Troubles Mount For Chris Christie

I've written more than once that Chris Christie is a dirty guy, a crooked guy, and once he starts to get scrutiny at a national level as a presidential contender, stuff is just going to come out that will, in the end, destroy his presidential ambitions.

BridgeGate has become a major problem for him, with new subpoenas being issued today:

The chairman of the Assembly committee investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closures said he will issue subpoenas as early as today to two aides to Gov. Chris Christie at the center of the unfolding scandal.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said the subpoenas are intended to shine a light on who else might have taken part in September’s traffic-snarling closures and why they were ordered.

Wisniewski and others have said the closures were in retaliation for the Fort Lee mayor’s failure to endorse Christie’s re-election bid. But Wisniewski said the committee is looking at alternative motives, including a dispute over state Supreme Court nominations.

Wisniewski said subpoenas for documents as well as testimony will be issued to Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and to his two-time campaign manager and former choice for state Republican Party chairman, Bill Stepien. Additional subpoenas will likely follow.

But BridgeGate isn't Christie's only problem these days:

Gov. Chris Christie is being investigated by federal officials about his use of Sandy relief money, according to a report on CNN.com.

The firm chosen by the state to put together tourism advertisements which featured Christie and his family submitted a bid of $4.7 million. A bid not selected would have cost $2.5 million, but the governor wouldn't have appeared in the ads, the report said.

The state was allocated $25 million to build a marketing campaign to promote Shore tourism following the October 2012 storm.

In August, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general to look at how the funds were spend, according to CNN.

The inspector general's initial review of the spending determined a full probe should be started into New Jersey's use of the money. The investigation will take "several months," CNN said, and an official report will be issued upon its conclusion.

Christie's vulnerable now, and you can bet that some people in the press are going to start looking back at uninvestigated scandals from Christie's past, like his expense accounts when he was US attorney or his meddling in an SEC investigation that targeted his brother.

The honeymoon for Christie is officially over.