A lawyer for the former Port Authority employee who ordered the George Washington Bridge lane closures claims he has proof that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie knew about the closures, The New York Times reported.
Attorney Alan Zegas, who represents David Wildstein of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who has since resigned, released a letter Friday stating "evidence exists" that Christie was aware about the lane closures that caused severe traffic jams, sparked a political scandal, lawsuits and government investigation.
The decision to close the bridge lanes in Fort Lee was "the Christie administration's order," according to Zegas' letter obtained by The Times.
"Evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference."
The governor asserted during a press conference in early January that he had no knowledge of the plan to intentionally cause the traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge that occurred in September 2013.
"I had no knowledge of this- of the planning, the execution or anything about it- and that I first found out about it after it was over," Christie said during his press conference, The Times reported.
Zegas' letter does not state exactly what the evidence against the governor is. Christie's office released a statement late on Friday standing by the governor's position.
"Mr. Wildstein's lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along: He had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with," the governor's statement said, according to The Times.
A former Christie aide, Anne Kelly, sent an email to Wildstein in August apparently ordering the lane closures. The traffic jams were allegedly caused in retaliation against the Mayor of Fort Lee. Christie said he first learned about the lane closures when they were reported by The Record in September.
"[Christie] only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and, as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th," The Times reported.
