- New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno says she did not deliver an ultimatum on behalf of Gov. Chris Christie
- Her remarks will be the first time a senior Christie official has addressed the charges
- Hoboken's Mayor says Guadagno told her that Sandy relief funds hinged on her backing real estate venture
- The alleged incident happened in May after Guadagno toured a grocery store
(CNN) -- New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is expected to "categorically deny" allegations Monday that she gave Hoboken's Mayor an ultimatum to support a redevelopment plan backed by Gov. Chris Christie in order to receive Hurricane Sandy recovery aid, a source said.
Guadagno's remarks will be the first time a senior Christie official has addressed the charges Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer first made Saturday on MSNBC.
Zimmer went even further Sunday, implicating Christie directly in an interview on CNN.
On CNN's State of the Union, Zimmer said Guadagno told her that Sandy relief funds hinged on her support for a real estate development project by the Rockefeller Group -- a directive that she said came directly from Christie.
Hoboken mayor: 'It's true' Christie administration withheld Sandy funds
Scandal follows Christie to Florida 
Giuliani: Scandal may help Christie 
MSNBC vs. Gov. Chris Christie 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is embroiled in the controversy over what appears to be political payback from his last gubernatorial campaign. Christie hasn't been tied to the scandal, but his aides and appointees have been accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish the Fort Lee mayor, who didn't endorse Christie. 
Christie fired Bridget Anne Kelly, who had been his deputy chief of staff, when her e-mail ordering the lane closings emerged. In a news conference, Christie said he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the "abject stupidity" of the move. 
David Wildstein, who apparently carried out Kelly's orders, is under investigation by a state Assembly committee looking into the scandal. The committee charged Wildstein with contempt for failing to answer its questions. In December, Wildstein resigned from his top-level position with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates bridges and tunnels. 
Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, called the lane closings a "venomous form of political retaliation." After a face-to-face meeting with Christie following his news conference, Sokolich said the governor was "gracious and apologetic" but said that "we're concerned there is more stuff and more issues to deal with." 
New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski is chairman of the Transportation Committee that is investigating the scandal. Wisniewski said Christie "has a lot of explaining to do." 
Michael Drewniak, Christie's spokesman, told reporters early in the investigation: "The governor of the state of New Jersey does not involve himself in traffic studies," which is what Wildstein had said the lane closings were for. 
Bill Baroni was executive deputy director of the Port Authority until he resigned amid the scandal in December. Christie said Baroni accepted responsibility for not following the right protocols in approving the traffic study, which was initially blamed by the administration for the lane closures. 
David Samson, Port Authority chairman, said the Port Authority's board had no knowledge of the lane closings until they were lifted five days later. "I am extremely upset and distressed over today's disclosures," Samson, a Christie appointee, said in a statement after learning of the closings. 
Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority, said the bridge lane closures didn't follow protocols. He ordered the lanes reopened. 
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat who also didn't endorse Christie, has raised his own suspicions about his cooled relationship with the administration and a suddenly tabled bill he was sponsoring in Trenton. 
New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat, has been pressing for information about the scandal. She has introduced a measure asking Congress to restructure the Port Authority to ensure transparency. 
Democrat Barbara Buono is a New Jersey state senator who challenged Christie this past November and lost in a landslide. She derided Christie during the campaign as representing "the worst combination of bully and bossism," and she brought up the lane closures as an example. 
Bill Stepien is a sharp-elbowed strategist who managed Christie's two gubernatorial campaigns. E-mails suggested he was aware of the bridge lane closures, and Christie has asked him to give up his political role. 
Scott Rechler, vice chairman of the Port Authority's board of commissioners, e-mailed other representatives of the Port Authority saying he was disturbed that traffic was snarled "without regard to this being the Jewish high holiday weekend." Rechler was appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 
Internal e-mails suggest Regina Egea, then a senior staffer and the governor's point person to the Port Authority and other agencies, was aware of concerns that the lane closures were not part of an ongoing traffic study. She's now Christie's incoming chief of staff. Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal
Who's who in Christie bridge scandal "She said that to me -- is that this is a direct message from the governor," Zimmer said.
The alleged incident happened last May after Guadagno toured a grocery store that had reopened after suffering $10 million in flooding damage from Sandy.
The lieutenant governor recalls having a conversation with Zimmer that day, but says she remembers Zimmer arguing that Sandy recovery aid and redevelopment were the same issue, according to the source close to Guadagno, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
"Kim remembers in their conversation that she was talking about redevelopment and making investments in Hoboken. She remembers Zimmer pressing Kim for money for Sandy. Kim remembers saying you can't tie the two together," the source said. "And she remembers Zimmer continuing to press and showing her a map of the city and pressing for aid for Sandy."
Catching up with the Christie scandal
Guadagno remembers it as a "friendly conversation," the source said. "Zimmer was laser-focused on getting Hoboken money for Sandy recovery and that is not the role Kim Guadagno plays in the administration," the source said.
She remembers telling Zimmer that the administration would like to do more to redevelop Hoboken, but she doesn't recall talking to her specifically about The Rockefeller Group project. But the source said Guadagno, a veteran prosecutor and former county sheriff, is still going through her records, preparing for a possible subpoena.
In remarks Monday morning -- at a volunteer event in Union Beach, New Jersey honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service -- Guadagno is expected to make the point that, "My job in the governor's office is to oversee redevelopment and reinvestment in New Jersey," the source said.
In fact, a governor's directive prevents Guadagno from working on the Sandy recovery efforts because she was personally affected by the superstorm -- her home in Monmouth Beach was damaged by the storm, the source said. She was at the Hoboken grocery store in her role as an advocate for the state's business community.
"Kim can't talk about Sandy," the source said. "She can't do it."
And Guadagno twice returned to Hoboken after that May visit -- once spending more than two hours touring farmers' markets with Zimmer -- and the Hoboken mayor never brought up the May conversation or indicated that it had upset her, the source said.
Zimmer's comments Saturday and Sunday are a change from what she told CNN on January 11. She said then that while she wondered whether Sandy aid funds were being withheld because she didn't endorse the governor's re-election, she concluded that "I don't think that's the case."
"I don't think it was retaliation and I don't have any reason to think it's retaliation, but I'm not satisfied with the amount of money I've gotten so far," Zimmer told CNN then. She did not mention her concerns about the redevelopment project.
