Wildstein, who attended Livingston High School with Christie, claimed in a letter through his lawyer the order to close the lanes was “the Christie administration’s order."
In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “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” three weeks ago.
“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.
The letter also asks the Port Authority to reconsider its decision not to pay Wildstein’s legal bills.
Wildstein was appointed to the Port Authority by Bill Baroni, Christie’s senior representative at the agency. In January, emails surfaced between Wildstein and Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly discussing lane closures. Kelly wrote, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," to which Wildstein replied, "Got it." The email exchange occured in September, coinciding with lanes closures the Christie Administration repeatedly called a "traffic study."
After news of the emails broke, Christie fired Kelly and denied knowledge of the lane closures at a two-hour press conference, saying he was "heartbroken" that a member of his staff would commit an act without his knowledge. Wildstein resigned from his position in December, stating the scandal over the lane closings in September had become “a distraction.”
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