New York, NY —

New Jersey US Attorney Chris Christie says the ongoing controversy over the dismissal of several of his colleagues has been difficult for Justice Department employees outside of Washington. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Christie said he had nothing but the highest respect for the fired US Attorneys, 4 of whom he says are friends. Despite the fact that Christie had been a Bush campaign operative, he said he never felt partisan pressure from Washington.

CHRISTIE: Listen, I plead guilty to having raised money for Governor George W. Bush because I thought he was the best person to be President of the United States.

Critics have charged that Christie has pursued Democrats to help his party. But his 125 public corruption cases have targeted officials from both parties.

CHRISTIE: What matters is how you conduct yourself in the job, not how you got there, but how you conduct yourself once you get there.

Christie's name has surfaced often as a possible gubernatorial candidate. For WNYC, I'm Bob Hennelly.