The attack came after a Democratic New Jersey mayor leveled new claims of political payback on MSNBC’s “Up with Steve Kornacki,” accusing the Christie administration of withholding hurricane relief funds in a dispute over the pace of a redevelopment project in her city.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak denied those allegations in an initial statement to the network. Another spokesman for Christie — a prospective 2016 presidential candidate — followed up with a lengthy statement pushing back against both MSNBC and the mayor, Hoboken’s Dawn Zimmer.

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“MSNBC is a partisan network that has been openly hostile to Governor Christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him, even taking the unprecedented step of producing and airing a nearly three-minute attack ad against him this week,” said the spokesman, Colin Reed, in a statement, referring to a spot aired by host Lawrence O’Donnell.

“The Governor and Mayor Zimmer have had a productive relationship, with Mayor Zimmer even recently saying she’s ‘very glad’ he’s been our Governor,” Reed said. “It’s very clear partisan politics are at play here as Democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television.”

MSNBC spokesperson Lauren Skowronski said that “our journalism speaks for itself.”

The rebuke from Christie’s team is one of the strongest statements to emanate from the governor’s office since new revelations in the traffic scandal broke earlier this month. The administration pushed back in a similar way when another mayor, Democrat Steve Fulop of Jersey City, released documents Jan. 13 attempting to prove the administration canceled meetings with him after he declined to endorse Christie for reelection.

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“Mayor Fulop’s words and actions must be viewed through the lens of partisan politics and his attempt to advance his own personal agenda,” Reed said at the time.

Christie is in Florida this weekend in his capacity as the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association. That trip — which was on his schedule before key documents in the so-called “Bridgegate” controversy surfaced Jan. 8 — is being watched closely as a barometer of how Christie is weathering the controversy among major party donors.

At the heart of the controversy are traffic-snarling lane closures in the New Jersey city of Fort Lee, at the base of the bridge, last September. Aides and allies of Christie appear to have been involved with the closures as part of an alleged political payback scheme. Christie himself has denied any knowledge of or involvement in the closures, apologized publicly and fired or distanced himself from two aides apparently involved.

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The scandal did not come up at an event Christie attended in Orlando on Saturday, according to The Record (N.J.) newspaper. The event was in support of GOP Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is up for reelection.

“I’m here today not to talk about New Jersey, not to talk about the rest of the country, but to talk about Florida,” Christie said, according to the newspaper. “I’m here because I believe in Rick Scott.”

Christie was expected to face questions about the scandal at an event scheduled for Sunday at the home of Home Depot Chairman Ken Langone, USA Today reported.

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The Hoboken mayor’s claims attracted the attention of state lawmakers in Trenton, where two legislative investigations of the traffic scandal are underway. Democrat Loretta Weinberg, who is leading the state Senate probe, said her panel would look into the allegations.

“We will pursue the latest assertion to determine if it is true and if it is related to what happened in Fort Lee,” Weinberg said in a statement. “The investigation will be thorough and deliberative and we will take it wherever it goes.”

Democrat John Wisniewski, who is leading the parallel probe in the state Assembly, said his panel could expand its investigation, too.

“We need to obtain all relevant facts, confer with our special counsel and determine the committee’s best course of action,” Wisniewski said in a statement.