The Christie Tracker

OK, you caught us. The Christie Tracker Podcast actually wrapped up back in November of 2016 - after the Bridgegate trial of former Christie staffer, Bridget Anne Kelly and former Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority, Bill Baroni.

But because Tuesday, January 16th marks the last day in office for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, we had to temporarily reemerge.

We bribed them with hot coffee and free EZ Pass for a month, so WNYC'sMatt Katz andNancy Solomon came back for one more round on the podcast. They join hostDavid Furst for a last look back on the Gov's two terms in office.

Chris Christie dominated the state's political stage like no other. He claims New Jersey is "much, much better than it was eight years ago." But he finishes his term with the lowest approval rating of any governor in state history and may be remembered more for Bridgegate, Beachgate and endorsing Donald Trump than anything else.

Matt and Nancy highlight some of the moments that helped shape his legacy. Nancy says, "To me, it's all about how good of a communicator he is and how personable he is... and then all of the ways that he perverted our state government for his own purposes."

And while they were at it, the crew selected a few of their favorite episodes of the Christie Tracker Podcast:

MATT's PICK:

Christie's Bold Defense of Muslim-Americans (Four Years Ago)

On this show from November of 2015, we turned back the clock to a time well before the presidential primaries,when Gov. Christiewas letting loose with his bold support for a Muslim-American judge.

NANCY's PICK:

Chris Christie Through the Looking Glass

Things get curious. The man who deleted texts during Bridgegate investigation gets offended when Hillary Clinton's emails are erased. Matt picks apart every word of the governor's recent statements. And what does Alice in Wonderland have to do with Chris Christie? All will be explained in this episode from August 26, 2015.

DAVID's pick:

Chris Christie: The Springsteen Tracker

If you're with the Gov at a Bruce show, don’t even think about leaving early. Back in October of 2015, Matt explained Christie's Springsteen legendary obsession.

The Bridgegate trial is done. Governor Christie is heading into his last year in office. And the Christie Tracker Podcast is closing up shop.

Before we go, our resident Bridgegate-ologists, WNYC'sMatt Katz and Andrea Bernstein, join us to answer your questions.

Former Christie associates Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni plan to appeal their guilty verdicts. But the Gov is certainly ready to move on. Speaking about Bridgegate on NJ 101.5's Ask The Governor show this week he said, "I'm DONE with this... the people of New Jersey are done with it, it's over. And I know that it won't allow for the liberal media in this state to continue to beat on the Republican governor. But they'll find something else to do."

Speaking with host David Furst, Matt Katz says, "Never has the governor specifically addressed those allegations that came up in the trial and told us what is, exactly, wrong with them. He's just given blanket denials."

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The Trial is done. The guilty verdicts are in. So in an effort to turn the page on this chaotic chapter in New Jersey's history, we present Bridgegatepalooza - - a wrap-up of the political retribution scheme that derailed the rising star of the national Republican party, and ended – we thought – the political future of Chris Christie.

HostDavid Furst is joined by a group of reporters who covered the Bridgegate saga as it unfolded. Shawn Boburg, formerly with the Record now with the Washington Post…Heather Haddon andTed Mann with the Wall Street Journal... Tom Moran, the Star-Ledger's Editorial Page Editor... and of course, WNYC'sAndrea Bernstein and Matt Katz.

Looking back after the trial, Ted Mann says, "These are people who didn't think they were gonna get caught. And when they didn’t think they were gonna get caught, they weren't weeping and they weren't appealing to you to consider their backgrounds in public service… They were speaking very nastily about their fellow human beings and they were doing things that they would never justify in the light of day."

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After sevenweeks, the Bridgegate trial is done and the verdicts are in. Former Chris Christie staffer, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, the former Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority, were found guilty on all counts. Both sides are vowing to appeal. And even though testimony during the trial indicated otherwise, Governor Christie says the jury confirmed everything he has said all along – that he knew nothing about a plot to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge.

Meanwhile, the governor has a Nov. 23rd court date to deal with a citizen's complaint in Bergen County, accusing him of misconduct. And the possibility of a new legislative investigation into Bridgegate has been raised.

WNYC'sMatt Katz andAndrea Bernstein join us to reflect on the verdicts and help us get a handle on where this is heading. The governor appeared on CBS This Morning in an attempt to minimize the damage. But speaking with host David Furst, Matt Katz says "There are four high level people - we should remember this - four high level people who have been convicted of federal crimes who served… high up in this administration."

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Now in week 7, the Bridgegate trial is in the hands of the jury. And so as we wait for verdicts for former Christie staffer Bridget Kelly and former Port Authority appointee Bill Baroni, WNYC'sAndrea Bernstein andMatt Katz join us with a few closing arguments of their own.

