The backstory of Christie's 'Bridgegate' scandal

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is facing a growing scandal over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that gridlocked a small town. The politically motivated traffic jam is becoming a major political liability for the possible presidential prospect.

Here's how "Bridgegate" unfolded:

Aug. 13: Bridget Anne Kelly, deputy chief of staff to Republican Gov. Christie, e-mails David Wildstein, director of interstate capital projects for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein e-mails back: "Got it."

Sept. 6: Wildstein orders the George Washington Bridge's general manager, Robert Durando, to close two of the three access lanes connecting Fort Lee, N.J., to the bridge.

Sept 9: The access lanes are closed, creating hours-long traffic jams on the first day of the school year. Matthew Bell, a special assistant to Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, e-mails his boss at 9:29 a.m. Subject line refers to "Phone call: Mayor (Mark) Sokolich ... urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee." Baroni forwards if to Wildstein, who forwards to Kelly, who responds: "Did he call him back?" Wildstein writes back: "Radio silence."

Sept 10: Sokolich texts Baroni: "Presently we have four very busy traffic lanes merging into only one toll booth. ... The bigger problem is getting kids to school. Help please. It's maddening." Wildstein passes that message along to an unidentified recipient, who responds: "Is it wrong that I am smiling? I feel badly about the kids I guess." Wildstein writes back: "They are the children of Buono voters." (Barbara Buono, a Democrat, challenged Christie in 2013.)

Sept. 12: Mayor Sokolich writes to Baroni, questioning if the closures are punitive. Baroni passes along the message to Wildstein: "From Serbia: My frustration is now trying to figure out who is mad at me." Serbia is the nickname the group uses for Sokolich, who is of Croatian descent.

Sept 13: Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority and an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, directs general manager Durando to end the lane closures. Durando e-mails Wildstein: "He asked about the test. He asked why he wasn't told." Later that morning, Wildstein wrote to Kelly: "The New York side gave Fort Lee back all three lanes this morning. We are appropriately going nuts. Samson helping us to retaliate." The last line refers to David Samson, the chairman of the Port Authority board. Kelly wrote back: "What??" Wildstein responded: "Yes, unreal. Fixed now."

Sept 16: The Port Authority says the lanes were closed for a traffic study.

Sept 18: Wildstein e-mails a Wall Street Journal story on the closures to Bill Stepien, Christie's campaign manager. Stepien writes back: "It's fine. The mayor is an idiot, though. When (sic) some, lose some." Wildstein writes back: "I had empty boxes ready to take to work today, just in case. It will be a tough November for this little Serbian."

Oct. 2: New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, announces he will hold a hearing regarding the lane closures.

Nov. 5: Christie wins re-election, defeating Democratic state Sen. Buono by 22 percentage points. Christie takes Fort Lee with 55% of the vote.

Nov. 25: Baroni testifies before the Assembly Transportation Committee; he does so without a subpoena and is not under oath. Baroni says the lane closures were part of a traffic study and that Wildstein ordered them. He said it was a mistake not to notify Fort Lee officials or Foye, the Port Authority director.

Dec. 2: Christie addresses the bridge situation at a news conference and says he had nothing to do with it. He also jokes about it: "I worked the cones. Unbeknownst to anyone, I was working the cones."

Dec. 6: Wildstein says the controversy has "become a distraction" and announces his resignation from his Port Authority job.

Dec. 9: Foye testifies before the Assembly Transportation Committee. Some of his testimony contradicts Baroni's. Assemblyman Wisniewski calls for Baroni to resign.

Dec. 10: The inspector general of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey launches an investigation.

Dec. 12: Wisniewski issues more subpoenas to the Port Authority, officials at the authority and Wildstein seeking documents and e-mails.

Dec. 13: Christie announces Baroni's resignation but says the change had been in motion since before the election. Christie says he asked his top staff in his administration and campaign whether anyone had knowledge of the closures and that none did.

Dec. 17: Sen. John "Jay" Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, asks the U.S. Department of Transportation to review the government's oversight of the Port Authority.

Dec. 19: Wisniewski announces he has received documents subpoenaed from five Port Authority officials. Baroni and Wildstein, who have hired criminal defense attorneys, had been granted a short extension.

Jan. 8: Some pages, from the roughly 3,000 provided to the Assembly, reach reporters, making national news. Christie releases a statement saying he was "misled" by a staffer and is "deeply saddened" by the "unacceptable" conduct.

Jan. 9: Christie holds a press conference, where he apologizes and announces that he has fired Kelly, his deputy chief of staff. He says he has asked Stepien to withdraw his name as leader of the state Republican Party and leave a new job at the Republican Governors Association, which Christie heads.

Also on this day, Wildstein invokes the Fifth Amendment when questioned by the state Assembly Transportation Committee. The panel unanimously votes to hold him in contempt.

Jan. 10: The New Jersey Assembly makes public hundreds of documents related to the scandal. The documents reveal that the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Patrick Foye, tried to stop closures to access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, calling the decision to close them "hasty and ill-advised" as well as, he believed, illegal.