Chris Christie Is Blasting The New York Times For A 'Sloppy' And 'Misleading' Report

For the second time in three days, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed The New York Times for the paper's report Friday on claims made by former Port Authority official David Wildstein.

In a memo circulated to allies and friends on Monday, which was obtained by The Daily Caller's Alex Pappas, Christie's office characterized the report as "sloppy" and "misleading." It uses critical tweets from reporters, as well as a critical column from New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan, to hammer home its point.

The New York Times originally obtained a letter from Alan Zegas, Wildstein's attorney, on Friday, which claimed that there is evidence of Christie knowing about retributive lane closures on the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, N.J., in September. But the Times changed the lede of its story from saying Wildstein had the evidence to the more passive "evidence exists."

The memo from Christie's office noted Sullivan's column on Monday, which argued that the Times should have included an editor's note about the lede change:

My take: This change was more than a nuance. Acknowledging that could have taken the form of a straightforward correction. The change also could have been explained in an editor's note or could even have been acknowledged in a sentence in the body of the article.

The Christie memo also included critical tweets from, among others, TIME Washington bureau chief Michael Scherer, CNN host Piers Morgan, and The Huffington Post media reporter Michael Calderone.

It also featured a link to a clip from CNN's "Reliable Sources," in which Kate Zernike, the reporter who wrote the piece on Friday, suggested that the publication should have been clearer about its changes.

Christie's camp circulated an email to friends and allies on Saturday that briefly attacked The New York Times, but focused mostly on Wildstein.

You can read the full memo on the NYT at The Daily Caller.