There were a lot of details and characters for the jury to keep track of over the last 6 weeks of testimony. Speaking with host David Furst, Matt and Andrea detail the drama that played out in court when juror questions were presented to the judge.

At one point, tempers flared over a sensitive question. Judge Wigenton ruled that regardless of motive, Kelly and Baroni could be guilty of conspiracy. Matt Katz says that resulted in Bridget Kelly's attorney "throwing his head back and slumping in his chair" and telling the judge that she was directing a verdict of guilty.

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Former Christie staffer Bridget Kelly finally hit the stand in week 6 of the Bridgegate Trial. Governor Christie has always maintained that he had no knowledge about the plan - prior to or during the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Kelly testified that she told him once before and twice during the 5-day shutdown.

She even offered up a counter explanation for her infamous "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email. And Kelly testified that she was afraid of the governor. She says, "I was gun shy. I was scared. But he would then turn it on, and be charming. It was a confusing, frightening time."

WNYC'sMatt Katz andAndrea Bernstein and the Star-Ledger'sTom Moran join us for a full breakdown of week 6. And Andrea poses an interesting question. Did this whole thing spiral out of control because Bridget Kelly wanted to sit with the cool kids?

Andrea says that Kelly may have been motivated by a desire to be accepted by Christie's inner circle. Tom adds, "She seems like someone who really wants to be included in the club and she's just on the outer edge of it and almost in there. And a lot of the stuff she does it to ingratiate herself with them."

Matt takes it one step further:

"This is a weakness that all of these characters had."

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Bill Baroni, the former Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority was on the stand this week in the Bridgegate trial. He, and former Christie staffer Bridget Kelly, are on trial for allegedly orchestrating the lane closures leading to the George Washington Bridge in a scheme to punish the Mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Governor Christie's reelection bid.

WNYC'sAndrea Bernstein andMatt Katz bring us the latest. Speaking with host David Furst, Matt says Baroni's 'basic argument was that David Wildstein, the admitted co-conspirator, was actually the one that called the shots in closing these lanes.'

Bill Baroni was Wildstein's boss. But Baroni testifies that Wildstein operated outside of the Port Authority's power structure - and answered only to Trenton.

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We're only a third of the way through the Bridgegate trial.

Testimony from the prosecution's star witness David Wildstein wrapped up last week. The former port authority official has implicated nearly everyone in Governor Christie's orbit – including Christie and Governor Cuomo.

WNYC'sMatt Katz andAndrea Bernstein join us to detail the high emotions on display last week and to look forward to the testimonies of former Christie staffer, Bridget Anne Kelly and former Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority, Bill Baroni.

We'll also consider what kind of Chris Christie will emerge after the trial wraps up and the 2016 election is history. Speaking with host David Furst, Matt says in New Jersey 'he may very well go down as one of the most unpopular governors of all time.' And in the next breath? He says he may run for president in 2020.

Plus: Listen to what Bridgegate and the musical Hamilton may have in common.

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It was another busy week in Christie world.

Over the past several days, Governor Christie announced a deal to allow a gas tax hike to pay for transportation projects in New Jersey... he called Donald Trump a genius on Fox News Sunday for losing nearly a billion dollars in 1995... and, after a long weekend, former port authority official David Wildstein was back on the stand for week 3 of the Bridgegate trial.

WNYC'sMatt Katz andAndrea Bernstein and the Star-Ledger'sTom Moran join us with the latest. Speaking with host David Furst, Matt says defense attorneys have been working hard to portray Wildstein as a 'crazy, lying lunatic.'

Meanwhile, Matt adds, 'Wildstein has said that basically, almost every person close to Christie knew during the period of the cover-up.'

According to testimony from Wildstein, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo knew more about efforts to cover up the lane-closure scheme than he let on. Andrea breaks down what we know so far.

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Week 2 of the Bridgegate trial featured more show-stopping testimony from David Wildstein.

The former Port Authority official who has pleaded guilty in the lane closure scandal, said governor Chris Christie knew about the traffic at the George Washington Bridge while it was happening. And, according to Wildstein's testimony, when the governor was informed about the gridlock in Fort Lee – just before a ceremony to honor victims of 9/11, no less – he laughed.

WNYC'sMatt Katz andAndrea Bernstein join us with the latest on the trial. This week, we dig deep into Wildstein's testimony. Speaking with host David Furst, Matt says it's all starting to make sense why 'Wildstein would have been able to get away with it and why there would have been such an attempt at a cover-up.'

Plus, we look at another ex-Christie confidante who has emerged as a key figure in the Bridgegate saga, the governor's former campaign manager – and current national field director for the Trump campaign – Bill Stepien.

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