'Shut up' part of cover-up? Port Authority probes muzzling of GWB officers [View all]

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The Port Authority Inspector General's office is looking into whether officers were told not to talk about their concern over traffic hazards during the George Washington Bridge lane closures as part of a cover-up attempt, according to sources close to the investigation.

'Shut up' part of cover-up? Port Authority probes muzzling of GWB officers
By Steve Strunsky I The Star-Ledger
on September 04, 2014 at 7:17 PM, updated September 05, 2014 at 2:11 AM

An internal probe by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking into whether police officers assigned to the George Washington Bridge during last September's lane closures were told to keep quiet about it as part of a cover-up, sources said today.

A memo composed by a lawyer for the joint legislative panel investigating the closures said one officer reported being told by a superior to "Shut up," after he had expressed concern over his radio that the closures were causing a hazardous traffic condition and should be lifted. The Aug. 27 memo was culled from a phone conversation involving two of the panel's lawyers, Michael Khoo and Reid Schar, and the attorney representing the 11 officers, Daniel Bibb, who summarized his clients' accounts of their experiences during the lane closures.

Bibb, who is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in New York and New Jersey, was hired by the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association to represent the officers in investigations into the lane closures by the legislative committee and the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark.

Bibb, the U.S. Attorney's office, and a spokesman for the Port Authority declined to comment.