done in new jersey governor, chris christie's new jersey with the hands on respond to hurricane sandy rocketing him to stardom and questions of the use of relief funds are threatening his future as a leading republican candidate for president. $25 million in federal money was used to create this tv ad campaign to promote tourism after the storm. >> we are stronger than the storm. >> you bet. >> it feature he andly family aircraft in the middle of the re-election campaign. another firm offered a similar cheaper pitch for half the price but there was one key difference >> it included the governor, but our strategy was designed to let the new jersey shore speak for it self. >> a federal investigation wants do necessity if he picked the more expensive ad so he could star. >> if you are government agency you take the low bidder, not someone who will charge an extra $2 million. >> his office defended the commercial saying they were approved by the obama administration. the probe comes as he tries to contain the political fallout from bridge-gate. new jersey lawmakers forming a special committee to in

his hands-on response to hurricane sandy rocketed christie to political stardom, but now questions about his use of relief funds are threatening his future as a leading republican presidential candidate. $25 million in federal money was used to create this tv ad campaign to promote tourism after the storm. >> because we're stronger than the storm. >> you bet we are. >> reporter: the ad featuring christie and his family aired in the middle of his re-election campaign. another firm offered a similar far cheaper pitch for half the price, but there was one key difference. >> none of our creative included the governor at all. our strategy was designed to let the new jersey shore speak for itself. >> reporter: now a federal investigation wants to know if christie chose the more expensive ad so he could star in it. >> normally if you're a government agency, you take the low bidder. you don't someone who is going to charge an extra $2 million. >> reporter: christie's office defended the commercial saying they were approved by the obama administration. the latest probe comes as christie tries to

when hurricane sandy hit new jersey, he led from the trenches and his skillful response rocketed him rstardom. a new federal investigation into how the new jersey governor spent some of the sandy relief money could threaten to wash away the foundation of his political brand. cnn has learned that federal investigators will examine the state's $25 million tourism marketing campaign, a campaign that was paid for with sandy recovery money. >> the jersey shore is open. >> the word is spreading. >> because we are stronger than the storm. >> you bet we are. >> a campaign that featured kristy and his family do youring an election year. democratic congressman, frank pallone, a vocal christie critic requested the investigation. he said this was not about politics. >> this is money that could have been directly used for sandy recovery. many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money owed them to rebuild their homes or to raise their homes or to help. >> pallone says promoting new jersey towards them after the super storm was a good idea. he has a big question about how much taxpayer money

. >> reporter: when hurricane sandy hit new jersey chris christie led from the trenches in a skillful response rocketedtical superstardom. a new federal investigation into how the new jersey governor spent some of the sandy relief money could threaten to wash away the foundation of his political brain. cnn learned federal investigators will examine the tourism marketing campaign, a campaign paid for with sandy recovery money. >> we are stronger than the storm. >> you bet we are. >> a campaign that featured christie and his family during an election year. >> reporter: democratic congressman requested the investigation and federal officials tell cnn it is now moving ahead. but he says this is not about politics. >> this was money that could have directly been used for sandy recovery. and as you know many of my constituents still haven't gotten money that is owed them to rebuild their homes or to raise their homes or help. >> reporter: pallone says promoting the shore was a good idea but has a question of how much taxpayer money was used to make the ads. the next lower bid that lost out was nearly half th

sandy hit new jersey, chris christie led from the trenches. and his skillful response to the devastating superstorm rocketed him into political superstardom. but a new federal investigation into how the new jersey governor spent some of the sandy relief money could threaten to wash away the foundation of his political brand. cnn has learned that federal investigators will examine the state's $25 million tourism marketing campaign. a campaign that was paid for about sandy recovery money. >> the jersey shore is open. >> the word is spreading. >> because we're stronger than the storm. >> you bet we are. >> a campaign that featured christie and his family during an election year. >> instead of working together -- >> democratic congressman frank pallone, a vocal critic, requested the investigation and federal officials tell cnn it's now moving ahead. but pallone says this is not about politics. >> this was money that could have directly been used for san sandy recovery. many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed then, you know, to rebuild their homes or to put their, you know, to raise their homes or to help. >> pallone

. >> reporter: when hurricane sandy hit new jersey, chris christie led from the trenches. his skillful response to the devastating super storm rocketed him into political superstardom. but, a new federal investigation into how the new jersey governor spent some of the sandy relief money could threaten to wash away the foundation of his political brand. >> cnn has learned that federal investigators will examine the state's $25 million tourism marketing campaign, a campaign that was paid for with sandy recovery money. >> the jersey shore is open. the word is spreading, because we are stronger than the storm. a campaign that features christie and his family during an election year. democratic congressman, frank pallone, a vocal critic, requested the investigation and tells cnn, it is now moving ahead. he says, this is not about politics. >> this was money that could have been directly used for sandy recovery. as you know, many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed them to rebuild their homes or to put their -- to raze their homes or to help. >> reporter: pallone says promoting new jersey after the super storm wa

sandy hit new jersey, chris christie led from the trenches. and his skillful response to the devastating super storm rocketed him into political stardom. investigation into how the governor spent some of the sandy relief money could threaten to wash away his political brand. cnn has learned federal investigators will examine the state's tourism marketing campaign, that was paid for with sandy recovery money. >> the word is spreading. >> because we're stronger than the storm. >> you bet we are. >> a campaign that featured christie and his family during an election year. >> instead working together -- >> democratic congressman pallone, a vocal critic, requested the investigation. federal officials tell cnn it's now moving ahead. pallone says this is not about politics. >> this was money that could have directly been used for sandy recovery. as you know, many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed them, you know, to rebuild their homes or to put their, you know, to raise their homes or to help. >> pallone says promoting new jersey tourism after the storm wallace a go was a good idea. he has a question about the mon