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U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, pictured in this file photo, has not ruled out a federal criminal probe into the GWB lane closure scandal. (Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey Journal)

(Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey Journal)

The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey has announced that his office is reviewing the facts surrounding the decision of Gov. Chris Christie's aides and associates to close lanes leading from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge, in an effort to "determine whether a federal law was implicated."

A spokeswoman for Paul Fishman, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney, said the inspector general for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey "has referred the matter to us, and our office is reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law was implicated."

Asked about the announcement of Fishman looking into the matter, Christie said today at a news conference addressing the bridge scandal, “I have absolutely nothing to hide. My instruction to everybody would be to cooperate and answer questions. We have nothing to hide and this administration has nothing to hide.”

In September, aides and associates of Christie blocked off lanes from Fort Lee to the bridge — the most trafficked bridge in America — in a maneuver allegedly aimed at clogging traffic for scores of commuters as political payback directed at Fort Lee’s mayor. The mayor, a Democrat, did not endorse Christie, a Republican, for re-election as New Jersey's governor last year, and emails made public on Wednesday involving a top aide to Christie indicated that the lane closures were meant to be punitive toward the mayor and his town.

Also on Wednesday, former democratic candidate for governor, Barbara Buono, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether public officials who shut off the lanes to the bridge are liable from criminal acts.

Earlier today, Buono, who is also a state senator from Middlesex County, sent a letter to Fishman requesting a "thorough investigation" to determine what, if any, laws were broken and who knew of what she called a “grave abuse of power” tied to the lane closures. Buono's office issued a statement early this afternoon — even as Christie continued to answer questions at a news conference addressing the scandal — in which her staff attached the letter. The staff's announcement stated, "Senator Buono believes the e-mail and recent testimony of the General Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee (addressing the lane closures) ... provide sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation." It also said that "because this conduct implicates that Governor’s office, she has sees Mr. Fishman's office as the appropriate entity to take such action."

News Jersey's acting attorney general is a Christie appointee, and thus, according to Buono, an investigation by federal prosecutors, who were not appointed by Christie, is the better investigatory course.

In her letter to Christie, Buono wrote that it's "becoming more and more apparent that far-reaching abuse occurred both in and outside the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey." She added, "As widely reported, Governor Christie's deputy chief of staff instructed Port Authority officials appointed by the Governor to close lanes to the George Washington Bridge without notice. This caused four days of extreme gridlock leading to delays in emergency response times and putting lives at risk."

News reports have said that during the four-day lane shut down, emergency personnel were slowed trying to reach people in medical need, school buses with children were held up, and other delays ensued.

Gov. Christie is holding a news conference today to address the mounting scandal, which some political commentators and pundits say has already seriously harmed his chances of making a strong run for U.S. president in 2016. Christie has not announced he will run for president, but he is considered a front-runner in the Republican party.

On Wednesday, inquiries made to Fishman's office of federal prosecutors in Newark about a possible federal investigation of the lane changes elicited only the following response from Fishman's office: "It is the policy of our office to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations."

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