Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey who has ridden his experience as a U.S. attorney to a healthy lead in the polls, is taking hits from last week’s release of White House memos on the politicization of him and other Bush-appointed attorneys. Now Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked the Office of the Special Counsel to investigate whether Christie acted with an eye toward a run for office, based on Karl Rove’s testimony that they discussed this while Christie was still a public employee.

Mr. Rove’s statements demonstrate that while Mr. Christie was the U.S. Attorney, he met with individuals to plan the logistics and strategy of a campaign and to seek support in his efforts to secure the Republican nomination for governor in violation of the Hatch Act.  The Merit Systems Protection Board has held the OSC retains jurisdiction over such matters even whereas here, the employee has left the federal government.

At Netroots Nation, Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) called Christie a “lawbreaker” based on initial reports about the Rove connection.