TRENTON — Last weekend, Gov. Chris Christie's office circulated an email to friends and supporters slamming David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official at the center of the George Washington Bridge scandal.

Now, citing two people familiar with the matter, a report by Politico.com today claims that aides never ran the memo by Christie — who is entangled in a widening scandal that he says a renegade deputy chief of staff and others are responsible for — and that the governor didn't read it himself before it went out.

Last Friday, Wildstein's attorney sent out a letter saying "evidence exists" that Christie knew about the controversial lane closings at the nation's busiest bridge last year as the were happening. Christie has repeatedly said he didn't know about the closings until after they were over and reported in the press.

Then, on Saturday, Politico reported that it obtained an email from the governor's office to Christie supporters. The memo made digs at Wildstein's days as a classmate of Christie's at Livingston High School in the 1970s and called Wildstein's tenure as Livingston's mayor in the 1980s "tumultuous."

"Bottom line — David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein," the memo said.

But today's Politico report claims that someone put the information into a daily briefing to the governor's supporters and sent out the email earlier than planned.

No one from the governor's office is quoted in the story. The administration and advisers close to Christie have not returned messages from The Star-Ledger seeking comment.

Wildstein is the man credited with ordering the unannounced lane closings at the bridge last September — a move that led to days of traffic jams in Fort Lee. Democrats accused Christie's administration of orchestrating the plan as political payback because Fort Lee's Democratic mayor declined to endorse the governor for re-election.

Wildstein stepped down in December amid growing speculation over the closings. Then, on Jan. 8, emails surfaced showing Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff, appeared to have advance knowledge of the plan. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," she wrote in one message.

On Jan. 9, Christie fired Kelly, apologized for the matter, and said he had no advance knowledge of the closings himself.

Star-Ledger staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.

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