Evidently, Christie’s office couldn’t manage to put some distance between the governor and the governor’s old “friend” and ally. David Wildstein, who told the press that Christie knew all about those lane closings on the GeoWash bridge, is now the target of Christie’s staff. The attack on Wildstein goes all the way back to high school days, sounds desperate.

In a two-page memo obtained by Politico, which it said was sent “from the governor’s office,” David Wildstein, a former high-ranking official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was portrayed as a loose cannon who was attacking Mr. Christie only in an effort to save himself and noted that he had been described in newspaper accounts in the past as “tumultuous” and someone “who made moves that were not productive.”

The memo listed five incidents as evidence, saying that “as a 16-year-old kid,” Mr. Wildstein had sued over a school board election; that he had been “publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior”; that he had a controversial tenure as mayor of Livingston, N.J.; that he had been an anonymous blogger; and that he “had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people’s names without telling them.” ...NYT

That’s bad enough. That’s childish on the part of Christie’s staff, not to mention the governor himself. It all comes down to who gets to say the latest “neener neener.” Nobody gets out of this with clean hands.

Christie is paying the heaviest price. The Times prints a photo of the New Jersey governor — a deflating beach ball, angry and glum — at a Super Bowl celebration last night. That image alone could do him in. Apparently the crowd in Times Square gave him a “chilly reception.”

Christie, flailing, is going after the Times for reporting Wildstein’s side of the story. David Wildstein, accuser-in-chief, comes off as a jerk, too. But he’s not running for office.

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Gee, the New York Times used to love me, says Christie.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pushed back Saturday afternoon against a former ally and The New York Times over a report that the governor knew of last year’s lane closures.

In an email obtained by The Hill to political allies and reporters, Christie’s office dismissed the Times’ “sloppy reporting” and blasted former Port Authority executive David Wildstein, the source of the claims. …TheHill