Former Christie aide testifies bridge closure was proposed as 'traffic study'

Bridget Anne Kelly, the former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) who sent the infamous "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email at the center of Christie's Bridgegate scandal, took the stand Friday in the federal trial surrounding the 2013 incident.

In her testimony, Kelly claimed that the proposal to close access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, was presented to her by former Port Authority official David Wildstein as a "traffic study." The governor's staff is accused of closing the lanes as political retaliation against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (D), who had declined to endorse Christie in his re-election race, but Kelly told jurors Wildstein — who has already admitted to masterminding the plot and is the prosecution's key witness — told her he was running a study on traffic patterns near the bridge and "wanted to use the traffic study as a pedestal to prop up Christie for improving congestion at the bridge," NBC New York reports.

Also during her testimony, Kelly recounted alleged bullying at the hands of Christie unrelated to the bridge closure, saying that Christie once threw a water bottle at her. She broke down in tears twice on the stand.

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Kelly faces incriminating evidence, NJ.com reports, including the aforementioned email and subsequent missives and texts, including some exchanged with Wildstein the week of the incident. She is on trial with Bill Baroni, another former Port Authority official, who testified earlier this week; Kelly is scheduled to testify for several more days. Each faces conspiracy and fraud charges that, if convicted, could lead to up to 20 years in prison.