THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Seven times the two former Outlaw Jersey Whale aides, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, heard the jury say Guilty to each of them. They are the ones who have taken the fall for the George Washington Bridge closings but the trial made it clear that the Whale himself, Governor Chris Christie, was totally involved in the action.

The two defendants, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, were each charged with seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud, including misusing the resources of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, and violating the rights of the citizens of Fort Lee, N.J., to travel without government restriction when the closings gridlocked their town over five days in September 2013.

Though Ms. Kelly and Mr. Baroni were the only ones charged in the scandal, the trial suggested that Mr. Christie, who has maintained that he knew nothing about the scheme until it was revealed in the news media, was deeply involved. A top ally and key prosecution witness testified that Mr. Christie was told of the lane closings as they were occurring and Ms. Kelly said she discussed the shutdown with the governor before it happened.

The scandal not only crippled Mr. Christie’s presidential candidacy this year, but tarnished his reputation at a time when he has been a key player in Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, named to lead his White House transition team and serving as a political surrogate. Mr. Christie is scheduled to campaign for Mr. Trump this weekend in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, two key battleground states, ahead of Tuesday’s election.

On Friday, Mr. Christie again denied any role in the scandal shortly after the verdicts were announced. “Let me be clear once again,’’ he said in a statement. “I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them. No believable evidence was presented to contradict that fact.’’

The Governor seems to be relying on "Implausible Denial" to keep him out of the cooler. Hopefully this will not work and the short sentences the prosecutors will ask for are because a deal for testimony has already been cut.