New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he is “outraged” by newly released documents linking a senior member of his staff to the closure of lanes on a major bridge in September — shutdowns that caused massive traffic jams and sparked allegations that the closures were the result of political retribution. 
 
 The Republican, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, denied personal knowledge of any plans to close the lanes and vowed that “people will be held responsible for their actions.” 
 
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 reset Flashback: Christie answers bridge questions N.J. assemblyman: Christie 'has a lot of explaining to do' 
 
 “What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable,” Christie said in a written statement provided by his office Wednesday afternoon, the first comments the governor has made since the explosive documents emerged earlier in the day and prompted him to cancel a public event. 
 
 (QUIZ: How well do you know Chris Christie?) 
 
 “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.” 
 
 Christie’s office also announced an 11 a.m. press conference early Thursday morning. 
 
 Christie previously had denied his staff played a role in the lane closures and even mocked reporters for asking about the issue when it emerged months ago. He said a traffic study prompted the closure. But the emails tell a different story, potentially undercutting Christie’s reputation as a truth-teller who doesn’t play political games. 
 
 “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly wrote in an email to Port Authority official David Wildstein, a Christie ally, on Aug. 13, 2013, according to The Record (N.J.) and other news outlets. 
 
 (Earlier on POLITICO Magazine: Christie has a bridge story to sell) 
 
 “Got it,” Wildstein replied. The following month, two of the town’s lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed, causing backups for a week that one local columnist described as a “disaster” that “quadruple[d] commuting time for some of the people who live closest to one of the nation’s busiest bridges.” 
 
 Emergency responders said the traffic delayed their responses to four different medical calls, the Record reported. One involved a 91-year-old woman who died after reaching the hospital, according to the Record, although officials did not directly attribute her death to the traffic. 
 
 The closures came ahead of the gubernatorial election at a time when Christie was looking to maximize his support from the rival party. He ultimately claimed endorsements from more than 60 elected Democrats in New Jersey. But Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, did not endorse Christie for reelection, and some New Jersey Democrats have accused Christie supporters of retaliating with the lane closures. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Chris Christie’s career) 
 
 The longer — and higher — the scandal goes, the bigger a problem it could be for Christie’s national ambitions. The emails underscore the reputation Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has in New Jersey as a bully who lashes out at enemies over slights — real or perceived. 
 
 “This is absolutely the lowest level of political venom you could possibly even make up,” Sokolich said on CNN Wednesday. “I think he has to publicly address the folks that are specifically impacted by this, I think apologies need to be doled out and I think reforms have to be put in place to make sure this never ever happens again.” 
 
 Christie’s statement was vague about the number of aides he expects to discipline, and when. His staff did not immediately respond to requests for clarification. He referred only to having been “misled by a member of my staff” – apparently just one individual. He did not refer by name to Kelly. 
 
 At least one Christie confidant tied to the controversy appears shielded from immediate fallout: Bill Stepien, the governor’s former campaign manager and newly appointed state party chairman, is expected to continue advising the Republican Governors Association in a senior role. Stepien joined the RGA as a top adviser after Christie became chairman of the organization late last year. 
 
 Stepien was included on several emails last fall referring to traffic turmoil in Fort Lee, including one in which he referred to the town’s Democratic mayor as an “idiot.” In the messages reported up to this point, he has not been linked to the actual decision to snarl traffic near the bridge. ||||| Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has explanations to make, apologies to give and an administrative house to clean now that his top aides and political cronies were shown to have been fully and gleefully aware of the chaos they caused by ordering up lane closings — and a four-day traffic jam — in September at the George Washington Bridge. 
 
 New Jersey residents had suspected for months that the sudden, mysterious shutdown of traffic lanes to the bridge in Fort Lee, N.J., may have had something to do with the refusal of the town’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, to endorse Mr. Christie for re-election. 
 
 That sounded far-fetched, even for someone known to be as sensitive to slights and as politically belligerent as Mr. Christie. He and his aides said such speculation was crazy talk, and he sarcastically joked that he had done it. “I worked the cones,” he said. “Unbeknownst to anyone, I was working the cones.” 
 
 Related Coverage Christie Faces Scandal on Traffic Jam Aides Ordered 
 
 Turns out it was his old friend David Wildstein, whom Mr. Christie had appointed as director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority, who ordered the closings. Text messages and emails made public on Wednesday show that Mr. Wildstein and Mr. Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, discussed the closings as political payback for Mr. Sokolich, who had no idea the closings were coming. 
 
 The correspondence shows that the lane closings were indeed a stunningly stupid act of petty revenge. They were also an egregious abuse of power. 
 
 “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Ms. Kelly said in an email to Mr. Wildstein in August, a few weeks before the closings. 
 
 Mr. Wildstein replied, “Got it.” 
 
 When the Port Authority’s executive director, Patrick Foye, learned what was happening in Fort Lee, he immediately ordered the lanes reopened, calling the closings dangerous, “abusive,” and probably illegal. Such big changes to traffic patterns are usually announced well in advance. In this case, the vague explanation by Port Authority officials was that they were for a traffic study that nobody else knew anything about. The gridlock was horrendous; Mr. Christie’s aides were lucky that nobody was seriously hurt in the chaos. 
 
 Mr. Christie, caught out on Wednesday, could no longer scoff at or dismiss the scandal, or blame Democrats for it. There were two possible explanations: either he had been pathetically misled by his scheming staff, and failed for months to get to the bottom of the scandal, or he had spent those months dissembling to any and all. His excuse? He was a dupe. 
 
 “What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable,” he said. “I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge.” He added: “This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.” 
 
 Mr. Christie can start by getting rid of every one of his aides and cronies who knew about this scheme and show what actions he will take against the person with ultimate responsibility for his administration: himself.
– Chris Christie has responded to today's amazing allegations that his aides deliberately caused massive traffic jams on the world's busiest bridge to punish a political rival: The New Jersey governor insists that he had nothing to do with it and suggests that heads will roll, reports Politico. The statement: "What I've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions." If you missed it, emails emerged from several media outlets suggesting that Christie aides ordered two lanes shut down on the George Washington Bridge in September, which led to gridlock in the town of Fort Lee—because Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich wouldn't endorse Christie in his re-election campaign against Democrat Barbara Buono. For her part, Buono has called on the Justice Department to look into criminal charges. "It clearly exposes a web of deceit and subterfuge and political retribution leading straight to Chris Christie," she tells the Star-Ledger. Though Christie didn't mention names, the emails show that a top aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, told a Christie-appointed official at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, that it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." The emails do not implicate Christie himself, notes the New York Times, though the governor initially said nobody affiliated with his office or campaign was involved.