Christie Aide Destroyed Bridgegate Evidence, May Be Charged: Lawmakers

A former aide to Gov. Chris Christie could be charged with intentional destruction of evidence for allegedly deleting text messages that dealt with Bridgegate, according to legislative committee members that looked into the affair.

The former co-chairs of the committee are calling on the state attorney general's office to investigate the former aide, Christina Renna, who sent text messages claiming the governor "flat out lied" about Bridgegate, according to nj.com, and then allegedly deleted related texts.

The former aide claimed the governor lied about his knowledge of the Bridgegate scandal during a press conference on the matter, according to a court filing.

Renna, who worked for Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, had texts filed in court and published in the media that said: “Are you listening? He just flat out lied about senior staff and (former deputy chief of staff Bill) Stepien not being involved."

In the texts that were reported by The Record and Politico, Renna said: “He lied. And if emails are found with the subpoena of (campaign) emails are uncovered in discovery if it come to that it could be bad.”

Read more: 'He Just Flat-Out Lied,' Christie Aide Texted During Bridgegate News Conference

"Clearly the Christina Genovese Renna text message is a disturbing revelation that warrants an investigation by the attorney general," state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, told NJ Advance Media. "She deleted her text messages at a time when the Assembly transportation committee, armed with subpoena power, was investigating the lane closures."

State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, told nj.com that Renna appeared to have perjured herself in sworn testimony before the Legislature's investigative committee during an exchange with Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, D-Camden, in December 2013.

Renna sent text messages to Pete Sheridan, who had worked on Christie’s re-election campaign, during a Dec. 13, 2013, press conference in which Christie took questions about the political payback scheme involving George Washington Bridge lane closures, according to the court filing that was published in the media reports.

Christie had earlier told a reporter that Stepien had assured him he had no knowledge of the lane closures. Renna deleted the text, according to the reports.

Christie offered a response to the revelation, saying: "It's ridiculous. It's nothing new. There's nothing new to talk about."

The scandal severely damaged Christie's standing in New Jersey, leading to David Wildstein, the Christie-appointed Port Authority official behind the Fort Lee Bridgegate traffic jam, pleading guilty last year to two counts of conspiracy.

Kelly and Bill Baroni, another Christie appointee at the Port Authority, were also indicted in connection with the Bridgegate scandal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Both have denied the charges against them.

Wildstein has admitted the scheme to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge and create endless traffic jams over four successive mornings in the fall of 2013 was retribution to the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing the governor’s re-election campaign, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

As a result of those admissions, Baroni and Kelly were each charged with nine counts in a scheme to misuse Port Authority resources to facilitate and conceal the cause of traffic problems in Fort Lee in September of 2013.