Rove says he talked to Christie about gubernatorial bid

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove says he spoke with then-U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie about his interest in running for Governor, according to testimony Rove gave to the House Judiciary Committee last month.

“I talked to him twice in the last couple of years, perhaps one time while I was at the White House and once or twice since I left the White House, but -- not regarding his duties as U.S. Attorney, but regarding his interest in running for Governor, and he asked me questions about who -- who were good people that knew about running for Governor that he could talk to,” Rove told the panel.

Rove said that Christie never discussed his duties as U.S. Attorney.

“He may have said, I am really enjoying the job and, you know, I have got a whole bunch of cases that I am prosecuting and, boy, maybe you have been reading about me. But no; about the sum and substance of it, no,” Rove said.

Rove said he “vaguely” recalls Christie looking into allegations against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) before the 2006 election, but testified that he had no personal communications with Christie or anyone at the Department of Justice or the White House Counsel’s office about the Menendez investigation. 

Asked if the timing of the investigation was favorable to Republicans in the election, Rove said “I suspect so.”

“I don’t know enough about New Jersey politics and how widely it was covered to make comment,” said Rove.

Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Gov. Jon Corzine’s campaign, says that “it’s pretty clear now that Christie was running a gubernatorial campaign out of the United States Attorney’s office with the Bush White House and Bush’s political brain, Karl Rove.

Darcy is calling on Christie to disclose when he started planning his campaign for Governor.

“When did the planning start for his gubernatorial campaign? Who was involved with the planning, including members of the United States Attorney’s office? How did all of this impact his investigations, including prosecutorial decisions?” Darcy asked.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRANSCRIPT OF ROVE'S TESTIMONY