chris christie wasn<u+2019>t charged with a crime in the george washington bridge lane-closure case and never even set foot in court. but for much of the six weeks of testimony that wrapped up this week , it felt to the republican governor and members of his inner circle that he was the one on trial. current and former aides and advisers to mr. christie say the trial went far worse for the new jersey governor than he and members of his administration expected. though they had braced for testimony to damage the governor<u+2019>s reputation and shed his office in an unflattering light, mr. christie and his aides and advisers were rattled by the extent to which the case focused on him, these people said. <u+201c>he has looked terrible,<u+201d> said one person close to mr. christie, noting the defense had done a <u+201c>masterful job<u+201d> making the case about the governor. now mr. christie, who has stayed mostly quiet and out of public view during the proceedings, faces pressure to respond more forcefully to allegations made during the trial that he knew about the lane closures earlier than he claimed, according to several people close to the governor. <u+201c>i will set the record straight in the coming days regarding the lies that were told by the media and in the courtroom,<u+201d> mr. christie said in a statement in which he reiterated that he had no knowledge of the lane closures before or while they happened, and had no role in authorizing them. on friday, a jury found bill baroni and bridget kelly guilty on seven counts each in the scheme to close the lanes as punishment for a democratic mayor who wouldn<u+2019>t endorse the republican governor<u+2019>s re-election. mr. baroni, formerly mr. christie<u+2019>s top executive appointee at the agency that controls the bridge, and ms. kelly, once his deputy chief of staff, had insisted at trial that they didn<u+2019>t know the illicit purpose of the lane closures and suggested they were being scapegoated by a powerful governor whose administration routinely punished its political enemies. throughout the trial, both the prosecution and defense sought to poke holes in mr. christie<u+2019>s version of events and depict an administration that encouraged hardball tactics. <u+201c>it has gone worse than anyone expected,<u+201d> said a longtime aide to mr. christie. <u+201c>the trial has been explicit, colorful and revealing,<u+201d> said state sen. joe kyrillos, a republican, adding it had shown the <u+201c>darker side of the office.<u+201d> mr. christie has sometimes obsessed over the trial, growing angry, while at other times he has showed little interest and tried to ignore it, according to people familiar with the matter. he has said little publicly, focusing primarily on his role as head of the transition team for gop presidential candidate donald trump. some of mr. christie<u+2019>s allies say the political culture described at trial is par for the course in new jersey politics. <u+201c>if you look closely at all your friends, you won<u+2019>t have any friends. you<u+2019>re going to have a situation where no one runs for office,<u+201d> said state assemblyman jon bramnick, a republican and friend to mr. christie. <u+201c>you have to be a pretty strong leader to get things done in new jersey.<u+201d> yet political observers and people close to mr. christie describe a number of painful moments that rattled his political circle and left aides and advisers upset and sometimes questioning what they believed about the events. on day one, prosecutors said mr. christie knew about the lane closings at the george washington bridge in september 2013, contradicting his statements. members of mr. christie<u+2019>s inner circle expected defense lawyers to make that argument but said prosecutors<u+2019> decision to do so early in the trial set the tenor. then mr. christie<u+2019>s account of the george washington bridge was contradicted by several witnesses. the allegations were expected from ms. kelly and david wildstein, a former port authority official who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for his role in the closures, these people said. but a damaging moment, these people said, came when mike duhaime, mr. christie<u+2019>s longtime chief political strategist, indicated on the stand that the governor didn<u+2019>t tell the truth. <u+201c>he knew i had information different from the information he gave,<u+201d> said mr. duhaime, adding he had given information to mr. christie about the closings. mr. duhaime declined to comment for this article. these people said it was also surprising when ms. kelly revealed she met with the governor just before the bridge was closed, and told him of the closure plan. in testimony, aides also described the governor<u+2019>s often foul temper, saying he cursed at subordinates and even threw a water bottle at ms. kelly when he was angry. <u+201c><u+2019>what do you think i am, a f<u+2014>ing game-show host?<u+2019><u+201d> ms. kelly said the governor told her. that left former employees and aides joking about their christie war stories. the office<u+2019>s culture was described as a place where employees often used the levers of government to reward or punish others, where mr. christie personally canceled meetings when he was angry at elected officials and cursed out even bit players in the state, like a monmouth county freeholder. mr. wildstein spoke about planning to deliver flags that had flown above the sept. 11 memorial to towns in iowa and south carolina to boost mr. christie<u+2019>s presidential chances. have something to say about an article in greater new york? email us, along with your contact information, at gnyltrs@wsj.com . letters will be edited for brevity and clarity. please include your city and state. what happens next for mr. christie, who leaves office after next year, is unclear. mr. christie<u+2019>s approval has dropped to a record low 21%. democratic state assemblyman john wisniewski, who has co-chaired a legislative inquiry into the lane closures, has asked the committee to continue its investigation once the trial is over, according to a person familiar with the matter. mr. kyrillos, the republican who once was close friends with mr. christie, said <u+201c>some finger pointing may be justified<u+201d> after the trial, but that mr. christie should spend the next 15 months <u+201c>rebuilding his legacy<u+201d> and that the legislature should work with him. mr. wisniewski described the governor<u+2019>s conduct as <u+201c>absolutely nixonian<u+201d> but said he wouldn<u+2019>t write off mr. christie<u+2019>s political career. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s a refractory time,<u+201d> mr. wisniewski said, suggesting mr. christie would have a time of <u+201c>forced reflection and solitude.<u+201d> <u+201c>four years is a long time in politics,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>four years from now, you<u+2019>ll see him try to dip his toe into the presidential pool again.<u+201d> write to josh dawsey at joshua.dawsey@dowjones.com and ted mann at ted.mann@wsj.com
george washington bridge trial casts unflattering light on gov. chris christie - wsj
josh dawsey ted mann