A New Jersey judge has given the go-ahead to investigate Gov. Chris Christie for possible official misconduct, issuing a criminal summons for the governor.

Judge Roy F. McGeady has found probable cause to investigate a complaint of official misconduct against Christie related to the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal. The case goes to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, which will determine if the case will lead to an indictment. Christie's first appearance was scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 24.

McGeady, the presiding judge for the municipal courts in the Bergen Vicinage, issued the ruling in favor of the complaint that North Jersey political activist Bill Brennan filed Sept. 30. Brennan's complaint stems from testimony in the ongoing Bridgegate trial. McGeady said he was "satisfied that there's probable cause to believe that an event of official misconduct was caused by Gov. Christie," and issued the summons.

"When the governor conspires to turn the power of the government against the people, it becomes a totalitarian regime and it is a crime of highest order," Brennan said Thursday after the ruling was issued. "A firm and direct stand against this dangerous abusive authority must be taken and an example must be made of him." The governor's office vowed to immediately appeal the ruling.

"This is a dishonorable complaint filed by a known serial complainant and political activist with a history of abusing the judicial system," Christie spokesman Brian Murray said in a statement. "The simple fact is the governor had no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening. This matter has already been thoroughly investigated by three separate independent investigations."

NBC4 New York broke the story on Twitter, posting a video of the judge with the hashtag #Bridgegate, referring to the political payback lane-closings scandal (see below).

Testimony in an ongoing trial has suggested Christie knew all about Bridgegate while the political payback scheme was happening — and he knew why it was being done. Christie knew that his associates were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge, according to a New York Times account of the trial, and that the closings were intended to punish the Fort Lee mayor for declining to support his 2013 re-election bid.