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Of all the arrows fired at Gov. Chris Christie over the years, the one that inflicted the deepest wound came not from a rival, but from an ally.

David Wildstein, by all accounts, was thrilled to be part of the governor's inner circle. He was known as a loyal member of the palace guard, the governor's eyes and ears at the Port Authority, a buddy of Christie's since their high school days.

And now he has flipped, as spectacularly as John Dean flipped on Richard Nixon. And in the end, Wildstein could do just as much damage.

"This guy is really mad," says one leading Democrat who asked not to be named. "The way the letter is written is almost rambling, throwing everything in the kitchen sink. There's a lot of anger there. He feels dissed."

Why would Wildstein be so angry with his old boss? Look at it through his eyes. He closed those access lanes on orders from the governor's office after receiving the infamous message from Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's deputy chief of staff: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

His reward for that loyal service? He was forced to resign from his job in disgrace. And then the governor, for no good reasons, belittled Wildstein at a press conference when asked about their friendship in high school.

"We didn't travel in the same circles in high school," Christie said coolly. "You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don't know what David was doing during that period of time."

Ouch.

And then it got worse. Faced with enormous legal expenses, the Port Authority rejected Wildstein's request to cover the legal bills.

Add it up, and he has good reason to be furious. He lost his job, he was personally humiliated, and he faces financial ruin - all because he obeyed orders. The governor should have seen this one coming. Because those who are spurned are dangerous. They know secrets.

Wildstein is the first member of Christie's team to challenge the governor's personal honesty. He made the accusation in a letter his attorney wrote to the Port Authority, ostensibly to request reconsideration of their earlier vote rejecting Wildstein's plea for financial help.

But look at the contents of the letter, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that Wildstein's real purpose was to throw a bomb that would damage Christie.

The big news in the letter is Wildstein's claim that Christie knew about the lane closures while they took place, which Christie had explicitly denied over and over.

But it is full of allegations of wrongdoing at the Port Authority as well. It hints that a Port Authority attorney helped devise the discredited cover story that the closures were part of a traffic study. It says board members had personal connections to Port Authority land deals. It says that Port Authority money was traded for political favors.

So how can the Port Authority board reverse its decision now, and help Wildstein with his legal bills? It would look like hush money.

Others have suggested the letter was a flirtation with federal prosecutors, a signal from Wildstein that he has big story to tell in return for the right plea bargain. But that doesn't hold up either. He could talk privately to prosecutors, who much prefer it that way.

No, Wildstein was not seeking money with this letter, and he was not flirting with prosecutors.

He was after Christie. And that explains the timing as well. With the nation's eyes on New Jersey for the Super Bowl, Christie finds himself running from reporters, and waving away photographers. If you think that's a coincidence, you haven't been following Jersey politics for long.

Wildstein's testimony is a turning point in this scandal, a knife in the gut for Christie. And Christie's only choice now is to attack Wildstein's credibility, which he did in a desperate email to supporters Saturday that reached back to Wildstein's high school days. "As a 16-year-old kid, he sued over a local school board election."

But would Wildstein lie now? Would he undermine his own credibility just at the moment when he is offering to provide testimony in return for immunity? His attorney, Alan Zegas, is too smart to let that happen.

The next shoe drops tomorrow, the deadline for the legislative committee investigating this mess to receive subpoenaed documents from the key players implicated in the scandal. Some, no doubt, will now run to federal prosecutors and offer testimony in return for immunity, before Wildstein offers testimony that would render theirs redundant, and therefore worthless.

We are looking at an epic fall from grace for Christie, a reversal of fortune worthy of Shakespeare, stunning in its scale and speed.

And all because of that pointless stunt at the bridge, part of a blind rush to drive up the governor's margin of victory. The hubris brings to mind Icarus, the mythical figure who flew too close to the sun, despite his father's warnings, and plunged to his death when his wax wings melted.

Wildstein was at the center of it all, the man who pushed the button and made it happen. Now that he has turned, the governor's chances of survival are fading fast.

Source: NJ.com