The governor's legal woes didn't end with the Bridgegate trial.
TRENTON -- A key Democrat on Monday pressed the state attorney general's office to appoint a special prosecutor to handle an official misconduct criminal complaint lodged against Gov. Chris Christie last month for the governor's alleged involvement in Bridgegate.
In a letter to Attorney General Christopher Porrino, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) called for an independent prosecutor to be appointed by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.
Bergen County Presiding Judge for Municipal Courts Roy McGeady last month allowed a criminal complaint by retired Teaneck firefighter and citizen activist Bill Brennan to proceed against the governor, saying enough evidence existed to examine whether Christie was involved in the politically motivated 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
Christie's former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and his appointee to the Port Authority, Bill Baroni, were convicted by a federal jury Friday for their roles in the scheme. Christie, who has maintained he knew nothing about the lane closures, was not called as a witness or charged in the federal case.
Christie may appear in court on Bridgegate complaint
In his letter, obtained by NJ Advance Media, Lesniak said an independent prosecutor is needed, citing the attorney general's "long standing professional relationship with Governor Christie" as the reason.
Porrino served as chief counsel to Christie from 2014 until this July, when he was named acting attorney general. He was confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 1.
"While I have no doubt as attorney general you would handle this matter impartially and appoint a qualified independent attorney to handle the complaint," wrote Lesniak, "the appearance of a personal conflict arising from your long standing professional relationship with Governor Christie requires that the special prosecutor be appointed by Chief Justice (Stuart) Rabner."
Rabner was appointed by former Gov. Jon Corzine but re-appointed by Christie and now has lifetime tenure at the court.
The Bergen County prosecutor, Gurbir Grewal, is an acting prosecutor and serves at the pleasure of the governor.
On Monday, Lesniak said he was drafting legislation "codifying this request" in the Democratically controlled Legislature, but asked that Porrino move to implement the special prosecutor ahead of it.
He explained his preference for Rabner to make the choice based on what he termed the "close working relationship between any governor and his/her attorney general that does not normally exist between a chief justice and a governor."
If accepted, this would be New Jersey's first use of a special prosecutor to go after a state official in nearly 45 years.
In 1972, New Jersey Secretary of State Paul Sherwin was indicted on bribery and bid-rigging charges, and the state attorney general at the time, George Kugler, appointed a former federal prosecutor to oversee the case based on the recommendation of then State Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Weintraub.
Sherwin was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.
Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.