At first it may have seemed like an issue concerning only motorists who were stuck in traffic for hours, but one year since access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed in Fort Lee, the scandal now dubbed "Bridgegate" is still brewing, and threatening to derail Gov. Chris Christie's presidential aspirations.

Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
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Beginning Sept. 9, 2013, the access lanes were shut down for four days without warning. Christie did not publicly address reports of the traffic jam for several months.

"It's just, it's not that big a deal," he said in a mid-December press conference, when asked about the lane closures. Christie previously joked that he moved the cones leading to the access lanes.

On Dec. 23, 2013, Christie appeared on Townsquare Media's monthly "Ask the Governor" program, and continued to downplay the situation which was just weeks away from exploding into a national story.

"It's all about politics," Christie said at the time. "None of it makes sense."

On Jan. 8, 2014, an email was made public in which Christie's then-deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly wrote, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." David Wildstein, a Christie appointee to the Port Authority, replied, "Got it."

As state and national voter polls would bear out in the ensuing months, those emails changed the public's perception of Christie, the landscape of politics in New Jersey and the dynamic of the 2016 Republican primary for the presidential nomination.

One day after the emails were released, Christie held a dramatic, two-hour press conference during which he announced that Kelly had been fired as per his directive. He also said he had cut ties with his close political ally and two-time campaign manager, Bill Stepien. It was clear during the press conference that Christie now understood the scandal was serious.

"I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team," Christie admitted.

The governor did not answer questions again publicly until he appeared on "Ask the Governor" on Feb. 3, 2014. Host Eric Scott pressed the governor on the scandal, and Christie denied involvement.

"Did I authorize it? Did I know about it? Did I approve it? Did I have any knowledge of it beforehand and the answer is still the same: it's unequivocally, no," Christie said. "Before these lanes were closed, I knew nothing about it."

The governor commissioned an internal probe which ultimately cleared Christie of any wrongdoing. Democrats called the report a whitewash and many of them said the lanes were closed as political payback because Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, refused to endorse Christie's re-election bid. A Democrat-controlled joint legislative committee took hours of testimony over several months. The panel has suspended public hearings, but continues to work behind the scenes gathering information.

Perhaps more pertinent to Christie's political future is the fact that U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman continues to investigate the scandal.

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