New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office has been ordered in a subpoena from a special panel to turn over emails, text messages and any other documents relating to the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge.
The state Senate and Assembly both created special committees to investigate how three lanes of the bridge were ordered closed for four days in September.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is leading the legislative investigation, said the new subpoenas from the Assembly seek documents from 17 people and three organizations.
Among those are the governor's office, along with specific aides to the governor, including his chief counsel, chief of staff and some communications aides. His re-election campaign was also subpoenaed.
Those who received subpoenas this week have until Feb. 3 to deliver the materials. The subpoenas seek correspondence and documents about the lane closures dating back a year before the lane closures, to September of 2012.
Voice mails, calendar notes and call and visitor logs are also being sought.
Christie's office had no immediate comment. The office announced this week it had hired an outside legal team, to be led by former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro.
Documents that were released recently were the result of subpoenas to two Port Authority officials, both of whom have since resigned. They showed that a now-fired member of Christie's administration gave the go-ahead to shut down the traffic lanes, apparently as payback to a local mayor who did not endorse the governor.
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," wrote the staffer, Bridget Anne Kelly.
The Republican governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate hasn't been implicated, but the scandal has plagued him.
He sought to move past it with his State of the State address this week, but acknowledged at the beginning of the speech that "mistakes were clearly made."
"And as a result, we let down the people we're entrusted to serve," he said.
