A man named among those involved in the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal filed a last minute motion Thursday to prevent a list of names being made public– just hours before the court-ordered deadline.
Jenny Kramer, an attorney for Chadbourne & Parke law firm, wrote a letter to New Jersey federal judge Susan D. Wigenton, on behalf of her client “John Doe” late Thursday evening claiming releasing his name will make him branded a “felon without due process of the law, causing him immediate and irreparable harm.”
“Doe moves to anonymously intervene in this action and stay the Order because the Conspirator Letter, which identifies him as an unindicted co-conspirator in the criminal plot to close access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as an act of political retaliation, brands him as a criminal without due process of law,” Kramer wrote.
“We believe the filing to be without merit and will oppose it vigorously,” said Bruce Rosen, attorney for the media groups who requested the list to be made public.
On Tuesday, Judge Wigenton sided with media organizations that were requesting a list of those involved in the 2013 lane closures but never indicted, to be made public.
A lengthy investigation by authorities into whether people close to Governor Christie closed lanes to create traffic at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 as an act of political retribution yielded charges against his deputy chief of staff and the Port Authority deputy director, as well as a guilty plea on a conspiracy charge from a Christie ally last year. The deputy chief of staff and Port Authority deputy director both pleaded not guilty.
Christie has not been charged and has denied any knowledge of the closures.
Wigenton set a deadline for the list to be made public Friday at noon.
Kramer has requested a 9 a.m. (or as sooner if possible) hearing to deal with the motion.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey said that they would comply with the Friday deadline?. It’s not clear if Wigenton will rule on Doe’s motion before the list is released.
Kramer argued that her client’s anonymity “is critical to preserve his constitutional rights against being branded with a ‘badge of infamy’ through criminal accusations he has no means of contesting.”
As the scandal swirled around these individuals, investigators found that there were a number of co-conspirators who were not charged, Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said at the time.
He did not name the co-conspirators or elaborate on why they were not charged, but said that they could be identified at a later date.