An alumnus and former aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is at the heart of a scandal over the closure of two traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge.

Bill Baroni, one of the highest-ranking Port Authority officials appointed by Christie, resigned in December after his connection to the closures was revealed.

Baroni, 42, initially said the closures were part of a traffic study, but emails and documents released Wednesday show they were politically motivated. The mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., where the closures hit hardest, did not endorse Christie’s reelection bid.

The documents reveal a series of emails and texts between Baroni and other Christie aides plotting the closures, which caused a four-day-long traffic jam in September.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” said one email from Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, to Baroni’s number-two David Wildstein.

At GW, Baroni gave campus tours as an admissions representative, according to a 2010 GW Today story. He majored in history and graduated magna cum laude with special honors.

After taking over the role at the Port Authority, Baroni told GW Today: “That’s why they pick a GW person who is used to working with people from all over the place. The Port Authority is the natural extension of having gone to GW.”