Prosecutors said the two committed fraud under federal law in lying about their reason for closing the bridge by claiming that they were conducting a traffic study, which allowed them to hijack Port Authority resources."A public official commits fraud when he lies to divert agency resources that he could not otherwise control," the Department of Justice said in its Supreme Court brief.
Such a reading of the law"would readily enable partisans not just to harangue and harass political opponents — but to prosecute and jail them," the lawyers said.Peter Foley / Bloomberg via Getty Images The Supreme Court's announcement in July that it would hear the case signaled that at least some justices believe the government overreached in bringing the fraud charges. If the court throws out the convictions, it could further weaken the ability to prosecute public officials for fraud.
Both former officials were sentenced to prison. Kelly has been allowed to remain free while the case is on appeal. Baroni began serving his sentence in April but was released on bond when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.Pete Williams is an NBC News correspondent who covers the Justice Department and the Supreme Court, based in Washington.
Is that where you know who threw that nice girl under the you know what?
Will GovChristie be one of the defendants?
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