The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two political insiders involved in New Jersey’s “Bridgegate” scandal, saying that “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.”
The court said in a unanimous decision Thursday that the government had overreached in prosecuting two allies of then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni, for their roles in a political payback scheme that created massive traffic jam to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse the Republican's reelection. Kelly was Christie's onetime deputy chief of staff. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the operator of the New York area's bridges, tunnels, airports and ports.
