Associates Of Trump Ally Christie Found Guilty In Traffic Scandal

NEW YORK,, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 04th Nov, 2016 ) - Two associates of New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie, a key ally of Donald Trump, were found guilty Friday of deliberating causing major traffic snarl-ups to get political revenge on a Democrat.

Bridget Kelly, then deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Bill Baroni, whom Christie appointed deputy executive director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty on all counts, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors argued during the six-week trial that the defendants unlawfully forced major traffic jams on the world's busiest bridge to punish a Democratic mayor for refusing to endorse their boss's re-election bid in 2013.

Thousands were affected in the town of Fort Lee, with children prevented from going to school and emergency response times delayed when the traffic was cut to a solitary lane on the George Washington Bridge in September 2013.

The trial spotlighted a bruising political climate among some of those closest to Christie, who is chairman of Trump's transition team should the New York billionaire win the White House next week. A third Christie aide, David Wildstein, had separately pleaded guilty.