Hey, remember when we said that Bridgeghazi meant Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was either a vengeful asshole or entirely incompetent? According to the Port Authority official at the center of the controversy, he's a vengeful asshole. And he's still lying to reporters and residents.

David Wildstein, a high-level Port Authority appointee and former high-school classmate of Christie's who emerged in emails as the official who ordered subordinates to shut down the toll lanes onto the George Washington Bridge last September, said through an attorney that the guv knew all along what was going on. According to The New York Times:

[Wildstein] described the order to close the lanes as "the Christie administration's order" and said "evidence exists as well 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" three weeks ago.

"Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some," the letter added.

The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie may have been aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during a two-hour press conference earlier this month.

What does Wildstein have, and what does it say about Christie? Hopefully it can shed some light on which political revenge fantasy was to blame for the closures. But more important: Why would Christie categorically deny any knowledge of the whole affair if there was obvious, obtainable evidence to the contrary? Then again, shit's definitely slipped his mind before in this case. And it's not his only current political problem.

[Photo credit: AP]