Jared Kushner, whose bad blood with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie goes back to when the former federal prosecutor put the real estate scion’s father in prison, could possibly testify in the Bridgegate trial of two former Christie allies.
Kushner, whose father-in-law Donald Trump also sparred with Christie before the latter decided to endorse the Donald’s campaign, appears on the witness list for the federal trial in Newark, WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein tweeted Tuesday.
“Trump son-in-law & Christie antagonist Jared Kushner is on #Bridgegate witness list,” the reporter wrote. “Kushner bought Bridgegate felon Wildstein’s blog yrs ago.”
That last bit was a reference to David Wildstein, a GOP operative who worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under Christie’s administration. He pleaded guilty last year to two federal counts of conspiracy as part of a plea agreement deal in The Lane-closure scandal.
Wildstein had run a political news website named PolitickerNJ with financial backing from the then 26-year-old Kushner [TRDataCustom], a New Jersey native and owner of the New York Observer.
Wildstein wanted to expand his model, but couldn’t do so with the few dollars coming in from ad sales. So he decided in 2007 to sell the website to Kushner, and invoked Machiavelli when announcing the deal: “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”
Both Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appear on the witness list as well, according to Bernstein. Those who appear on the list might not necessarily be called to testify.
Federal prosecutors yesterday laid out their case against two former Christie allies – former Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff – who they claim carried out the lane closures and then covered them up.
Kushner, a longtime Democrat, has put more ideological difference between himself and many of his colleagues in the industry as he takes on an ever-more-present role in Trump’s campaign.