Adding a headache for Gov. Chris Christie, a federal agency will investigate whether New Jersey improperly spent Hurricane Sandy relief money on an ad campaign that featured the governor while he was running for re-election, a lawmaker said Monday.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will audit $25 million in federal money that the state spent to promote tourism and the Jersey Shore, said Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey. Pallone is a Democrat, Christie a Republican.
Documents show that the state agreed to pay $4.7 million to a marketing company that proposed developing the ads and including the governor in them, Pallone said in a letter to HUD investigators in August.
Another company had proposed a $2.5 million campaign that did not include the governor, Pallone said.
(Read more: A bridge too far for Chris Christie?)