Bridgegate Defendant Bridget Kelly Says Voicemails Prove She Was Fall Person

The saga of the lane closure scandal known as Bridgegate is almost over, as the last person convicted in the scheme, former Gov. Chris Christie aide Bridget Kelly, prepares to report for a 13-month stint at a West Virginia prison on July 10. But before she begins her sentence, she provided WNYC with a voicemail from a sitting New Jersey Supreme Court justice that she says indicates she was a fall person for the whole affair.

On Jan. 8, 2014, Kelly's infamous email to the Port Authority — "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" — signaled that the mayor of Fort Lee would be punished with lane-closures at the George Washington Bridge, creating traffic jams in the town, which sits on the Jersey side of the GWB. 

The email put Kelly at the center of a legal and media firestorm. Hours after its release, she got this voicemail:

Hey Bridget, it's Wally Timpone. I'm a lawyer at McElroy, Mulvaney, Deutch and Carpenter, the place where [Christie confidante] Michele Brown worked for a while. And I'm a former federal prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office. I understand that you may be in need of representation and that you may be served a subpoena. I am happy to help.

Kelly, who at the time was driven out of her house by the storm of reporters who flooded her block, said she called Timpone back. "And he said that people were worried about me. They wanted to make sure I was taken care of," Kelly said. A single mother of four, Kelly said she was even promised a soft landing — a new job with benefits. 

But there was a problem, Kelly soon realized. She was already under investigation by a special committee of the state legislature, and Timpone was a Christie appointee to the Election Law Enforcement Commission — which is in charge of regulating legislators' campaign donations. Wouldn't this be a conflict of interest? 

"I said...'Well, how can you represent me?'" Kelly asked. "He said: 'I can, don't worry. It's not a big deal.'"

And so they met, twice.

Kelly told Timpone and his law partners what she knew — including the fact that she had told Christie about the lane closures, which she still says she believed to be part of a traffic study. (A federal jury later agreed with federal prosecutors that this was a political retaliation scheme aimed at the mayor of Fort Lee who had not endorsed Christie's reelection. The callous tone of Kelly's emails were the key pieces of evidence against her.)

Kelly said she now believes Timpone was sent to her "on a mission" by Christie allies so they could "download" what she knew, including anything incriminating on Christie. Because a few days after that first meeting, Timpone called Kelly and quit, citing his role on the Election Law Enforcement Commission. 

Timpone, through a spokesperson, declined comment, but he has said it was an "oversight" to represent Kelly, given the obvious conflict. Christie's spokeswoman did not return an email for comment. 

Kelly pointed to one other fact to make her argument that Timpone was working as an emissary to control the fall-out for the governor, and not as an attorney to protect her. Christie's own internal investigation of the Bridgegate affair revealed that Timpone's name was first floated as a potential lawyer for Kelly during a meeting with Christie and his top advisers at the governor's mansion on Jan. 8, the same day that Timpone left Kelly the voicemail. Kevin O'Dowd, Kelly's former boss and Christie's chief of staff, told investigators that it was suggested during this meeting that Timpone represent Kelly. In the same conversation, O'Dowd said, it was decided that Kelly would be fired. 

"They're saying they need to get Bridget Kelly an attorney," Kelly said. "Why are they worried about Bridget Kelly if they decided Bridget Kelly had to be fired? They were ready to show me the door, and then they took care of me?"

During his initial voicemail, Timpone name-dropped his former colleague, Michele Brown, a long-time confidante of Christie's who worked in the administration. That also indicated to Kelly that Timpone was sent by Christie.

In 2016, shortly after Christie lost his bid for president, Timpone surfaced in the news once again when the Republican governor nominated him to the New Jersey Supreme Court. A Democrat, Timpone easily won confirmation from the Democratic-controlled state senate. Timpone will have an unusually short term on the court, serving just until next year, when he faces the mandatory retirement age of 70. 

"He has been an extraordinary good friend and in the business that I'm in, having an extraordinary good friend is a gift," Christie said when Timpone was sworn in. "Having more than a few very good friends is a miracle," he added. "Wally Timpone has helped contribute to that miracle for me."

Seventeen years ago, Timpone was involved in a different Christie-related controversy. After President George W. Bush appointed Christie as New Jersey's U.S. Attorney, the state's two Democratic senators, Robert Torricelli and Jon Corzine, wanted someone with criminal law experience to be Christie's No. 2 in that office. Timpone was tapped for the job. 

But then it was revealed that Timpone had visited Torricelli while the senator was under FBI surveillance as part of an investigation into possible campaign finance violations. At the time, Timpone represented another elected official who the FBI wanted to wire in order to record conversations with Torricelli. As a result, Timpone never got the job as Christie's top assistant.

Kelly is still hoping the U.S. Supreme Court might take up her case before she leaves for prison in July. 

Bill Baroni, Christie's former appointee at the Port Authority, was also convicted in the Bridgegate scheme and is currently serving an 18-month sentence.