BRIDGEGATE TRIAL–On Monday, Bill Baroni will have a lot of explaining to do
Bill Baroni–WSJ Photo
Bill Baroni, a defendant in the Bridgegate trial, will testify Monday and, boy, he’d better be good because, so far, his case is depending on people like Marilyn Graber who wanted the jury to know she has three “fabulous” grandchildren and lost 135 pounds at a weight loss clinic at Duke University where she met the nicest man 21 years ago. And his name was Bill Baroni.
Ok, so it’s not nice to poke fun at eager character witnesses who, after all, only want to help out a friend in a legal jam. But, aside from Christie aide Charles McKenna–who wasn’t much help–Baroni’s defense so far has called Mrs. Graber and two other character witnesses, all of whom had to admit they didn’t have the foggiest notion of the case against their friend.
So, on Monday, according to Michael Baldassare, his lawyer, Baroni will take the stand and he sure has a lot of explaining to do. There may be one other witness before him, says Baldassare but, unless its Pope Francis coming in with inside information about how Christie himself moved the orange cones, the testimony from whomever it is won’t make much of a difference.
Baroni is likely to make a good witness. He’s tall and attractive and has an easy manner tinged with inclusive good humor–he doesn’t mind making jokes about himself. He is a lawyer and was a state legislator, one of the last–maybe THE last–moderate Republican to grace the Statehouse.
As Baldassare said in his opening several years ago–no, it was just four weeks–he was too moderate for the incoming Christie administration (he supported gay marriage and family leave), so he was shipped out to a six-figure job at the Port BRIDGEGATE TRIAL–On Monday, Bill Baroni will have a lot of explaining to do |: