The governor of the US state of New Jersey has fired an aide alleged to have orchestrated traffic mayhem to pursue a political vendetta.
Governor Chris Christie, seen as a potential Republican White House candidate, apologised for the scandal, which he said had "embarrassed and humiliated" him.
On 9 September, two of three lanes to the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, were shut for several days. The governor and Port Authority officials initially said the decision to close the lanes was part of a traffic study.
Emails and texts made public on Wednesday appear to link the governor's top aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, to the move allegedly engineered to punish a Democratic Party mayor who did not endorse the governor's re-election. Kelly has now been fired, with the governor calling her actions "stupid" and "deceitful".
Christie denied all knowledge of the scandal and said he was misled.
