Lawyers Bilked New Jersey In Bridgegate Scandal, Legislators Say

Two New Jersey legislators claim that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher regularly billed the state in excess of a 10-hour-a-day limit for work done in an internal investigation into the Bridgegate scandal. That led the firm to overcharge the state by more than $2.8 million. “There are a lot of questions,” State Sen. Loretta Weinberg told NJ.com. “Enough questions that taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for it.” The firm was commissioned to do the inquiry by New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, after he was accused of purposely shutting down the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 to punish a political rival. Gibson Dunn exonerated Christie in the scandal, which later led to federal indictments of two government employees, who are expected to go to trial later this year. U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton has taken Gibson Dunn to task over how it handled interview notes during its investigation.