As the fallout swirled last week over revelations that Gov. Christie's aides and appointees created a series of massive traffic jams in an apparent act of political punishment, the question remained: How close did the scandal get to Christie?

The Republican governor, who fired a top aide and dismissed a close political adviser Thursday after previously denying any involvement by his staff, has maintained he was unaware of any wrongdoing until Wednesday - when e-mails were disclosed suggesting political motives for gridlock in the Bergen County borough of Fort Lee. Two access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed starting Sept. 9 without warning to local officials.

A much larger cache of documents released Friday indicates several members of the governor's inner circle - including press secretary Michael Drewniak and newly appointed chief of staff Regina Egea - were involved as early as September in communications about the traffic.

Drewniak and Egea were sent e-mails the week of the lane closures by David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, two Christie appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who oversaw the lane closures.