TRENTON, N.J. | Gov. Jon Corzine has gone on the offensive in the New Jersey governor’s race by calling on his Republican challenger to explain conversations he had with former presidential adviser Karl Rove.
Chris Christie’s campaign acknowledged that Mr. Rove and Mr. Christie chatted informally while he was U.S. attorney about a possible challenge to Mr. Corzine.
U.S. attorneys are prohibited by federal law from engaging in political activities such as planning a campaign while still on the government payroll.
Mr. Corzine said it is difficult to understand how a career law enforcer such as Mr. Christie could potentially violate the rules barring politicking by U.S. attorneys.
“The Hatch Act is very clear in saying that political activities are off-limits,” Mr. Corzine said.
Mr. Christie’s campaign said there was nothing improper about the conversations.
Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella has said it was natural for Mr. Rove to ask Mr. Christie about his future and to offer to put him in touch with people who could help him make a decision whether to challenge Mr. Corzine, the incumbent Democrat. Miss Comella declined to comment on the governor’s statements Thursday.
These were Mr. Corzine’s first public remarks on Mr. Rove since transcripts of his closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee were released Tuesday. That testimony, taken in July, concerned the firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006.
The Corzine campaign has seized upon Mr. Rove’s statements, suggesting they show that Mr. Christie was laying the groundwork for his gubernatorial run long before leaving the U.S. attorney’s office.
Democrats also have touted a federal lawsuit that accuses Mr. Christie of approving a lenient plea deal while U.S. attorney because the defendant was represented by lawyers who are friends of Mr. Christie’s.
The defendant, Morton Salkind, was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison.
The 77-year-old real estate developer pleaded guilty in May 2008 to one count of tax evasion and agreed to repay the government $17 million.
His former business partner, Samuel Yarosh, has a pending lawsuit claiming that Salkind got a lenient plea deal because he is represented by Herbert Stern, whom Mr. Christie has described as a mentor.
Mr. Christie has said he didn’t know about the deal, although his office approved it and put out a news release announcing it.
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