Christie seen with official who authorized closures during traffic jam

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was with the official who ordered the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge on the third day of the traffic jam in September.

Christie is seen standing with David Wildstein at a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in a photo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The report says the photo was taken that day. 

Three days earlier, two lanes were closed on the bridge. Emails released last week revealed several of Christie’s top aides were involved in the scheme of political payback against Fort Lee’s Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich, who didn’t endorse Christie for reelection. 

{mosads}Wildstein was then an executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — the agency that oversees the bridge’s operations. Documents show he was the official who authorized the closures.

Last week, Christie said at his nearly two-hour-long press conference that he hadn’t seen Wildstein in a while. 

“I have had no contact with David Wildstein in a long time, a long time, well before the election,” Christie said. “You know, I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations I’ve had with David since he worked at the Port Authority. I did not interact with David.”

Christie’s office didn’t respond to questions about what he had discussed with Wildstein on Sept. 11, the Journal reports. Wildstein, who remained silent at a hearing about the closures last week, did not respond to the paper’s request for comment.

The Port Authority’s Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni and Chairman David Samson also appeared with Christie on the day of the September ceremony.

New Jersey legislators, meanwhile, have launched an investigation into the scandal and are expected to issue more subpoenas.