“I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team,” the Republican governor said.
Christie singled out one top aide: Bill Stepien. During the news conference, Christie announced that he was cutting ties with Stepien, citing concerns about a “lack of judgment” shown in comments the longtime GOP operative had made about the September 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge and the plot’s intended target, the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.
“I was disturbed by the tone and behavior and attitude of callous indifference that was displayed in the emails by my former campaign manager, Bill Stepien,” said Christie, who noted that he had taken immediate action to reduce Stepien’s influence in state politics. “And reading that, it made me lose my confidence in Bill’s judgment. And you cannot have someone at the top of your political operation who you do not have confidence in.”
But Stepien’s political career was far from over. Even though his name was reportedly mentioned almost 700 times during the Bridgegate trial, he was never criminally charged in the scandal and has denied allegations from others involved that he was aware of the plot. Instead, Stepien, described by the Record as “a world-class political operative,” has steadily climbed the ranks in President Trump’s orbit — taking another leap Wednesday when Trump announced that he will head the president’s reelection effort, replacing former campaign manager Brad Parscale.
“I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,” Trump tweeted Wednesday night.
The shake-up, which leaves Parscale in a senior adviser role focusing on digital and data strategies, comes in the aftermath of a poorly attended rally in Tulsa last month and as recent polls show Trump trailing former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Before Wednesday, Stepien, who served as White House political director, had been deputy campaign manager under Parscale.
When reached for comment about Stepien, the Trump campaign referred to the president’s social media posts announcing the change.
Stepien became involved in New Jersey politics before he graduated from Rutgers University in 2000, starting as a volunteer for Republican Anthony Bucco’s successful 1997 state Senate campaign, the Record reported. According to the newspaper, Stepien rose quickly, earning praise from Republicans for his effectiveness in campaigns, despite being “abrasive, imperious and quick to act against party members he considered wayward.”
Over the years, Stepien has worked on campaigns for a host of prominent Republicans. He was New Hampshire political director for President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection bid. Several years later, he was part of former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign before becoming national field director for the GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), in 2008.
“He came into our campaign in the summer of 2008 when we were at a low point and in a matter of weeks helped turn it around,” Steve Schmidt, who directed McCain’s presidential campaign, told the Record in 2014. “He knows his craft. He has common sense, and he gets things done.”
In 2009, Stepien was tapped by Christie to run his bid for governor. The successful campaign signaled the beginning of a close relationship between the two men, with Stepien becoming Christie’s deputy chief of staff. As Politico reported in 2017, Stepien’s role had him “involved in the most minute details, from which senators and representatives to call in what order, to whipping votes, to the exact wording of a letter going to an advocacy group.”
“Unlike many in the governor’s orbit, Stepien had Christie’s trust,” according to Politico.
Then, in August 2013, as Stepien was busy handling Christie’s reelection campaign, Bridget Kelly, who at the time was a member of the governor’s senior staff, fired off a short email that would change everything: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” she wrote.
Kelly’s email was sent to David Wildstein, one of two Christie appointees at the Port Authority, who replied minutes later, “Got it.”
The messages, which were first made public by NorthJersey.com and the Record in January 2014, would play a critical role in exposing the revenge plot targeting Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (D). The scheme involved closing two of three access lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge, the nation’s busiest, to create a bottleneck in the city as an alleged attempt to punish Sokolich for not endorsing Christie’s reelection. Beginning on Sept. 9, 2013, the lane closures sparked a days-long traffic jam, causing headaches for police and emergency vehicles and leaving commuters trapped in their cars for hours.
One day after the emails became public in 2014, Christie announced that in addition to severing ties with his longtime aide, he had also fired Kelly, who was later revealed to have been in a relationship with Stepien. While Christie did not directly accuse Stepien of being involved in the scandal, he voiced harsh disapproval for the contents of the emails between his former top aide and Wildstein. In one message exchange dated Sept. 18, 2013, for instance, Wildstein sent Stepien a Wall Street Journal article that raised questions about the traffic jam.
“It’s fine,” Stepien responded, before calling Sokolich an “idiot.”
Christie told reporters at the January 2014 news conference that he had instructed Stepien not to run for state party chairman and told him to end his contract with the Republican Governors Association, which Christie headed at the time.
“If I cannot trust someone’s judgment, I cannot ask others to do so, and I would not place him at the head of my political operation because of the lack of judgment that was shown in the emails that were revealed yesterday,” Christie said.
Still, Stepien emerged from the fallout of Bridgegate, which included a long criminal trial, largely unscathed. He was not charged even though Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to masterminding the plot, testified that Stepien knew of the lane closures ahead of time. Prosecutors also suggested that Stepien had played a part in creating a culture in Christie’s office that led to the incident, NJ.com reported.
Stepien’s attorney, Kevin Marino, has denied the allegations.
“Bill Stepien was not involved in the origination, the planning, the execution, the concealment of the lane closures,” Marino said in a 2014 statement. “And Mr. Stepien never lied to anyone about anything.”
Following his ouster from Christie’s team, Stepien was noticed by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a New Jersey native, Politico reported. Kushner brought Stepien into the 2016 Trump campaign, where he quickly impressed influential figures such as Stephen K. Bannon, according to Politico.
Meanwhile, Christie’s approval ratings plummeted and his 2016 presidential campaign fizzled out, and Wildstein, Kelly and former Port Authority deputy executive director William E. Baroni Jr. were all convicted. In May, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Kelly and Baroni’s convictions, ruling that the pair had abused their power, but that their actions fell short of a federal crime. Last month, a federal judge also vacated the conviction of Wildstein, NJ.com reported.
On Wednesday, Trump appeared confident that Stepien and Parscale in their new roles would help him secure a victory in November.
“Both were heavily involved in our historic 2016 win, and I look forward to having a big and very important second win together,” Trump tweeted.
