Bridgegate attorney says Scott Rechler can corroborate Cuomo’s role in scandal aftermath

Governor denies working with Christie on coverup

From left: the George Washington Bridge, Chris Christie, Andrew Cuomo and Scott Rechler
From left: the George Washington Bridge, Chris Christie, Andrew Cuomo and Scott Rechler

It looks like Scott Rechler isn’t quite done with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey drama.

A lawyer in the ongoing Bridgegate trial intimated that the RXR Realty [TRDataCustom] CEO will corroborate the accusation that Gov. Andrew Cuomo helped cover up the scandal, Politico reported. David Wildstein, a former ally of Gov. Chris Christie who pleaded guilty to closing lanes of the George Washington Bridge in 2013 out of political retribution, testified this week that Cuomo and Christie agreed to create a report that would make the closures look like a traffic study.

Cuomo has vehemently denied the accusation and called Wildstein a felon whose testimony was “false and delusional.” It was not immediately clear if and when Rechler may testify. A spokesperson for Cuomo told The Real Deal that the attorney — Michael Critchley, who represents Christie’s former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly — never used the word “corroborate” and simply suggested that Cuomo and Christie spoke to each other — not an unusual occurrence for two men running a bi-state agency.

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Last month Rechler — now the outgoing vice chairman of the agency — joked that Cuomo didn’t warn him of the Port Authority’s dynamics when he appointed him in 2011.

“He didn’t really explain to me the Port Authority was some sort of combination of Boardwalk Empire and Scandal in terms of what goes on there,” Rechler told a crowd at the Marcum Real Estate Forum. [Politico] — Kathryn Brenzel