NJ reimburses Bridget Anne Kelly's attorneys $7.25 million for Bridgegate legal fees

The state of New Jersey has reimbursed Bridget Anne Kelly for nearly $7.25 million worth of legal fees she incurred fighting a federal conviction for her alleged role in the Bridgegate traffic jam scandal, which was eventually reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kelly, who served as deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Chris Christie when the scandal broke, said her attorneys were entitled to the award under state statute, but said she did not personally share in the cash award.

Among the three defendants accused of conspiring to gridlock traffic along the narrow streets surrounding the George Washington Bridge, it was an email from Kelly stating, “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” which prosecutors claimed initiated the supposed plot and cost the onetime staffer her job in Christie’s office.

“I’m getting these text messages congratulating me like I just fell into $7.2 million, like it was deposited into my account and I’m going off to buy a beach house," Kelly said during an interview Friday. "My attorneys are getting paid for the work they did."

The payment comes nearly three years to the day Kelly's prior convictions related to the scandal were overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, and was not a settlement, but instead a reimbursement she said her attorneys were entitled to under state law.

Kelly’s attorneys recouped their costs through the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, according to The Star-Ledger and NJ.com, which reported the payments.

Her lawyer, Michael Critchley, did not respond to a request for comment as of Friday afternoon.

When news of the Bridgegate scandal broke in early 2014, Christie was considered a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. But as details of the traffic jams emerged, Christie’s national standing fell, as did his popularity among New Jersey voters. He left office as the state’s most unpopular governor.

Bridgegate timeline: What happened in public and was said in private

Kelly, meanwhile, has tried to recalibrate her life since the Supreme Court reversed her convictions, saving her from a federal prison term. A lifelong Republican, she ran for Bergen County clerk in 2021, but lost to Democratic incumbent John Hogan.

Her Bridgegate defense was handled free of charge during the first federal trial in Newark, then in her appeal to a federal panel in Philadelphia and finally before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately exonerated her on all charges ― along with her co-defendant, William Baroni, onetime executive director to the Port Authority.

"I didn't pay anything for my case," Kelly said. "This is all going to my attorneys, where it should go. I don’t see a dime of this. Any conception that Bridget Anne Kelly came into this windfall is not the case."

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She said other staffers in the Governor's Office who retained attorneys to fight allegations they were involved in the scandal — including Christie — had their legal bills paid immediately, while her case dragged through the courts.

However, Baroni has yet to recoup his legal fees from the Port Authority, and had his claim dismissed by a federal judge in September, according to The Star-Ledger.

What she still finds distressing is that she was not rehired by the state despite proving her innocence.

"I didn't get my career back," Kelly said.

Mike Kelly: Bridgegate was wrong, but not a crime. How do we hold people accountable in the future?

She is now working in what she described as a "private family-owned business" but declined to offer more details.

Kelly and Baroni were accused of taking part in a plot to exact revenge on Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who refused to support Christie's 2013 bid for reelection, by shutting lanes that lead to the George Washington Bridge during morning rush hours over four days in September of that year, including the first day of public school classes.

The closures boggled commuters who were trapped in the hours-long backup and halted traffic along the borough’s streets.

David Wildstein, a former Port Authority executive and political aide to Christie, admitted in federal court he took part in the scheme and fingered both Baroni and Kelly.

As the cases unfolded, the "time for traffic problems in Fort Lee" email sent by Kelly the morning of the alleged plot had seemed to seal her fate.

Eventually, Kelly and Baroni were vindicated in court, which in turn vacated Wildstein’s conviction as part of his prior plea deal.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ pays Bridget Anne Kelly lawyers $7.25M over Bridgegate