Baroni and Kelly seek new Bridgegate trial; Christie demoted on Trump transition team

Former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official and former aide to Gov. Chris Christie are  seeking a new trial in the Bridgegate case.

Lawyers for Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly seperately filed motions Friday for new trials, a week after they were convicted on all charges stemming from the 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. Prosecutors said the lane closings were to punish a political opponent of Christie.

The governor was never charged and he has denied knowing about retaliatory traffic jams in 2013.

Meanwhile,  Christie has been replaced as the chairman of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team by Mike Pence, who will be Trump’s vice president.

Christie, whose political star power was considerably dimmed by the Bridgegate scandal, will continue to serve as a vice chairman of the team.

“I am proud to have run the pre-election phase of the transition team along with a thoroughly professional and dedicated team of people,” Christie said through a spokesman. “As we now enter the post-election phase, I look forward to working with Vice President-elect Pence and the rest of the leadership team to implement that template as we prepare for Jan. 20.”

A Christie spokesman also said that a Democratic lawmaker’s suggestion that her colleagues should consider impeaching Christie after Baroni and Kelly were convicted in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case is “ridiculous.”

Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg on Thursday said there was “considerable testimony” during trial that Christie knew about the conspiracy to cause traffic jams in Fort Lee. Christie spokesman Brian Murray called Weinberg’s claim “shocking.”