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| President Donald Trump |
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| Trump’s pick to run the FBI, NJ criminal attorney Christopher Wray |
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| Wray’s Bridgegate client, NJ Gov. Chris Christie |
Matt Katz reports for WNYC News:
President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Christopher Wray, represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his personal, publicly-funded Bridgegate attorney for 11 months before signing a mandatory retainer agreement, according to new documents provided to WNYC through a public records request.
Wray began working for Christie as his personal, publicly-funded attorney, according to bills submitted to the state, in September 2014. But it wasn’t until August 2015, 11 months later, that Wray and Christie formally agreed to the arrangement.
Several lawyers who work with the government said the extended delay was extraordinarily unusual, possibly unethical, and could indicate that Christie, who was preparing to run for president at the time, was keeping it hidden from the public that he had a taxpayer-funded criminal attorney.
Indeed it wasn’t until the summer of 2016 that it was revealed that Wray was holding onto a piece of potential evidence — one of Christie’s cell phones that his former aides, charged in the Bridgegate affair, unsuccessfully sought to subpoena.
Wray and his colleagues would ultimately bill taxpayers more than $2 million in fees and expenses, including meals, hotel rooms, cab fare and flights. They continued working — and being paid — even after the Bridgegate trial ended and those convicted were sentenced to prison. It is unclear what work was done, since the governor was neither charged nor called to testify.
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