Sen. Rand Paul raised questions about the same Hurricane Sandy ad campaign now being investigated by the federal government, calling the advertisements a "black eye" at a November committee hearing looking into the government's response to the storm.

Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said Monday the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general planned to audit the campaign to take a closer look at the how the $25 million spent promoting the Jersey Shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy was used.

At the heart of the controversy are several of ads featuring Gov. Chris Christie and his family, all of which ran while Christie was in the heat of his reelection campaign. The Christie administration rewarded the $4.7 million contract to produce the ads to a public relations firm that proposed using Christie in the ads. Another firm that had bid $2 million less for the ads and did not propose using Christie in the campaign did not receive the contract, CNN reported.