New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's political team is going on the offensive against charges that he knew more than he admits about a plan to use lane closures on the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta.
In an email to donors and journalists headlined "5 Things You Should Know about the Bombshell That's Not a Bombshell," on Saturday, political aides to the governor pushed back on accusations by David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closures.
In a letter from the attorney for Wildstein, who resigned as the scandal broke, the former official claimed that evidence exists to show that Christie knew more. In the email sent Saturday, the governor's aides suggested that Wildstein was grasping at straws: "David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein."
The Associated Press says:
"Christie's team denies that Christie knew about the traffic jam or its political motive until after it was over and bashes Wildstein, a former mayor who later became an anonymous political blogger."
"Much of the letter quoted previous newspaper articles that took critical looks at Wildstein, including a 2012 article in The Record of Bergen County [that] says Wildstein 'was a very contentious person.'"
"But the email does not mention other comments about Wildstein in that same story, including from Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak: 'He is there in that job because he is well suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the Port Authority in accordance with the governor's goals,' Drewniak said. 'If he's not liked for that role, and if he's accused of being zealous in that regard, then we plead guilty.'"