The NY Times is reporting that David Samson, the former Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a former NJ Attorney General, and a key associate of NJ Governor Chris Christie, will plead guilty to a felony in connection with the Bridgegate investigation, according to “a person familiar with the investigation.” There will be a proceeding in the U.S. District Court in Newark at 12:30 this afternoon, followed by a press conference by federal prosecutors at 2:00. This is huge. Samson, a heavy-hitting lawyer, was a mentor to Chris Christie and has been a major figure in NJ politics for years. I think it's fair to assume that he has knowledge of all sorts of interesting transactions and relationships among the Christie crowd and others in the region.
Update: I was assuming that Samson was pleading as part of a deal that included his cooperation with the government — but (as mentioned in the comments below) it looks like that probably isn't the case, at least according to Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in NYC, which is quoting sources saying that Samson will not be cooperating with the government. Guess we’ll have to wait to see what happens this afternoon to get a better sense of what it all means — still important, in its own right, but possibly not as significant as I had first assumed.