Bryant's lawyer slams Christie

The good news for Democrats is that someone finally took a shot at the most likely Republican candidate for Governor in 2009.  The bad news is that the criticism came from Wayne Bryant's lawyer.

Carl Poplar, a veteran player in South Jersey Democratic politics, told The Star-Ledger that he believed U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie was targeting Bryant for "political reasons," and has asked a federal judge to hear his arguments to determine if the longtime State Senator from Camden County was the victim of "selective prosecution."

At a Democratic State Committee conference last month -- the day after two Democratic Assemblymen and nine others were arrested on bribery charges -- Senate President Richard Codey cautioned Democrats against criticizing the messenger, Christie.  

According to the Star-Ledger report, Poplar says that Christie's "political aspirations" influenced his investigatons of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and Governor James E. McGreevey, and suggested that Christie was behind leaks to the media on federal investigations.

Christie dismissed Poplar's complaints in an interview with Jeff Whelan: ""This is the same old story that's been peddled for the last six years by every political figure charged by our office. We stand by our successful, nonpartisan record of fighting political corruption in New Jersey. We will be prepared to present our evidence at the appropriate time at trial," Christie said.