The allegation comes from David Wildstein's lawyer. | AP Photos Christie denies accusations

The lawyer for a onetime Chris Christie appointee said Friday that there is evidence contradicting what the Republican governor and prospective 2016 presidential candidate has said he knew about the lane closures at the center of a growing New Jersey traffic scandal.

The allegation comes from David Wildstein, an ex-Port Authority official appointed by Christie, in a letter from Wildstein’s lawyer reported by The New York Times and other news outlets.


“Evidence exists … tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference he gave immediately before Mr. Wildstein was scheduled to appear before the [state] Transportation Committee,” the letter said.

( Also on POLITICO: My time with Chris Christie’s scandal-plagued aide David Wildstein)

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter said.

Christie’s office denied the accusation.

“Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer confirms what the Governor has said all along – he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein’s motivations were for closing them to begin with,” the statement read. “As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th. The Governor denies Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer’s other assertions.”

Christie held the news conference in question earlier this month to announce he had fired an aide who, according to subpoenaed documents, communicated with Wildstein ahead of time about “traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the town where the lane closures would eventually take place last September.

( Also on POLITICO: Christie ally invokes Fifth on subpoena)

The lane closures came as Christie was running for reelection, and some Democrats have alleged the lanes were closed to punish the Democratic mayor of the town, who declined to endorse Christie. Emails written by aides about the closures suggest they were orchestrated as political retaliation.

“I don’t know what else to say except to tell them that I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over,” Christie said at the news conference. “And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study. And there was no evidence to the contrary until yesterday that was brought to my attention or anybody else’s attention.”

Wildstein pleaded the Fifth when state lawmakers called him to testify before a panel investigating the closures earlier this month. Wildstein’s lawyer has previously said that if Wildstein “has immunity from the relevant entities, he’ll talk.”

( PHOTOS: Who's who in the Chris Christie bridge scandal)

Both state lawmakers and the U.S. attorney in New Jersey are looking into the scandal.

Christie has apologized for the traffic mess and said he will cooperate with “appropriate” inquiries into how it came about, as well as conduct an internal review.