If Gov. Chris Christie is telling the truth about his latest imbroglio with Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), then why is he refusing to release phone records that could settle the matter?

This is not a trivial dispute. Oliver was already in trouble with the more liberal members of her caucus in the Legislature, thanks to her courageous position in favor of pension and health care reform.

The governor’s comments have deepened suspicions of her and prompted several legislators to consider an attempted coup to replace her as speaker. So it is important to set the record straight.

The story begins with the governor’s undisclosed trip on June 26 to Colorado, where he addressed a group of wealthy conservative donors who were considering Christie as a potential presidential candidate. They were assembled by the Koch brothers, who are famous for using their oil fortunes to help finance extreme right-wing causes such as the tea party and Americans for Prosperity.

The governor gave a red-meat speech full of distortions that people outside of New Jersey wouldn't recognize as bogus. In each twist, he presented himself as the hero and Democrats as his clueless vassals. Sadly for him, it was secretly recorded and leaked to the media.

The most explosive tale concerned Oliver.

According to Christie, she called him at 5:30 p.m. on the eve of the vote on pension and health care reform, saying she was afraid fellow Democrats were preparing to remove her as speaker. Oliver, according to Christie, asked the governor to provide Republican votes to keep her in power.

If that story is true, then Oliver committed political treason and deserves to be removed. She would, in effect, be giving the governor control of the Democratic Party’s leadership.

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Oliver says it’s not true and that she never made that phone call. She suggested that the phone records would prove it.

This is a real mystery.

It’s clear the governor believed Oliver needed help because he went to the Republican caucus and insisted that GOP legislators support her in any leadership fight.

But was it Oliver who called to ask for help? The governor says it was. Oliver says it wasn’t.

The phone records might clear this up. For now, it is hard to escape the suspicion that Christie has something to hide.