Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a former prosecutor who has exchanged his share of zingers with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie since taking office, said Thursday he believes that criminal laws were violated when the Christie administration deliberately fouled traffic to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.

“There is no doubt that a crime has been committed,” Malloy told reporters at a press conference in Hartford. “Who it has been committed by remains to be seen.”

Christie addressed the scandal during an extraordinary televised press conference earlier Thursday, in which Christie announced the firing of a top aide and apologized. But he denied any knowledge of his aide’s ordering the closing of an access lane to the George Washington Bridge to cause traffic chaos in Fort Lee.

Malloy didn’t raise the subject, but he didn’t hesitate to comment when asked by reporters. He gave Christie the benefit of the doubt — to a degree.

“I’m more than happy to take the governor at his word, but this has a long way to go,” Malloy said.

Incidentally, Ted Mann, a Wall Street Journal transportation reporter who used to cover the Connecticut General Assembly for The Day, played a key role in uncovering the scandal.