Gov. Chris Christie. | AP Photo/Mel Evans Judge finds probable cause to investigate Christie over Bridgegate complaint

A New Jersey municipal judge on Thursday found "probable cause" to investigate a citizen complaint alleging Gov. Chris Christie committed official misconduct and was involved in the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

The complaint, filed by local activist Bill Brennan, is based on testimony delivered in recent weeks during the federal corruption trial against two former Christie aides who are accused of shutting the access lanes to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, after he failed to endorse the governor's reelection bid.


David Wildstein, the admitted architect of the lane-closure scheme, testified that he had told Christie on Sept. 11, 2013, about the closures, and the complaint alleges he committed misconduct by not taking any immediate action. Christie has denied any knowledge of the scheme as it was occurring.

The judge, Roy F. McGeady, issued the ruling in municipal court in Bergen County on Thursday morning, as the federal trial continues to hear testimony in Newark. McGready's ruling was first reported by NBC 4 New York.

The complaint will now go to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to determine whether the case should be brought before a grand jury for possible indictment. Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal was appointed by Christie in January and was nominated for a full term by the governor last month. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office declined to comment.

A spokesman for Christie, Brian Murray, called it "a dishonorable complaint filed by a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system."

"The simple fact is the Governor had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening," Murray said in a statement. "This matter has already been thoroughly investigated by three separate independent investigations. The ruling is being appealed immediately.”

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who helped lead a legislative committee’s probe into the lane closures, called it "a black eye for the state of New Jersey to have a judge find probable cause that the governor’s actions were malfeasance in office."