Last month, a former firefighter and activist lodged a complaint against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for his inaction in the Bridgegate scandal. On Thursday, a Bergen County judge signed a criminal summons against Christie, a Republican, finding probable cause to justify further investigation into Christie’s role in the lane closures of the George Washington Bridge in 2013. “I’m satisfied that there’s probable cause to believe that an event of official misconduct was caused by Gov. Christie,” Judge Roy McGeady said. “I’m going to issue the summons.”

The case will now move to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, where a Christie-appointed prosecutor will determine whether there is enough evidence to indict the governor, and send the case to a grand jury.

Bill Brennan filed the complaint against Christie last month, when former Port Authority official David Wildstein testified that Christie was told about the Bridgegate plot two days before it played out. Wildstein, who pleaded guilty for his own role in the scheme, said Christie laughed about the plan when he was informed of it while at a 9/11 memorial service.

Brennan argued that Christie’s inaction in the incident–which was potentially political retribution for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, who refused to back Christie’s reelection bid in 2013–cost New Jersey taxpayers millions of dollars, and qualifies as second-degree official misconduct, punishable by five to 10 years in prison.

Christie spokesman Brian Murray called it a “dishonorable complaint filed by a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system,” in a statement to NBC News. Brennan unsuccessfully sued the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in 2014, when he argued the names of bidders for baseball memorabilia seized during a drug arrest should be made public.

Currently, a former Christie aide and a former Port Authority deputy are on the third week of trial at a federal court in Newark. Previous investigations into the scandal have failed to produce any explicitly damaging evidence of Christie’s involvement. But in August, text messages sent by two former aides to Christie hinted that he may have been cognizant of Bridgegate. While watching Christie tell reporters he had no knowledge of the lane closings, one aide sent a text to the other, saying “he just flat out lied.”

In his statement, Murray maintains Christie “had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening,” and vowed to appeal the ruling. Christie is set to appear in court on October 24.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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As Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) told reporters in December 2013 that he and his senior aides had no knowledge of the scandal known as Bridgegate, one of his aides sent a text message to a colleague: “Are you listening?” Christina Renna, Christie’s director of intergovernmental affairs, asked Peter Sheridan, a staffer for Christie’s re-election campaign at the time. “He just flat out lied,” continued Renna.

The messages were part of a document from a court filing in United States District Court in Newark on Wednesday. The filing comes on behalf of Bill Baroni, a top Christie appointee for the Port Authority, and Bidget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff to Christie. A trial is set for next month, when both Baroni and Kelly will testify, along with Renna, the aide who sent the text messages.

What is Bridgegate? In the fall of 2013, two lanes on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge–a major thoroughfare connecting New York City with New Jersey and the most trafficked bridge in the world–mysteriously closed down. Commuters were furious–and flummoxed–at the blocked lanes. At the time, the Port Authority said the lanes were closed for a traffic study. But skeptics, including Democrats and the media, saw a deeper ruse at hand.

.@ChrisChristie denies the claim that he ‘flat out lied’ about Bridgegate https://t.co/dBd9DffDG5 https://t.co/3JJtP2UYXP

— POLITICO (@politico) August 10, 2016

Around the time of the lane closings, the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, refused to endorse Christie in his re-election bid. Communications between Christie’s staff and the Port Authority revealed the “traffic study” to be a smokescreen in order to punish Fort Lee, the town directly connected to the New Jersey side of the bridge. There has been no evidence to directly link Christie or any of his senior staff.

“I absolutely dispute it,” Christie told reporters on Wednesday after they asked him about the allegation made in the text exchange between his two aides. “It’s ridiculous. It’s nothing new. There’s nothing new to talk about.”

But if Renna’s text messages are to be believed, there could be more to Christie’s–or his aides’–involvement in Bridgegate than meets the eye.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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