(CNN) – New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno denied "whole-heartedly" allegations Monday that she gave Hoboken's mayor an ultimatum to support a private redevelopment plan backed by Gov. Chris Christie in order to receive Hurricane Sandy recovery aid.
"Mayor Zimmer's version of our conversation in May of 2013 is not only false but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. Any suggestion that Sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in New Jersey is completely false," she said at a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday event in Union Beach, New Jersey.
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Guadagno's remarks were the first time a senior Christie official addressed the charges Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer first made Saturday on MSNBC and detailed to CNN on Sunday.
Zimmer claims that Guadagno told her to support a redevelopment project backed by Christie or loose Sandy recovery funds. Zimmer, a Democrat, also said she was told the threat came directly from the Republican governor.
Hoboken was one of the cities hit hardest by the 2012 hurricane, which ravaged the eastern seaboard, destroying an estimated $100 million worth of property
But Guadagno said Monday such a suggestion is "wholly and completely false."
"Standing in Union Beach as we are today with some of the mayors whose towns were devastated by Sandy, and also being a Sandy victim myself, makes the mayor's allegations particularly offensive to me," she continued.
The lieutenant governor said she thought she had a good relationship with the mayor, saying they had met in Hoboken three months after the May 2013 conversation.
"Frankly I'm surprised that Mayor Zimmer has chosen to mischaracterize a conversation I had with her about development and job creation in Hoboken," she said.
Refusing to take any questions, Guadagno closed her remarks by reiterating that she denies any suggestions that "there was every any condition...on the release of Sandy funds by me."
"I am sure–absolutely sure–that the facts will come out," she said.
Read more about the allegations
- CNN's Chris Frates, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Jason Seher contributed to this report.
