Two of Christie’s former allies, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, are pushing prosecutors to introduce more evidence ahead of their criminal trial in September. Facing charges related to the lane closures, which created a days-long traffic jam roughly two and a half years ago, the duo is seeking the cell phone used by Christie during the scandal, but both the governor and federal prosecutors say they don’t know where it is. Gibson Dunn, the law firm Christie hired for the case, said it returned the phone after clearing the politician in the case, but did not specify to whom it was returned, Bloomberg reports.

The Observer has exclusively learned that David Samson, a mentor to Chris Christie who was appointed by the governor Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will plead guilty to a single felony charge as early as the end of this week. According to a former prosecutor with intimate knowledge of the players in what’s become known as the Bridgegate affair, “Samson will be indicted and plead guilty to a one-count felony. He will not be cooperating with the government. I don’t know the actual statute [under which Samson will be charged], but it’s related to the Chairman’s flight.”

(snip)

According to the Observer’s source, the indictment will come “as early as the end of this week and definitely by next week.” He mentioned the deliberate pace of the United States Attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, who happens to be Mr. Christie’s successor. “One thing I’ve learned about Fishman is that whenever you think something’s happening tomorrow, even when you’re the one involved in it, it ends up not happening. It happens, but he’s the slowest guy on the planet.”

(snip)

One aspect of this breaking news that surprised the former prosecutor who spoke to the Observer is that Samson is evidently opting not to cooperate with the prosecution and testify against others. That means he won’t be implicating fellow Port Authority employees such as former Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, who was indicted in May 2015 and faces multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud related to the shutting down of several lanes of traffic on the George Washington Bridge. And of course, it also removes any threat Christie himself may have been facing over possible revelations from a cooperating Samson.

The decision not to cooperate came as a surprise to the former prosecutor who spoke to the Observer, even as the plea itself did not. “Everyone thought this was coming. Everyone expected it. But he’s not cooperating, which means he’s going to rely on … the prosecutor will ask for a lot and he’ll leave it up to the judge.”

An interim report by the NJ legislative committee investigating the closures was released in December 2014. The committee had been unable to determine if Christie had advance knowledge since it was asked by the US Attorney to postpone interviewing certain key witnesses. At a press conference on May 1, 2015, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman stated that, based upon the evidence that was available, his office would not bring any more charges in the case.