Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have ordered Gov. Chris Christie’s campaign committee and the state Republican Party to turn over documents related to the closing of lanes at the George Washington Bridge, two lawyers involved in the matter told NBC News Thursday.
Mark Sheridan, a lawyer for the state party, said that a subpoena from the U.S. attorney in Newark covers any documents dating to 2010 relating to the lane closures.
It also covers the party’s communications with Bridget Kelly, Christie’s now-fired deputy chief of staff, and with David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, two former Christie appointees at the agency that runs the bridge.
Robert Luskin, a lawyer for the Christie campaign, confirmed that that organization had received subpoenas. He said that the campaign and the state party intended to cooperate and respond accordingly.
State legislators have also ordered up documents from more than a dozen Christie allies, seeking an explanation for why access lanes from the city of Fort Lee on to the bridge were closed for four days last September, creating a massive traffic jam.
Emails disclosed earlier this month suggest that the lane closures may have been political payback for a Democratic mayor who declined to endorse Christie, a Republican, in his bid for re-election last year.
Dawn Zimmer, the mayor of Hoboken, N.J., has spoken with prosecutors about a separate allegation — that Christie’s office withheld Hurricane Sandy relief money because the mayor would not support a private real estate project favored by the governor. Christie’s office has denied that charge.
Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News on Wednesday that FBI agents had begun questioning witnesses in their investigation into the mayor’s allegations. Federal prosecutors and agents have also instructed key witnesses to preserve all related documents and emails, those sources said.