Bridget Kelly says we misunderstood her infamous emails

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’s Matt Katz and Andrea Bernstein and the Star-Ledger’s Tom 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 at the cool table?

Andrea suggests that Kelly may have been motivated by a desire to be accepted by Christie’s inner circle. Tom says, “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.”

The Christie Tracker Podcast is a production of WNYC, an NPR-affiliate in New York City.