@AndrewSeidman

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