New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he has fired a top aide at the center of a brewing scandal that public officials orchestrated a massive traffic snarl on the busy George Washington Bridge to settle a political score.<br /><br />New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told a news conference he was stunned and heartbroken by revelations that his staff was behind the traffic jam designed to punish a local mayor who declined to endorse Mr Christie's re-election bid. <br /><br />The office of the US attorney in New Jersey said it had launched an investigation. <br /><br />The scandal and potential legal problems come as Mr Christie has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the Republican Party as head of its governors association and a possible contender for the White House in 2016. <br /><br />"I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team," Mr Christie said. "I am who I am, but I am not a bully."<br />Mr Christie said he has dismissed his deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly. <br /><br />The controversy erupted with the public release of incriminating emails showing that a top aide to Mr Christie played a key role in closing some lanes to the bridge, in a ploy to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. <br /><br />The George Washington Bridge, one of the busiest spans in the world, connects New York City to Fort Lee. The abrupt four-day lane closures in September caused hours-long traffic jams and held up the passage of school buses and ambulances. <br /><br />A local newspaper reported that emergency responders were delayed in attending to four medical situations. One involved an unconscious 91-year-old woman who later died of cardiac arrest and another, a car accident, in which four people were injured. <br /><br /><br /><br />Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/<br /><br />Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=telegraphtv<br /><br />Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/telegraph.co.uk<br />Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/telegraph<br />Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/102891355072777008500/<br /><br />Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.
