The Republican governor himself is not on trial, but in some ways his administration is; two of his former top lieutenants face nine counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud, in what federal prosecutors have called a “callous and audacious” scheme to exact political revenge by creating a traffic jam that punished a mayor who declined to endorse Mr. Christie’s 2013 bid for re-election, and then cover it up. A third has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against them.

Defense lawyers have suggested they will argue that their clients have been scapegoats for what they call routine politics in the Christie administration — that the governor’s inner circle was well aware of the scheme and attempts to cover it up as officials, reporters and legislators began to ask questions. There are 1.5 million pages of documents in the case, making about as many chances for surprises or unflattering revelations in court. There is also the possibility that Mr. Christie could be called as a witness.

But even in the unlikely event that no one mentions the governor’s name in the courtroom, the trial will dredge up nagging questions and allegations about how he runs his office, meaning that voters will be bombarded in the eight weeks before Election Day with accusations of bullying, using government resources for political gain and a win-at-all-costs culture.

“In the state of New Jersey, there is this kind of pervasive sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop,” said Brigid Callahan Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University. “It seems as if there are still more details left to be revealed.”

“I don’t know that there’s the smoking gun that leads directly to Chris Christie,” she added, “but it could show that it infiltrated his inner circle even more. Which then creates even more media frenzy about ‘What did he know and when did he know it?’ ”