Judge Greenlights Misconduct Complaint Against Christie

A citizen's official misconduct complaint against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie can move forward, a judge in the state ruled Thursday. Bill Brennan, whom the Star-Ledger describes as a "citizen activist" and Christie's office describes as "a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system," filed the complaint last month over the 2013 BridgeGate scandal. Per Brennan's complaint, Christie knew lane closures were happening and could have put a stop to the whole thing. The complaint is based on testimony from the trial against former Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly and former Port Authority executive Bill Baroni.

During the trial, a man Christie appointed to Port Authority testified that both he and Baroni told Christie about the lane closures during a 9/11 ceremony (the lanes were closed from Sept. 9 to Sept. 13, 2013). Now that the judge has ruled the complaint can move forward, it will go to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office so a decision can be made as to whether Christie should be indicted. Christie's office, which insists the governor had no knowledge of the lane closures while they were ongoing, said it would appeal the judge's ruling. The Star-Ledger reports that the courtroom audience, "mostly there for minor criminal violations," applauded the judge's ruling. The judge issued a criminal summons for Christie, the New York Post reports. (More Bridgegate stories.)