Manhattan DA Sends Out Subpoenas on Port Projects

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Some of the construction projects already were under scrutiny as a result of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.

April 12, 2014, 10:38 PM EDT / Updated April 12, 2014, 10:38 PM EDT

By Richard Esposito

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has issued subpoenas for documents and records in the early stages of an investigation of Port Authority construction projects, including several that already were under scrutiny as a result of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal, NBC News has confirmed.

The lane closures last September created huge traffic jams in Fort Lee, and the political fallout has badly tarnished the image of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Now Vance’s early-stage probe could grow into a full investigation if facts warrant.

The probe was first reported in the Wall St Journal. Additional details have since been reported by the New York Times.

Several close aides to Christie, including his deputy chief of staff, have been forced to resign over the scandal. But Christie has said that he didn’t know of or approve the lane closures.

Image: Gov. Chris Christie in Fort Lee, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie in Fort Lee, N.J.Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Richard Esposito

Richard Esposito is the senior executive producer of the NBC News Investigative Unit, and supervises investigative correspondents, producers, and reporters across all broadcasts and platforms of the NBCUniversal News Group.

Esposito, who began as a copy boy at the New York Daily News in 1977, has more than 25 years of newspaper and television experience. He has overseen investigations and run the metropolitan news operations at two of the largest newspapers in America, the New York Daily News and Newsday, and was most recently senior investigative reporter for ABC News.

He has shared in Peabody and Pulitzer awards, and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer. Honors include the 2012 Murrow Award for his work in reporting the death of Osama bin Laden, a 2005 Polk Award for his investigation into the CIA’s network of secret prisons and harsh interrogation techniques, a 2006 Emmy Award and a 1990 Sigma Delta Chi award, among many other awards.

Esposito is the co-author of the books “Bomb Squad: A Year Inside the Nation’s Most Exclusive Police Unit,” and “Dead on Delivery: Inside the Drug Wars.”

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