A top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie privately told a colleague in late 2013 that the governor had lied to reporters when he said none of his senior staff or campaign manager had any knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, according to court papers filed early Wednesday.

In the filings in U.S. District Court in Newark, lawyers for a defendant in the lane closure trial scheduled for September disclosed a text exchange between two Christie staffers, Christina Renna and Peter Sheridan, during a December 2013 news conference, at which the governor said he had been assured that his administration and campaign had no knowledge of the closures.