NEWARK — A defense attorney thundered in closing arguments Monday in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing trial that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his inner circle were ‘‘cowards’’ for not testifying in the case of a former staffer on trial for using gridlock for political retaliation.

Michael Critchley cast client Bridget Kelly as a single mother faced with an administration more concerned with keeping Christie’s nascent presidential hopes alive than with exposing the truth when details of the scandal surfaced three years ago.

In a rebuttal summation, a prosecutor urged jurors to ignore the insinuations about Christie and others and focus on the evidence against the two defendants, which he called ‘‘devastating.’’

Jurors began deliberations Monday as the trial entered its seventh week.

Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were named in a nine-count indictment in 2015 on charges they schemed to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie.

The scandal involving the nation’s busiest bridge, which connects Fort Lee and Manhattan, unfolded when Christie was on the brink of a runaway reelection victory and was considered a top GOP presidential contender.

He wasn’t charged, but the story dogged him through a failed presidential bid.

Associated Press